That’s interesting (the claim that Flueck supposedly made about SPG Golds only getting Gold, even if they had matched to MR Gold) as it is directly contradictory to what Bob told us. At the Marriott event, Greg and I first approached David and began the conversation asking him questions. He introduced us to Bob and told us that Bob knows everything about the program and could answer all of our questions. Obviously, there is some internal confusion going on. I guess we’ll see in the coming days and weeks when the full details roll out.

The Platinum challenge is probably a good idea.

However, where have you seen information stations that current Marriott Gold based on SPG Gold, you won’t get Marriott Platinum on August 1st? We went over that detail with Bob Behrens on Monday and he maintained that if you are Marriott Gold on August 1st, you’ll be Marriott Platinum until February 2019. If you want to have it until February 2020, you’ll need 50 nights this year…but he told us (and we double checked our understanding) that as long as you’re Marriott Gold on August 1st (i.e. you’ve matched your SPG status before then), you’re going to keep 50-night status until Feb 2019.

You need to connect your SPG and Marriott accounts now.

Link Marriott and Starwood Accounts | Marriott Rewards

You won’t get Marriott Gold unless you link them.

As I noted in a response above, in our conversation, Bob indicated that anyone who has matched to Marriott Gold prior to August 1st will get Marriott Platinum (50-night status) on August 1st. We didn’t specifically talk suite night awards. I can see how some are interpreting it that you’ll have to have 50 nights in order to get the SNAs.