Hi,

I've been reading this forum (mainly the Frequent Flyer forum) for quite a while now, but this is my first post, because I'm looking into getting a credit card for a hotel rewards program and have a couple questions.

First, with Marriott, is there a way to get upgraded status based solely on points earned and not nights stayed? I'm wondering because I saw that there is a Marriott card that offers 30k bonus points, a free room certificate once a year and 15 nights towards your Elite status for a $65 annual fee. While just the free room alone may possibly be worth the annual fee, I was wondering if I can get upgraded to the Gold or Platinum levels just by using this card? If so, what are the point levels required to move up to these levels? I've looked all over on the MarriottRewards pages, but can't find anything. I can see the requirements for number of nights, but nothing is mentioned about just point accrual. Is this possible? I noticed on the PriorityClub website, they have both number of nights and points required, but I can't seem to find this information anywhere on the Marriott site.

Second, is this (Marriott) a good choice for a program where I'll primarily be earning points by just using the credit card and not necessarily purchasing many nights (if any at all) at the actual hotels? If this is not a good program, could you point me towards one that may be the "best" for this type of point earning?

Lastly, (although I think I know the answer, I'm not positive), are points earned for stays only if they rooms are paid for? For example, if I were to use points to pay for a night at a Marriott, would I also earn points for that stay (including any promotions that may be going on)? I'm pretty sure the answer to this is "no", but I just want to make sure.

Thank you very much in advance for any help/information that you may be able to give!!