Is it worth spending On Business Points on Marriott hotel bookings?

Posted on November 8th, 2013. Written by bookingbusinesstravel.

The British Airways On Business reward scheme is a generous programme of rewards for bookings made by small to medium sized companies.

Points are earned for British Airways flights and can be spent on flights, upgrades and … Marriott hotels

Marriott hotel rewards have been available for on business points in the form of prepaid vouchers.

For companies who may have points expiring, and with no flights needing to book, Marriott vouchers have been a good way of mopping up any remaining points balance that may have been due to expire at the year end.

All change … the relationship between Marriott and British Airways is due to expire.

You can still “purchase” Marriott vouchers up to 31^st December and they can be used for up to 15 months from the date of delivery.

But, are Marriott vouchers worth it?

If your points are going to waste then of course, yes! But, otherwise ?

There are five Worldwide Marriott categories on the British Airways On Business Award Voucher offer with the following points required for one night:

I include the link to save you searching the British Airways Page

Category              Points   Points Value

Classic                   2,000     £100-£300
Signature             3,000     £150-£450

Premier                5,000     £250-£750
Elite                       6,000     £300-£900
Ultimate              7,000     £350-£1,050

Now, trying to find out which Marriott Hotel property is in which category is difficult!

The worst thing about the way that Marriott provide the information, apart from being in a PDF format, is that they duplicate the Classic hotels in the Signature and Premier pages. So, if you spotted the Prague Airport hotel in the Premier pages be warned that you could find it cheaper in the Signature group!

So I have picked mainly European cities and categorized below to make a search simpler.

I also attribute a nominal “points value” that is to say, what the points would have been valued at if you had spent them on flights.

NB The rewards include “last room availability” and breakfast for two

Classic:                 2,000 points, £100+  

The cheapest, mainly Courtyard Brand and in low-cost destinations only.
Example, No European destinations except Pilsen in Czech Republic!

Signature:           3,000, £150+

BERLIN                                  Courtyard Berlin City Center
BUCHAREST                        JW Marriott Bucharest Grand
ROME                                   Courtyard Rome Airport
KUALA LUMPUR               Renaissance Kuala Lumpur

LISBON                                 Lisbon Marriott Hotel
PRAGUE                               Courtyard Prague Airport
PRAGUE                               Courtyard Prague Flora
VIENNA                                                Courtyard Vienna Schoenbrunn
WARSAW                            Courtyard Warsaw Airport

Premiere, 5,000, £250+

AMSTERDAM                     Courtyard Amsterdam Airport
ATHENS                                Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel
BRUSSELS                            Brussels Marriott Hotel
BRUSSELS                            Courtyard Brussels
BRUSSELS                            Renaissance Brussels Hotel
BUDAPEST                          Budapest Marriott Hotel
BUDAPEST                          Courtyard Budapest
HAMBURG                          Courtyard Hamburg Airport
HAMBURG                          Hamburg Marriott Hotel
HAMBURG                          Renaissance Hamburg Hotel
LEIPZIG                               Leipzig Marriott Hotel
MADRID                               A C Hotels
MUNICH                              Courtyard Munich City Center
MUNICH                              Courtyard Munich City East
MUNICH                              Munich Marriott Hotel
MUNICH                              Residence Inn Munich City East
MILAN                                  AC Hotel Milano
ROME                                   Courtyard Rome Airport
ROME                                   Courtyard Rome Central Park
ROME                                   Rome Marriott Park Hotel
STOCKHOLM                      Courtyard Stockholm
WARSAW                            Warsaw Marriott Hotel
VIENNA                              Courtyard Vienna Messe
VIENNA                              Courtyard Vienna Schoenbrunn
VIENNA                              Imperial Riding School
VIENNA                              Renaissance Vienna Hotel
VIENNA                              Renaissance Wien Hotel

ELITE, 6,000, £300+

COPENHAGEN                   Copenhagen Marriott Hotel (Normal commercial rate £200)
FRANKFURT MAIN          Frankfurt Marriott Hotel
PARIS                                    Paris Marriott Rive Gauche
PARIS                                    Hotel & Conference Center
PARIS                                    Renaissance Paris La Defense

NEW YORK

Courtyard New York
Manhattan/Fifth Avenue
Courtyard New York
Manhattan/Midtown East
Courtyard New York
Manhattan/Times Square South
Courtyard New York Manhattan/Upper East Side
Fairfield Inn & Suites Manhattan/Fifth Avenue
Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Manhattan/Chelsea
Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Manhattan/Downtown
Fairfield Inn & Suites Watertown Thousand Islands
Fairfield Inn New York Manhattan/Times Square
Renaissance New York
Hotel 57
Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Times Square

How much is an On Business Reward point worth?

In general, when redeeming points you should aim to achieve a value of between 10p to 20p per point but you may only achieve 5p per point

My valuations (above), are based on the lower valuation so you can decide for yourself whether to proceed.

Take for example the following two hotels in Sharm El Sheikh

Renaissance Sharm El Sheikh and Golden View Beach Resort which can be found via HotelsCombined  for £50 per night but would cost approx £100 worth of British Airways On-Business points.

The Renaissance Copenhagen, in the Elite category, costs 6,000 points or a £300 minimum value but can be found online using our comparison site from £140 – £200 (and that is mid-week)

So not necessarily good value, at all, which is probably why the arrangement between BA and Marriott will end 31^st December 2013

Procedure to redeem On Business points for Marriott hotel stays

You’ll need to order e-vouchers online and allow up to 72 hours to receive them.

These can only be used to book single nights online at a property in the range of the certificate you choose.

Bookings for more than one night have to be arranged via the Marriott call centre.

Hotel stays must be within 15 months of the e-voucher delivery

Telephone: UK Toll-free 0800 1927 1927

London – Toll 0353 21 421 6400

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