It seems works well for most of the FTers here but obviously not for me.

I'm currently a gold and ended up with 72 days for 2008. I just completed my first one night stay in '09, which brought me to a total of 74 nights on a rolling basis. I sent a note to the CSR in hoping that I could be granted Plat status a little earlier, unfortunately I was refused to get an immediate decision, instead I was asked to wait until end of Feb when an corporate-wise review is performed.

I will get the Plat status anyway as I have a stay coming up next week, but I might re-consider my stay pattern as this certainly not made me feel MR was willing (or at least trying hard) to keep its frequent member.

Here's the reply:

Dear YYC,

Thank you for contacting Marriott Rewards. Every Marriott Rewards account undergoes a corporate review in February of each year. Decisions regarding Elite level upgrades, downgrades, and exceptions regarding Elite status retention are made at that time. Individual exceptions cannot occur until after our annual corporate review has concluded. If you would still like to request an Elite level exception after the corporate review is completed, please reply to this email at the end of February and I would be happy to assist you further.

Thank you for choosing Marriott.

Regards,

(name omitted)
Internet & Correspondence Specialist
Marriott Rewards