Although they may give it to you anyway, to me if you are within two nights its worth it.. but when starting out in a year and choosing what chains to go for, I don't think that the benefits received are worth the effort of the 75 nights. I am top tier in the big four and Marriott is the one I obtain last as its the first one I'd drop if I had to miss out on one chains top tier status. Gold at MR from a benefits perspective is as good as plat with the exception of the 500 pt bonus at check in.. and this is only usefull at the full scale marriotts. Obviously it depends where you are going etc but from a gen'l is it worth it perspective.. yeah if you are 2 nights away, no if you are starting from scratch