The Chase Marriott Premier (personal & business) cards come with a free night certificate that is valid at any Marriott category 1-5 property. In the past these certificates have been valid for ~6 months from the date of issue. It has been possible to extend these certificates for a further six months by calling in, but this request has not always been granted.
A few days ago, Rapid Travel Chai let me know that during one of these calls to extend the certificate, his Dad was told that they were going to change the certificates to be valid for one year but didn’t have any information on when this was coming into effect.
I’m always hesitant to post any information that comes from a front line representative, as often they have the wrong information or are simply misinformed. I always like to confirm before posting, so I asked the Chase communications team to confirm this and this was their response (thanks, Ashley):
To confirm, free night certificates issued April 24, 2015 or after are valid for one year.
This isn’t huge news as it was already possible to extend these certificates, but it is good news indeed. It’s nice to have the full year to decide on where to use your free night certificate without having to remember to call in (some people also hate calling in as well). If your certificate was issued before April 24th, call in during the last month before expiry and ask for it to be extended and they should grant this request. Travel with Grant has a detailed post on redeeming these free night certificates if for some reason you’re struggling.
If there is ever anything you’d like me to follow up on that you’ve been told by a CSR, please let me know. I’ve heard about the rumored changes to the SPG American Express cards, but I’m still waiting a response from either company.
