Originally Posted by
SacTownGuy
It's an interesting theory. Pricey if you aren't staying at Marriott much. Although, you would be able to get status match to Hyatt and Hilton right now too. Gosh, with the hotels giving away status so easily the meager benefits are going to get more meager.
That's why I pointed out the airline benefits.
It doesn't take many stays to be worth a few hundred dollars; free breakfast for two is $25/night, lounge access may be worth more, and upgrades do happen. If you value a suite upgrade at half the cash cost (if it were worth the full cash cost you'd just book it) you might cover the status cost in 2 or 3 nights.