dgolds - The "nights toward..." sections on the Marriott statements are truly puzzling and almost impossible to figure out. Each quarter for their records they subtract old stays and and add the new ones but what those numbers on the statements mean is anybody's guess. The only thing that I do know about qualifying for black is that your qualifying year is determined by the date on your card. Another tip is that because of the relatively high qualification number compared to other hotel programs, Marriott is somewhat lenient about number of stays. If you only have 45 or so, call them and they will probably give you a black card. They will definitely do it for 47. Frequently, if you are a few short, they will give you the black without a call.