To my knowledge it's all stays. The only way to spend yourself to status with Marriott is through the branded credit card where you get 15 nights annually and one night per $3,000 spend. So, for spend only platinum you'd need $180,000 spend in one year on the credit card. I guess it would really be $177,000 since I've been getting a night for my birthday the past couple of years.

Of course, if you spent one year with the credit card and did not spend on it and if you took those 15+1 nights and banked what you could for the next year with roll over (15+1-10=6) then added the new 15+1 you'd have 22 nights. At that point you'd need only $159,000 spend on the credit card.

If you are going to chase status with Marriott you benefit from the credit card. Last year I was Gold and ended the year with 72 nights between stays, credit card spend & bonus, and birthday. So I rolled over 22 nights this year. I also status matched to HiltonHHonors to Diamond so I plan to spend many nights checking out that status. Since my Marriott stays will be minimal this year I'll still have Gold for next year based on spend and the few stays.

I like the Gold status with Marriott Rewards. I haven't seen a lot of upgrades, but the lounge access is always nice. I'll compare that to my experience with HH Diamond this year and make a decision on a path forward. No matter which way I go I'll still have Gold with MR for next year since the MR CC is my daily spend card right now.