Last week was big on the radar of road warriors worldwide. Marriott International, which had acquired Starwood Hotels back in 2016, managed to combine the loyalty program platforms of both the hotel chains after a two year long effort. Why is this big?

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Marriott, as one of the biggest hotel chains globally, is the choice of a tonne of frequent travellers, and their perks across over 7100 hotels depended on this merger. With hotels in 127 countries and 29 brands, they are the melting pot of all the hotel brands you may have grown up hearing about: Sheraton, JW Marriott, Le Meridien, Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, W and many more. Not just that, you can find them in all corners of the world. The furthest I’ve been in one has been in Bora Bora in the French Polynesia, which is 8 hours of flying from the Americas, Japan and Australia.

Why are we talking about it in India though? Because it is important. I talk to many not-so-much-on-the-road-folks as well, and they seem to figure that just because a hotel got the Marriott badge or the Hilton badge on it, it must be expensive. They are not, really.

All the international hotel chains that exist in India, including Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels and Radisson to name a few, start pricing from anywhere like Rs 3000-3500 for their lowest end hotels, and on the higher end the sky is the limit.

Even if you stay at hotels for 10-12 nights in a year, you should totally look at being a chain hotel person, for all the perks that loyalty could bring to you. Just one catch, you can’t book these hotels via an OTA (such as hotel.com, booking.com, Expedia, etc.) but have to book directly or via a corporate travel agent to get the benefits.

Let’s start with Marriott Rewards. The name of the programme will change next year, but the spirit will remain the same. If you did not know, Marriott is the largest hotel chain in India with over 100 hotels in their portfolio. These range from the Fairfield in Lucknow which costs Rs 3000 a night to the W in Goa which costs Rs 15000+ frequently.

On every stay that you book directly, or under a corporate contract, you start earning Marriott Rewards. These are the loyalty points you earn for giving your business to the Marriott group. You get access to Member rates (at least a 5% discount) and free wifi. 10 nights in a year across the globe, and you could hold your room a bit longer. Stay 25 nights a year, and you can expect to get a better room. Think paying for a regular room and getting a Club room.

Fifty nights a year or more gets you set for Suite upgrades. I frequently arrive at a Marriott hotel where I know I’ll be checked into a suite, having paid approximately Rs 5000 for a regular room rate. At 100 nights per annum, you are road warrior anyways, and you need someone human inside their system to take care of you. Welcome your ambassador then.

But why bother sticking to the same chain, again and again, you may ask? Because it pays off in the end. And the loyalty opportunities are not just from staying at the hotels. You could dine at one of their hundreds of restaurants in India and get 10 percent off just for being a member. I get 20 percent off for being a Platinum, and there are 45 restaurants to choose from in Mumbai itself. Not just that, you earn points for dining.

With Marriott and Starwood together, we now have access to some of the best hotels globally, which we can redeem our points for and not pay cash. Think the St. Regis Maldives, which goes for 2600$ a night in cash, but when you pay with points, only 60000 points a night. On the other end of the spectrum, you could use them to stay at that airport hotel before your flight next morning as well, no one is judging! And if you’re short a few points, you can always transfer from American Express to make it whole.

Think about that family holiday that could take you to Goa, Sri Lanka or another part of the globe altogether, where you don’t have to pay for the hotel stay because it is already paid for. Like I’ve always mentioned, loyalty pays.

Ajay Awtaney is a business travel & aviation journalist based in Mumbai, and the founder of the Indian frequent-traveller website Live From A Lounge (www.livefromalounge.com).

First Published:Aug 24, 2018 6:56 AM IST