In the past few weeks, we have covered Marriott Bonvoy’s sending out surprise gift cards of various values to members as a Christmas surprise. However, all of these cards only have a 30-day lifespan and require fast use.
I’m happy to report that I was able to use my very own US$50 gift card properly and at full value at a Sheraton Hotel, where I spent the Christmas holidays.
While Marriott gift cards are a very common tool that have been around for a long time it was certainly a novel and interesting promotion by Marriott to send them out to members.
There was no rhyme or reason that would be obvious why members received them or not, but in either case, those who got a gift card need a stay or hotel consumption within 30 days before the card expires.
This was my article from a week ago when Marriott sent out the second batch:
Marriott Is Sending More Surprise $50 Gift Cards To Select Bonvoy Members
Thankfully, I had two Marriott stays coming up between receiving them and the expiration date of the gift card.
The very short life span of 30 days made it challenging but not much of a problem for me as I had stays in Taiwan and Hong Kong coming up where I would be able to redeem this balance.
I emailed a contact at the hotel ahead of time, basically forwarding the email I got from Marriott to him so they would have ample time to prepare for the redemption until I checked out:
Dear Mr,
could you apply this to my folio sometime during my stay once the folio is open?
I have no additional use for this, and it appears this promotional GC only has a 30-day lifespan.
Thank you and see you tomorrow,
I always suggest informing the front desk in advance that you wish to use your gift card; don’t leave it until the last minute. Do not accept any excuses why they can’t apply you gift card balance, tell them they have ample time to figure it out until you leave the hotel.
These eGift cards can be used at all Marriott-affiliated hotels worldwide. The Givex platform does the currency exchange, and you get a live rate. However, not every associate has the password to the Giveex system, so it might take a while to redeem it.
Here is how my folio looked like after the redemption:
The HKD 388.92 are exactly US$50, so the exchange rate is correct and live. I always check in real-time with XE to make sure the hotels (or any entity really) don’t use fake exchange rates.
Conclusion
After I got one of Bonvoy’s surprise gift cards last week, I quickly managed to redeem it at a Sheraton hotel, where I stayed over Christmas. Using it was painless, and the associates knew what they were doing.
Overall, it is a very nice surprise gift from Marriott Bonvoy having sent this out to members. Easy to save a few bucks by presenting the code to the property and have the value taken off the total balance.
Remember, though, that not every hotel has well-trained staff, and it might take a while for smaller properties to figure out how to use the gift card and the Giveex platform. While, in theory, each hotel should have access, we all know that reality and how it should be aren’t always conforming. I try to err on the side of caution and try to avoid problems; most can be circumvented by giving advance notice about something like this gift card use.
