KevinInRI

So I emailed Marriott to apply for this. I have been an elite member of Marriott Rewards since 2000, about 5-6 years of those as a Platinum, with a total of 500+ lifetime nights. Over the last couple years my travel patterns resulted in me staying more at SPG and Hyatt hotels (currently have top tier status in both) and I dropped down to Marriott Gold last year and to Silver as of March 1 of this year. I emailed to see if I can take advantage of the "Taste of Platinum" promotion but I got the following email back. I'm trying to figure out how to decipher this. I'm assuming they're referring to my current offer of buying back Gold status. But does this mean if I don't take advantage of the buyback offer I can request the challenge after April 2? Or does this forever disqualify me from ever taking advantage of a challenge? If so that would mean no former gold or platinum members could ever take advantage of the challenge because they would have had an offer to buy back their status when they were soft-landed.


Dear KevininRI,

Thank you for contacting Marriott Rewards with your request for an upgrade in Elite status. I apologize that members who have previously had an offer of a conditional upgrade in Elite status are not eligible for another offer.

As one of our valued Elite members, we understand your travel needs vary from year to year and you occasionally might not have the required number of nights to maintain your Elite status. We know how important the Marriott Rewards benefits are to you, so you may buy back your Gold Elite status for 2013 at a reduced cost of 25,000 points. Your status will be valid until February 2014. Please note this point total offer is for a limited time and you must make your decision before 02 April 2013. Thereafter you may buy back your Gold Elite status for 2013 at the standard cost of 40,000 points...