On a typical college football weekend dozens of FWAA members are staying at Marriott Properties across the country. For years the FWAA tapped into the  Marriott VIP Program with the hotel chain until it became so popular with writers, the demand for discounted rooms became overwhelming. Now, the VIP rate is available to only coaches and athletic officials

Mike Lopresti and John Henderson, both mentioned in the Vocative.com story below, are former FWAA members who benefited from the VIP program. The Frequent Stay Program is still in effect for anyone who signs up. And sportswriters are on the road a lot, so they can still collect points for future stays in bundles.

For years the FWAA has held its national meeting at a Marriott property in conjunction with the national title football game. It will again this year in early January in Tampa at the College Football Playoff’s National Championship Game.

As luck would have it one year when the game was at the Orange Bowl, the FWAA was meeting at a Marriott property in Ft. Lauderdale and Bill Marriott, Mr. Marriott, was staying there. Like Mike in the story mentioned here, FWAA members showed him a lot of  appreciation. Quite simply he is the man whose hotel’s Frequent Stay program  has made vacations a lot less expensive.