A few months ago, MR sent me a promotion to requalify for Gold status:
Stay 14 Nights at Marriott and Renew Your Marriott Rewards Elite Gold Membership
Only the best will do for you. That's why we're giving you one of our very best offers: Stay 14 nights or more at any Marriott by December 31, 2008 to automatically renew your Marriott Rewards Elite Gold membership through February 2010. It's that easy to continue receiving the Elite Gold rewards you've become accustomed to at Marriott.
Well, I did it. I stayed 14 nights and renewed my MR gold status. I'm thankful for the opportunity. Another year of lounge access and the occasional (okay, almost never) upgrade will be nice. But really, Marriott is the big winner. They won 14 nights of my business.
As of October 1, I had 24 MR nights for the year, 15 of which were from my MR Visa card. I had chosen to give up on chasing status with Marriott, knowing there was no way I'd get 26 more nights in 2 months. I figured I'd pursue low level status with another family such as Hyatt or ICHG. But this promotion gave me a reason to stick Marriott. They got 14 nights from me. Without this promotion, they probably would have gotten 3. So, thanks, Marriott, for the status, and you're welcome for all the business!