Any 70,000 Marriott offers left? (and other ways to top my SW for Companion pass)

[Alex N]

I missed out on the 70,000 offer kicking around last month because it wasn't really part of my strategy for earning companion pass but since there are no 50K SW Bus offers out there I decided to make a run at it yesterday.

If my 36,000+ posts from my SEARS portal buying yesterday, i'll be about 20K short for the companion pass. I thought I would just go in for 70,000 Marriott offer, transfer for 25k in rapid rewards points and be done. I was pretty happy about that this morning and ready to apply but it's gone. There is still a 50,000 offer but that only gets me about 15K to transfer to SW ( I could come up with the other 5K I was short easy enough but i'm trying to be done with this).

I doubt any links are still around (I already looked) but thought I would post anyway, or maybe someone else had a better idea to grab the ~20-25K SW points I will need. I don't really want to burn any of my UR points through Hyatt as I value those much more, but should be good to go for application on any other hotel cards (or others) I can grab a quick bonus and turn into SW points.

(Disclaimer - I don't do much with hotel rewards (I stay at AirBnb's lots), mostly airlines and cashback so I don't mind a less then "stellar" use of hotel rewards if it gets me something else I value more.)

 

[James from BNA]

Ideas:

1. MS 25k on SW card before Dec statement close date
2. Ritz Carlton card -> Marriott -> Southwest
3. Rental car bonuses
4. Send someone flowers
5. Login to southwest.com, look for double or triple miles promo. Book some round-trip Business Select flights and pay for with Barclay points. Bonus points aren't CP qualifying but they help the financials.

 

[Alex N]

Ideas:

1. MS 25k on SW card before Dec statement close date
2. Ritz Carlton card -> Marriott -> Southwest
3. Rental car bonuses
4. Send someone flowers
5. Login to southwest.com, look for double or triple miles promo. Book some round-trip Business Select flights and pay for with Barclay points. Bonus points aren't CP qualifying but they help the financials.

Thanks James. I am looking for the easy route at this point and got kind of burned out on MS over the summer. I did just book at flight for triple miles but it's not till November. I didn't think about Ritz C>Marriott>SW though so I will look into that option.

 

[McRingRing]

There was a workaround for the 70k before. Not sure if it's still active, but check FT. The bloggers didn't let you know about it because they wouldn't get a commission and Chase is their daddy.

 

[Deltahater]

take a look at the Marriott 7 day vacation and air deals. They convert nicely to WN miles.

 

[Matt]

There was a workaround for the 70k before. Not sure if it's still active, but check FT. The bloggers didn't let you know about it because they wouldn't get a commission and Chase is their daddy.

Hey, Blogger here!

I don't read enough FT to know about that, but it's the sort of thing I'd be happy to write up (if of course blogging about it didn't kill it!)

 

[ElainePDX]

Both my husband and I got targeted offers for a Marriott card just today.

So there are offers out there. You might try stopping into a Chase branch. Sometimes they have these offers there too.

 

[McRingRing]

Hey, Blogger here!

I don't read enough FT to know about that, but it's the sort of thing I'd be happy to write up (if of course blogging about it didn't kill it!)

Haha should have clarified... BA/MMS/TPG type bloggers! Maybe we shouldn't even call them bloggers - the card pimps. Anyway, I found the thread and looks like there are still some working links and info on the workaround in the wiki:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase-ultimate-rewards/1271936-again-70k-points-1-night-no-fee-1st-yr-marriott-premier-visa.html

 

[James from BNA]

@Alex N, have you considered doing the Ritz Carlton offer x 2 in December and then earning CP in Jan so you can have it for almost 2 full yrs? http://themilesprofessor.com/2014/08/21/ritz-carlton-accounts-140000-offer/

Unless you can use CP several times in Nov/Dec and don't plan much travel in 2016, I would take Feb 15-Dec 16 over Nov 14-Dec 15.

 

[James from BNA]

Both my husband and I got targeted offers for a Marriott card just today.

So there are offers out there. You might try stopping into a Chase branch. Sometimes they have these offers there too.

I got a targeted offer yesterday as well, but only for 50k and Cat 1-4 free night.

 

[Matt]

Per a hot tip in Level 2 you can get other offers by making a reservation at Marriot.com - offer pops up on checkout page(before buying)

This is 40K, waived annual fee.

 

[satz]

I receive targeted offers for 70k on a regular basis. Also, everytime I check my Marriott account, it seems that the offer shows up. The offer is average at best. 70k doesn't get you very far with Marriott unless staying in Asia

I find it very disingenuous the way the bloggers who had an affiliate link spun it in a way to make it sound like it was an incredible offer and for a limited time.

The worst part IMO is that all those *(fill in any curse word of your liking)* are Hyatt/SPG snobs and would never in a million years stay at a Marriott hotels.

 

[Matt]

Hyatt/SPG snobs and would never in a million years stay at a Marriott hotels.

I thought that the JW Marriott brand looked pretty swanky?

 

[Benwa]

I thought that the JW Marriott brand looked pretty swanky?

Yeah, JW's are nice hotels.

 

[satz]

I thought that the JW Marriott brand looked pretty swanky?

Well, I guess they don't have good pancakes otherwise Gary Leff would have raved about Marriott rather than Andaz and Hyatts

 

[Alex N]

@Alex N, have you considered doing the Ritz Carlton offer x 2 in December and then earning CP in Jan so you can have it for almost 2 full yrs? http://themilesprofessor.com/2014/08/21/ritz-carlton-accounts-140000-offer/

Unless you can use CP several times in Nov/Dec and don't plan much travel in 2016, I would take Feb 15-Dec 16 over Nov 14-Dec 15.

Yeah, the thing is I am already 75-80% of the way there for CP for Nov14-Dec15. I didn't plan well earlier in the year when I picked up a 50K SW signup bonus, lesson learned. Next time I'll be trying to get close to 2 full years out of it rather then the 13-14 months I will.

 

[Matt]

Well, I guess they don't have good pancakes otherwise Gary Leff would have raved about Marriott rather than Andaz and Hyatts

Yeah, the thing is I am already 75-80% of the way there for CP for Nov14-Dec15. I didn't plan well earlier in the year when I picked up a 50K SW signup bonus, lesson learned. Next time I'll be trying to get close to 2 full years out of it rather then the 13-14 months I will.

I was going to point you to BH post today, guess you already saw that.

 

[Alex N]

I was going to point you to BH post today, guess you already saw that.

I did - I've been struggling with it all morning......

 

[beth p]

Unfortunately no. Try logging into your Marriott acct (which they often post this offer on). I had an email that expired 9/15. I just tried the link and it is expired. I didn't realize we could transfer from partners to have it count towards the CP.