Earn 6,000 bonus points per hotel stay!

Good morning from Tiraspol, Transnistria, the country that’s not a country.

Connectivity is not this place’s strong suit, so I really need to crank out this newsletter while I have wifi - so let’s get straight to it:

• 🏨 Marriott just launched two new global promotions

• 🍪 Tasty Travel Tidbits

• 🎥 The BEST accommodations options in Hawaii using miles and points

🏨 Marriott just launched two new global promotions

This morning, I woke up to a little present.

And no, it wasn’t a bowl of poutine slathered in gravy (these are the things you start to miss when you’ve been away from Canada for five months).

Rather, it was two separate promotions from Marriott Bonvoy that, if maximized, will allow you to earn up to 6,000 bonus points per stay.

Let’s talk about the first promotion:

This promotion is called “Earn Two Ways” and allows two ways to earn 2,000 bonus points per two nights.

Here are the details:

• Earn 2,000 bonus points for every 2-night (or longer) stay

• Valid for stays between September 10th and November 26th

• You must register for the offer (open to all members)

• Earn ANOTHER 2,000 bonus points per two nights at MGM properties

• Only valid on paid stays

So, if you stay at MGM properties, you’ll earn 4,000 bonus points per two nights, which is excellent.

For example, you can book this MGM property through Marriott in Vegas next week for $131 per night (including the resort fee).

You’d earn a total of 4,000 points, plus:

• 10x Points for being a member

• Bonus points for elite status

• Credit card points

Oh yeah, speaking of credit card points… I almost forgot about the second promotion.

If you hold a Marriott co-branded credit card, you can earn ANOTHER 2,000 points per two nights on all stays.

Here are the deets for that one:

• You need to register for the offer (it is separate from the previous one)

• Same dates as the previous promo

• You must register by November 12th (so just do it now)

• Vacation club and yacht club properties are excluded

• Also, it is only valid on paid stays of at least two nights

This is great news for credit card holders because it means that during the offer period, you’ll earn at least 4,000 points per two nights and as many as 6,000.

Personally, I just booked a 2-night stay in Kuala Lumpur in October at this hotel:

Between my status, membership, credit card, and this promotion, I’ll earn a total of 6,350 points.

Since the stay only costs $100 total and Marriott points are worth close to a cent each, that’s like getting a 63% return on spend.

In fact, those 6,350 points are enough to book another night at the same hotel, which only costs 5,000 points per night:

So here’s the bottom line:

This is a great chance to earn a ton of points, whether traveling around the U.S. or anywhere else in the world.

Earning 6,000 points per two nights is definitely a worthwhile return to consider getting strategic with your upcoming hotel stays.

If you don’t yet have a credit card with this hotel chain, check out this page on our website with some of our personal recommendations.

🍪 Tasty Travel Tidbits

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka just announced it will allow visa-free access to citizens of over 30 countries, including the U.S.! This is great news and makes accessing the country much easier and cheaper.

🏨 Choice Hotels currently has a timeshare offer to book a 3-night stay for $199, plus an additional 40,000 bonus points. All you need to do is survive a timeshare presentation (and please, for the love of god, don’t actually buy one).

✈️ SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) is just days away from officially joining the SkyTeam alliance. Even now, some of their flights are bookable through sites like Delta, KLM, and Air France on connecting itineraries. This is a great new partner with whom to travel around Northern Europe!

The saga for Hawaii on miles and points continues, and this time, we’re talking about accommodations 😎

Per usual, Brendan does an excellent job of walking us through all the most important things to know, like maximizing Marriott’s 40+ properties in Hawaii, using some uncapped Hilton Free Night Awards, and even taking advantage of cash bookings for vacation rentals to earn a welcome offer on a new credit card 🙌

But the star of the show is none other than a DD team favorite—World of Hyatt.

This is where we find the best redemption value out of all the hotel brands and locations shared in the video.

Because Hyatt’s properties are ranked by category (1-8), you can opt to stay at a lower category hotel that requires fewer points or splurge on a higher category property that’ll cost you more cash and/or points, whichever you choose (choose the points 😉).

Plus, remember, Hyatt uses a fixed award chart, making the number of points needed quite predictable 🤗

Double plus, you can transfer UR points from a card like this one over to World of Hyatt which actually yields quite good value!

OH, I ALMOST FORGOT.

Actually, I didn’t forget at all—I just wanted to get your attention.

If you haven’t heard yet, we just launched another giveaway to Hawaii that includes a 5-night stay at the incredible Mauna Lani Point by CoralTree Residence Collection 😱

In addition to the 5-night stay for two, we’re also throwing in $2,000 to cover the costs of flights or other expenses ❤️

All you have to do is click that gorgeous button below to see the options of how you can enter to win!

That’s all for today, my friends! It’s always nice to see hotel programs offer these excellent promotions to ALL members rather than just targeted ones.

Now keep your fingers crossed that Hyatt follows suit with a competing offer… 😇

Take care, and see you tomorrow ❤️

46.8482° N, 29.5968° E