M$ for status?
 

It is a no no to M$ to achieve status for a hotel chain?

I need to spend around $24k by the end of the calendar year to achieve gold status.

I've already been though an FR, so hopefullyl my account doesn't get flagged again.

I think it's worth it. Hilton diamond isn't the greatest, but you get the occasional upgrade and always get lounge access. SPG Plat seems intriguing.

Gold status where?

In general for mid tier status, I wouldn't bother unless you have a really easy/MS friendly strategy. Gold with Hilton comes automatically with the Citi Hilton Reserve card and Amex Plat with no spend requirement, you can get Gold with SPG/Marriott with the Plat by doing nothing other than linking your accounts.

I don't think it's a no-no. It depends on how much you value that status, and that's an individual decision. If the status is worth more to you than the alternative ways you could MS, I'd say go for it. Think in terms of benefit versus opportunity cost.

I confess that I wanted some additional elite nights credit, so I did some MS with my Marriott card to reach Marriott Plat (and now SPG Plat and United Silver as well). I could have used a 2% cashback card instead, but the status is valuable to me.

If you're close enough, I can see how it'd be worth it. I feel like it depends on how close you are, and what status you're gunning for.

I'd consider MSing for Marriott/SPG Plat. But for gold? nah. It's easily obtainable with zero effort.

I'm MSing my Amex Hilton to get gold status. I figure I'll give it a try this year as it'll build my Hilton stash, and then if my current MS methods remain available, then I'll probably upgrade to surpass in 2017 for instant gold and try to MS for diamond.

It works well for me because I can get the points at virtually 0% cost, and I have one random Hampton Inn that is Category 2 and I can get it for 10,000 points, whereas it could cost $130-$160 per night. So that is a lot of value for me.

I also have a mortgage coming up and I was trying to get back below 5/24, so my goal was to do the best I can based on the cards I have.

How do you get SPG platinum status through spending on the card? I thought you can only get to Gold by spending and to get to Platinum, you have to have hotel stays.

Spend 75k on the Ritz card per year

30k for a calendar year gets gold with $pg business right?

Yes.

And SPG Gold begets Marriott Gold as well if you link your accounts.