Good point on the CC. I have to admit that I do make quite a bit extra using the Premier card. ^

But I do have question (and I have no idea what the answer is.) Can persons outside of your listed countries optain a Visa card? I'm not talking about a Marriott branded one. I'm just wondering about any old Visa card. If so, then given that the last few years, Marriott has been running about 2 Megabonus promos each year, 40 nights during the right time of the year, should net an extra 70K to a Plat/Gold. Over 12 years, that alone will almost make up the 1 million extra points needed for LT Plat over LT Gold. Granted Marriott may very well not be running the Megabonus twice a year for the next 12 years, but there is a good chance that they will have other bonus point promos to take their place. So even without a Marriott branded CC, with today's bonus point promos, LT Plat is doable over a 12 year period. (Though I don't argue that it would take a lot of nights in hotels and some bonus point planning, but it should be doable even if one is not staying at FS properties all the time.)