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Good morning friends!

This week’s edition goes out to all our hometown heroes who are home for the holidays. We’re going to be sharing a sweet way to earn Marriott Bonvoy® points while dining out at some of your favorite hometown spots. On top of that, we’ve got another Marriott promotion and other travel news. 

On today’s menu: 

• 🏨Earn Marriott Bonvoy® Points Every Time You Dine: Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy® 

• 🏨[Targeted] Marriott Bonvoy® Free Night Voucher Offer  

• ✈️Another major airline merger 

🏨Earn Marriott Bonvoy points every time you dine out: Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy®

We’re college students, of course, we love to dine out every once in a while when we’re tired of dining halls. Well, what if we told you that there’s a way to earn Marriott Bonvoy® points whenever you’re grabbing a meal at certain restaurants off-campus? Look no further than Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy®.   

What’s Eat Around Town?

Marriott has made it even easier to earn additional points by partnering with thousands of local and national restaurants and bars across the country. Eat Around Town allows Bonvoy® members to earn up to 4 points for every dollar (including tax and tip) they spend at participating restaurants. 

Sign in with a Marriott Bonvoy® number and password to join Eat Around Town for free. Once you’ve joined, link a credit or debit card so that Marriott will be notified when you’ve dined at a participating restaurant. You must use your linked card for Marriott to award you points. You can search for participating local restaurants here. New members currently can earn an additional 6,000 points in their first 60 days. That sounds like a smart way to rack up points for future Marriott stays whenever you’re dining out if you ask us. 😏

🏨[Targeted] Marriott Bonvoy® Free Night Voucher Offer  

Are you a Marriott Bonvoy® member? If so, check your member promotions NOW because Marriott has targeted Bonvoy® members with a limited-time Free Night Award promo after meeting certain stay requirements.   

To check if you’re eligible, log in to your Marriott Bonvoy® account. Click on your profile and select ‘Promotion’ from the dropdown menu. Eligible members should be able to register and activate this offer: ‘Delight with More: Stay Twice, Earn a Free Night.’ 

To qualify for the voucher, you must complete 2 stays now through 2/29/2024 at any hotel or resort participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. According to Marriott, ‘A “stay” is defined as one or more consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/checkout activity, on any Points-eligible rate (“Qualifying Rate”).’ After your second available stay, you’ll receive a Free Night Award valued at 35,000 points. Still not sold? Check out some of the stays you can book with 35,000 points (you’ll have to play around with dates and locations): 

If you’re planning on booking a stay from now until the end of the promo, we recommend taking a look at your options to take advantage of the voucher for future stays.  

✈️Another major airline merger: Alaska Airlines x Hawaiian Airlines 

It was recently announced that Alaska Airlines reached a $1 billion deal to buy Hawaiian Airlines. Merging the two West Coast carriers would create the fifth-largest U.S. airline. 

So what does this mean for college students? 

I don’t know, I’m not from the West Coast 🤷. Kidding. 

For now, it’s hard to predict what the long-term impact on the airline industry will be. The deal is expected to face some hurdles as the Justice Department hasn’t shied away from blocking airline mergers. If the deal’s approved, however, Alaska Airlines will look to greatly expand its reach across the Pacific and create a joint loyalty program that could look similar to Air France-KLM’s popular FlyingBlue program. Hawaiian will be brought into the OneWorld alliance (Alaska is a current member) which will possiblly increase connectivity. Either way, it’s a major shakeup from two carriers looking to challenge the “big four” U.S. airlines.

Wasn’t today fun? We thought so. 😎 
We’ll be on a brief hiatus during the week of Christmas, so have a merry Christmas to all those who celebrate. 🎄

We’ll see you in two weeks.

Dustin Tran

Founder & Content Lead