I was very excited to see an email from Marriott advertising their “Members Get It” promotion. In the past, loyalty programs have taken advantage of the holidays to offer some great deals. Of course, they are often highly restricted to the first few clickers, but it’s good word of mouth and a challenge to win.

30 Days of Members Get It

This year, however, Marriott has “enhanced” its holiday promotion. Instead of offering a few cool prizes, it has simply lumped together many existing programs or pointed out existing ways to earn or burn Marriott Rewards points. Instead of showing one new offer every day, which would get people to return to the site, they have lumped everything in one week. For example, the first week is titled “Get Holidazzled.” I have no idea what that means or how it relates to the daily promotions, but there’s nothing new. One offer simply tells me to link my SPG and Marriott accounts. Another offers me holiday travel tips. I’m not sure how those tips holidazzle me, but telling me about the MegaBonus that I have already registered for doesn’t do it.

It’s Not Totally Useless

I hope that Marriott comes up with something more interesting in the coming weeks, but there are a few bits worth noting here, particularly if you are a Marriott newbie. For example, many people don’t know that you can get up to 1,500 points by connecting your social media accounts. Likewise, you may stumble upon an offer that is worth your time. You can take a peek at the entire list of offers at any time. Who knows? Maybe that 50% savings on KitchenAid is what you need. But to me, it feels like this promotion is just a lump of coal.