Do I Earn 2x Points With Chase Ink for an Event at Marriott?

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Running events at hotels (like weddings or corporate meetings) can be very lucrative for earning points. Not only do you get points that you normally earn on your credit card, but also you can earn bonuses from credit cards that offer extra points for hotel spending. There are also corporate meeting planner programs, which offer an additional bonus to meeting planners for bringing business to that hotel chain.

TPG reader Mike tweeted recently asking:

“If I pay for an event at a Marriott Hotel with an Chase Ink Card, will I receive the 2x points? Same goes with Sapphire Preferred.”

Generally, yes you will still earn 2 points per dollar using your Ink Bold/Ink Plus or Sapphire Preferred card, as long as the event is billed by the hotel itself. There's really no delineation between charges billed by a hotel, and it’s merchant code will trigger that 2x bonus.

Take note, however, that sometimes if you’re running an event at a restaurant within a hotel, it could be billed by the restaurant instead. Thus, I would recommend putting it on the Sapphire Preferred if possible, even though I know it’s a personal card versus a business card. Remember that if you're grandfathered into the Sapphire Preferred and you got it before July 23, 2014, you also get the 7% annual dividend, which makes earning on the hotels (because it counts as 2x travel) more lucrative.

Another angle with the Ink Card is that some office supply stores sell Marriott gift cards, so you can get 5 points per dollar on the Ink Plus, Ink Bold and Ink Business Cash cards. That would be the most lucrative way to pay for your event with the gift card, and you should look into the meeting planner points as well.

Most importantly, make sure that you negotiate the best terms for yourself in the contract, and try to get as many points as possible.

If you have other questions, feel free to tweet me at @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook, or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.