New enhancements allow members to book vacations using their Marriott Rewards points, and manage their account online more easily.

Marriott Rewards members who want to redeem points can now sign in to Marriott.com and easily book their reservation using points. This online award redemption process has been streamlined and now provides step-by-step navigational instructions. Additionally, members can view how many points are needed to book a free stay at their hotel of choice along with their current point balance throughout the process.


There have also been enhancements to the Elite members' pages. Elite members will now have personalized offers depending on their level -- Gold, Silver, Platinum and Platinum Premier -- and will be able to receive and book special Elite packages through MarriottRewards.com.


The site now features a new online account section for members, the most visited area on the MarriottRewards.com site. The redesigned online account statement allows members to:

• more easily view the status of their account and related account activity,
• link to their favorite hotels for quick reservations, and
• print and save a copy for their files in a printer-friendly format.

Within their online account section, members can now more easily update their personal profile. They can modify address information, room preferences, travel destination preferences and earnings currency (points or miles). Additionally, members have been given greater flexibility in managing their email preferences involving the types of communications they can receive, the related frequency of these communications and preferred format (text or HTML).


Marriott Rewards points may be redeemed for free hotel stays, frequent flyer miles, car rentals, theme park passes, retail merchandise and more. With more than 2,500 participating hotels and 22 million members worldwide, Marriott Rewards provides travelers the opportunity to get to the places they dream of 30 percent faster than with other leading programs.*


Marriott Rewards has been named "Best Hotel Rewards Program in the World" by Business Traveler magazine for the past eight years, and was named best hotel loyalty program by the readers of Business Week magazine.


For information about Marriott Rewards or to enroll, call (800) 249-0800, visit the front desk of participating hotels, or log onto http://www.marriottrewards.com/.


*Based on seven nights at Starwood, Hilton, InterContinental Hotel Group and Hyatt full-service hotels of similar quality and points earned on dollars spent. Assumes standard award offerings for base level members. All comparisons are as of 1/05.