Marriott Rewards will now allow their members new ways to earn and spend points on online shopping. This shopping portal has been introduced through a new tool named Marriott Rewards MORE which is available both as a desktop browser extension and a mobile application.

For now, the program is only open to members in the US, UK and Canada with retailers like Apple, Amazon, Best Buy and Nike participating.  The number of points you can earn per dollar varies for each participating retailer. For example, you will earn 1 point per USD for an Apple product purchase, however shopping at Amazon will earn you 2 points for every USD spent. On the higher end, Ralph Lauren online purchases can earn you as many as 6 points for every USD spent.

Here are all the retailers currently participating in the US.

As a part of the launch offer, Marriott Rewards is currently giving away 1,000 bonus points on your first purchase of 25 USD or more. And if you hold a Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card, then you get an additional 25% bonus on the cash portion of the purchase made via the card.

Keep in mind that the Marriott Rewards MORE portal requires members to install an extension toolbar on their browser. This is something you will be automatically prompted to install when you first attempt to shop at a retailer. Folks who have already downloaded the application say that it takes just a few seconds after which it is fairly easy to navigate and shop.

Earning points through Marriott Rewards MORE

This is a great way to earn extra points on your regular purchases. For example, an online purchase of USD 1,250 at Ralph Lauren can earn you enough points to redeem a night at any category 1 hotel.

Redeeming points on Marriott Rewards MORE purchases

Like expected, it is not worthwhile to redeem your points for retail purchases. A few people who have tried using this feature have said that the value per point for retail purchase is only 0.4 US cents which is less than half the value you could get from stay redemptions. Alternatively, converting your Marriott Rewards points to Starpoints in the ratio of 3:1 will also give a better value than purchasing goods.

Bottomline

Earning points with purchases is a great addition to the program.  By just allowing members to earn a kickback on regular purchases great value to Marriott Rewards customers. Having said that we’ll have to wait and watch when Marriott will extend the MORE platform in the Asia-Pacific region.