Marriott's latest hotel stay offer here in the UK is the "More Summer" promo. This cancellable rate works out cheaper than the non-refundable advance rate and combines with the restaurant to offer guests 15% off. An attractive deal. Except the catch... Pay with Visa. The problem with Visa payment is that the UK credit card Marriott so assiduously promotes to its UK guests, is.... Mastercard!
So Marriott wants us to hold its branded Mastercard, and gives us 10,000 points to do so, but then actively discourages us from using its own branded card when staying at its own branded hotel! How nuts is that?
Maybe they don't want to pay out the double points we get when using the Marriott card at Marriott hotels, though I'm not sure Corporate is that skint. Or is Marriott doing a Ratner* about it's pretty poor UK card which pales so significantly next to its US offering? Or is it just a lack of joined up thinking in Bethseda?
And now to the question. The only Visa I carry is a debit card... Is it OK to use the Visa debit card to get the rate, or does it have to be a Visa credit card?
*Gerald Ratner, a UK-wide jeweller, joked during a public speech that his companies products were "crap" and would last no longer than a lunchtime sandwich, sending his business to the scrapyard in the process.