I'm going to preface this as I'm only a 23 year old, so I have a lot to learn from everybody on here.

I'm currently staying at the Ritz in Montréal right now for work, which has been stunningly incredible (especially the newly remodeled rooms). I can't remember the last time I stayed at a Ritz, but am starting to have an easier time justifying some of the properties high rates.

Anyways, I have a trip to Hong Kong in August and am tempted to get the credit card just to experience the lounge there (use a certificate).

I want to make sure I'm not missing any key benefits or hacks...

1. I'm a Marriott Platinum, so status earned by the card to me would be irrelevant, correct? (It's easy to retain MR Plat with meetings).

2. Do I have to have a separate Ritz Carlton Rewards account? Or can I funnel all my points to my MR account?

2A. If I have to have separate accounts, can I book a room and apply an upgrade cert at a Ritz then change my number at check out to MR to get points deposited into that account?

3. I've seen a few comments about getting the annual fee waived... Any tips?

4. The $100 credit... Can that be used for post-reservation club upgrades? IE: I just reserved the Ritz HKG reservation and they offered me the club upgrade for an additional $149 USD (or something) a night. Can that count towards my credit, or just dining/spa/etc?

4A. The ~$149 upgrade offer they emailed over is the exact difference from the room type I booked to the club room... Has any MR Plats had any luck at getting a discounted upgrade (IE cheaper than just the room rate difference)? I am aware they aren't making access to the club easy, which I appreciate.

5. Any perks that could be valuable to me considering the above circumstances? I sort of like the idea of the airline credit to buy AA 500mi stickers. I already have a globally entry waiver... So I don't need that.

Thanks for the help guys!