So I am traveling a lot this year and through rollover, credit card bonus, and stays I will requal as Gold well before 6/30/14. I'm not tied to Marriott; I had Hilton Diamond for 6 years until this year and dropped to Silver. So I'm trying to figure out the best plan of attack for the remainder of 2014. My choices:

- Go "all in" on Marriott and qualify as Platinum sometime in Q3 or early Q4.
- Stay 70+ (but not 75) times and stay Gold with some decent rollover.
- Requal as Hilton Diamond with 25 more stays (of which 10 can be burning some Cat 1 points redemptions).

Having not been a Platinum before at Marriott - other than the bonus points, does it really make much of a difference? Gold seems to get me most of what I care about - is there a noticeable difference between the levels? What are some of the elite gifts that can make it worthwhile?

I have to admit that I miss being Diamond at Hilton for the times I do need to stay there. But redemption-wise, Megabonus and other factors make Marriott preferable....

Thoughts?

Dave