Originally Posted by escapefromphl

All you need is 12.5K PQM to get it via the challenge though. One economy trip to Europe would be enough and you have Marriott Platinum status for 18 months which others had to earn with 50 nights. The issue here is Marriott using a high bar status as a marketing tool and aggravating long time loyal customers. The end result may be closer to a zero sum than they think. For example since I will soon be within spitting distance of 1MM on UA that seems to be the shorter path to Marriott gold/Platinum than actually getting the nights.