I've been with Marriott Rewards for 12 years (easy gold, sometimes plat), and I clearly am clueless.

I just missed plat this year, so I asked if there was anything I could do to retain it for 2010. I was told that plat is computed on a rolling 12 month period (see below). So, does that mean if I ever get to 75 during any 12 month period, I'm plat through the end of that year?

It is true that attempts to renew the Platinum Elite level operates on a fixed calendar year from January 1 to December 31 each year.

However, attempts to achieve the Gold and Platinum Elite levels operate on a form of rolling calendar.

Once every week, our computer systems check your Elite nights for the last twelve months. If you have enough Elite nights in that period, you are upgraded to the Platinum Elite level.

What this means is that even should you be downgraded this coming February due to an inability to renew normally, the rolling calendar will take over within one week and will begin counting up your nights in the last twelve months.

As soon as our systems found that you had 75 nights in the last twelve months, your account would be upgraded back to the Platinum Elite status level.