It sounds fairly outrageous, but it appears that if you qualified for 2002 platinum status by the end of 2001, your platinum status expires in 1/03, but if you weren't quite as good a customer and didn't qualify for your 2002 status until after 12/31/01, your platinum status doesn't expire until 1/04. Can this be true? What possible rational explanation can there be for this? It sounds like Marriott's best customers were penalized for qualifying too early. (I qualified for 2002 platinum status in 2001, and my status expires 1/03.)