My friends are going to Hawaii for 3 nights, they had a really rough last year (Few close members' deaths because of Covid, lost job, lost baby). Our friends have helped to sponsor this trip.

They are staying at the Marriott property but don't have any status. I was hoping to get them free breakfast to reduce the cost for them.

Someone is selling Mariott platinum status for around 206$ for 3 months on eBay. Do you know how is he doing that? Is he doing through the Marriott status challenge? If you enroll in the challenge for status, do you get the status right away, and if you complete challenges, it gets extended for another year?

Does anyone know about this? Any help would help my friend's vacation memorable. How could I get him elite status for his trip without spending too much money?