Happy

Gold/Plat Challenge is Dead since several months ago - probably due to people who asked for such never intend to complete such and just take advantage of the generosity of Marriott.

Now it is Road to Gold - you would not get any gold benefits until you actually earn it via the same stay agreement like the Challenge in the past.

Suggest you to share your recent successes if indeed you are able to do Gold Challenge as late as last quarter of 2013, in the Marriott forum on the thread dedicated to this. All the fresh data point to Road to Gold or flat out denial of any fast track request.

Else your data points are outdated.

The status is most useful when staying in Asian and European full service properties especially on the 5th night free stays in expensive cities. Not much value for domestic stay as most domestic properties lounges are really basic.

flyer4512

Just got approved for the 70k card 13 months after my last Marriot Premier was cancelled.

I used the link in the Wiki

SquarePeg

Did you get a bonus the first time around? Curious if you get the bonus again after so short a time. My understanding with Chase is that you may get approved but not necessarily qualify for another bonus if you don't wait long enough. Please post back when you find out for sure one way or the other.

bribro

Chase is different than Citi and other lenders; they will approve you for a card even if you don't qualify for a second sign-up bonus. You'll get the bad news about no bonus in the form of a letter a few weeks after approval. YMMV.

flyer4512

I got the Premier bonus about a year ago and several other Marriott CC bonuses over the years.

Sm to Chase while not 100% confirms the 70K bonus so we shall see.

I have never been denied points by Marriott.

Good to know I'll wait 60 days before making the spend. Thanks

flyer4512

I feel so ashamed, maybe I'll get Gold Status a more "legit" way via MS ?

Happy

I dont know if this is tongue in cheek or not based on your wording.

Marriott card does not offer status via spend, unlike the Hilton cards. If it can be done, many folks would have done so already. Marriott requires you to qualify the old fashion way, pay stays only. Although thru a Challenge, the requirement is drastically reduced.

Too many people only sign up to reap the benefits on their upcoming stays and never complete their challenges. This finally leads to the demise of the old program which actually imho, was a very generous one as it allowed you to challenge once every 12 months - so essentially you could earn Gold or Plat with greatly reduced stays versus the program official rules would require a whole lot more.

Now thanks to the abuses being so rampant, Marriott finally eliminates the lucrative deal and replaces it with a fairer one (to those who qualify the truly old fashion way).

For several months Marriott completely stopped offering the Challenge of any kind. Lately it sometimes is willing to, but even it is granted, you do not enjoy the benefit until you have successfully completed the challenge.

The term remains the same it so seems - 9 stays for Plat and 6 stays for Gold. One upgrade challenge only. i.e. for Gold, you must be a Silver to start with. for Plat, you must be a Gold to start with.

Happy

Given there are over 25 months from your previous Marriott card app, I would guess you stand a good chance to get another one. Please do report back on the outcome.

Unless you give out the specifics, this does not help anyone. There are conditions to help in getting repeat bonuses. If your prior apps carry such conditions, yeah, you would likely get the bonuses again.

Chase denial postcard (they have long switched from letter to postcard to cut costs) does not come unless you have met the spend. No way to know in advance.

flyer4512

I guess I interpreted this wrong then. Taken from the landing page.

RECEIVE 1 CREDIT TOWARD ELITE STATUS* FOR EVERY $3,000 SPENT ON PURCHASES
Every $3,000 you spend on purchases earns you one additional credit toward Elite status - with no limit to the number of credits you can earn.

The fastest way to achieve Marriott Rewards Elite status

15 Elite credits toward your next membership level after account
approval and every year after account anniversary*
1 Elite credit for every $3,000 spent*




FWIW my last Gold Challenge was in August so I guess they changed the rules recently

flyer4512

I figured people may have been following along my last few posts and if so they know I create a new MR # ( email, address, etc) each time I apply for a MR cc



Bummer, so I guess I buy a $1000 costco GC and see what happens

fenix8o0

Has anyone had success in getting the bonus for both the Premier Rewards and regular Rewards card?

raj_cl

My 1 year anniversary just passed, and the $85 fee is assessed.

How many days do I have to cancel the card so the annual fee is reimbursed?

CSR said 60 days but I guess it's 30 days. Checking from the forum from people who have actual experience.

Thanks!

windcloud5

I think I once heard from Happy that you can't concurrently have multiple Marriott CC if you apply under the same Marriott reward #. So no concurrent Marriott Premier, regular or business card or any of combinations. I personally did not try applying under different Marriott reward #. Maybe that will work, but I don't know. Did anyone have success currently owning multiple Marriot CC?

Happy

Those go to count in the the nights required to qualify the Old Fashion Way only.

Do you know how many nights you need to qualify for a Marriott elite?

It is 50 nights to be Gold. 75 nights to be Plat if I remember it correctly.

50 - 15 is 35. If you try to meet the 35 by spending $3K for each one, you are looking at $105,000 spend in lieu of actual stay if Marriott even let you qualify strictly via spend, versus HHonors $40K spend nets you a Diamond, clearly specified in the benefits of the card. Marriott never specifically says you could earn status solely via spend. All it allows is $3K spend for one night credit.

Realistically, no one would try to qualify Marriott elites by MS because it is simply illogical.

That is why I said the Challenge was a drastically reduced requirement to qualify.

There WAS a way to qualify elites by spending a lot less - thru booking conference / meeting facilities - but that loophole was long been plugged.

As mentioned, the dedicated thread in Marriott forum indicated the old Challenges were stopped in last quarter of 2013. Later it changed to Road to Gold, so you do NOT enjoy any benefits until you FINISH the challenge. Still a reasonable deal if one has enough needed stays anyway. Because it is still the same old 6 and 9 respectively, versus 50 nights and 75 nights the old fashion way!

Happy

Have you read the back of your statement, or if it is online, the small print of page 2? It is right there. 2 statements or 60 days.