Get a free Marriott night with the free Marriott credit card!

The Marriott Rewards Mastercard is, to be honest, as ‘middle of the road’ and unexciting as your average Marriott hotel.  I’m not sure that was ever the plan but that is how it worked out.

The card is free

The sign-up bonus is 10,000 Marriott points – just 20% of what you need to stay at a top Marriott hotel

The earnings rate is just 1 Marriott point per £1, which given my 0.5p per point valuation means a return of just 0.5%

You get double points when you use the card at a Marriott property or abroad

You receive Silver status in Marriott Rewards – but that isn’t worth much

And the only novelty factor – you get 2000 Marriott points every year as a loyalty bonus, which is generous given that the card is free (albeit that is only 5% of a top tier redemption!)

My full review of the Marriott Rewards Mastercard can be found here.

This week, however, Marriott Rewards has emailed selected members with an interesting offer.

You will receive a free night in any Category 1-5 Marriott hotel when you take out the card and spend £200, on top of the usual 10,000 points.

The free night is valid for six months from the date that the voucher is dropped into your Marriott Rewards account.

Marriott has seven reward categories and the ‘smart’ hotels are heavily weighted towards the top end.  In the UK, a Category 5 would only get you a night at the Marriott in Leeds for example.

The free night is probably still worth around £100 if used wisely, despite the Category 5 restriction.  Even if you don’t collect Marriott Rewards points, you can convert the 10,000 points you also receive for getting the card into 2,000 Avios.

Until November, you can also earn an extra 2,000 Marriott Rewards per month by ‘liking’ certain US Marriott hotels on Twitter and Facebook.

How to apply

The special application form for the Marriott ‘free night’ offer is here (EDIT: deleted as offer now over).

When you click through to the application form you will see a box for a ‘Promotional Code’.  Whilst this box does not auto-fill, for safety I would type MTE614 in the box which is the code for this deal.

Anyone who has previously held and cancelled the Marriott credit card will not qualify for this offer.

If you do not already have a Marriott Rewards account, I strong recommend opening one via this page (click top right) before you apply.  If you wait for the credit card people to do it for you, it may take months before you can tease the number and password out of them!

There is no closing date stated on the website but the covering email said that you had to apply by the end of July.

Bigger than usual disclaimer

There is nothing in the small print to say that this offer is only open to recipients of the original email.

Given that people often use different email addresses for different things, and often have business addresses on loyalty card accounts, they cannot realistically check applications against the list of members targetted.

That said …. if you do not receive your free night, you don’t have a leg to stand on, apart from claiming that you found the application page via Google and there were no restrictions on it.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus. 

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review