One of my friends told me, you can take the Platinum Challenge every 2 years.
and lets say he qualifies now, he will get the Platinum status till end of 2020, then he can take the challenge again?

Doesn't seem it is correct?

Some anecdotes back in September 2018 mentioned now you can only do the challenge every 3 years. And that includes unsuccessful challenges.

I know some people might have been able to keep their Platinum status from challenge to challenge, but keep in mind Marriott changes their program all the time. The strategy suggested by your friend relies on Marriott's consistency, which is nonexistent. By the end of 2020, there could even be no more challenges.

To clarify - can you do the Plat challenge at any time during the year (16 stays in X months)? Am I understanding this correctly or no?

Once you request to do the challenge, you have 90 days from the start of the challenge to complete the required nights. Things might change in the future, but it doesn't ever seem to be for the better with loyalty programs.

Oh, fantastic! I wasn't sure if I would reach Plat again this year, but I have about 10 nights of travel coming up in the next 90 days (and can easily fit in 6 more). Thanks!

So, I am in the Platinum Challenge now, about 1/3 of the way there, and I read online now that some people are getting the Platinum challenge at only 9 nights. While I plan on finishing the 16 originally discussed anyway, how likely would it be for them to change it to just the 9 nights, so that I could get the platinum benefits earlier in the year? Do I just call up and ask? I don't want to be rude or ungrateful, just curious. Thanks.

Does the Platinum period from the Challege counts towards life time Platinum?

I assume award stay still counts OUTSIDE of the Challenge?

Tried calling but can’t seem to get consistent info. If I start the challenge today and complete 16 nights in the next 90 days, when will my Plat status expire? Dec 2019 or Dec 2020?

3 part question:

Can someone tell me if award nights count towards the challenge status?

Secondly, if someone uses their points to book me a room, will they count?

thirdly, can the nights have already been booked?

Many thanks!

I am Platinum from last year but will drop to Gold starting February 1st. I want to do a platinum challenge starting now, since I will have 10 days from the 20th to 30th of January. However, the CSR cannot sign me up because he claims I am already Platinum but acknowledges that I will drop to Gold in a few weeks. I find this is silly since I can't get any of those 10 nights applied to my challenge, when I know that for 2019, I don't actually have Platinum but Gold.

Marriott IT is even worse than I give it credit for. Is there any way around this? I am going to get 20 nights right away, but only 10 of those will be in February when my status drops to Gold.

just a guess,
if you finish before feb 19, it will last till feb 20.
if you finish after feb 19, it will last till feb 21

Q1: No. They allowed award nights back in September, but quickly changed the terms. So now the answer is negative.

Q2: Well Q1 is no therefore this's even more so.

Q3: Yes, as long as you stay after you start the challenge. Note it could take 2-3 days to get it started in their system, so don't wait until you check in to call.

For this first question, I can confirm: Nope. Called Marriott in Germany and they do have a tracker how many nights you had for the challenge. I had previously 14 paid nights and 4 award nights and only the 14 nights are counted accordint to the tracker.