The "50" Factor
 

With 48 nights for 2020 and status extended, is there any benefit racking up 2 more nights before year end?

Only if you want the SNAs or 5 EQN toward lifetime.

Appreciate the insight. 2 cheap nights at the Fairfield Inn it is!

Who knows what Marriott will do in 2021 and if it depends on you having a full 50/75 nights in 2020. Better be safe than sorry.

+1.

And you are guaranteed to have another Platinum year for lifetime purposes, in case Marriott decides that comped status holders haven't "earned" one.

A masterstroke of a promotion by Marriott, the amount of threads/people asking this exact question on social is very prevalent.

They have a ton of people mattress running this month I reckon, expect Q4 numbers to beat expectations!

I feel like that's more to do with people feeling like it's a bit odd. I certainly do personally, unless you're out for SNA's/lifetime nights. I somewhat doubt Marriott will include qualification in 2020 towards anything for 2021 or beyond, if that were going to happen they would have announced it back when they gave out all the free nights. I'd guess for 2021 if things don't pick back up early, there will be another round of stimulus nights.

Doubtful. I think your far overestimating the importance of elite-level frequent guests to individual hotels. Additionally, any "mattress runs" that happen at the end of the year would already be factored into the revenue management algorithms of the software that is used to create projections.

Granted, the pandemic is likely wreaking havoc on the revenue management software. But, I doubt that the patterns this year are all that different from a "normal" year.

Paging P.T. Barnum.

To paraphrase the above two responses: no, there's no value!

Unless they expected this, which I would expectthey would have !

Drop in the bucket. I highly doubt that "a ton of people" are doing any substantial, status relation travel action this year. At the same time Marriott really does turn away a lot of members who do travel in normal patterns by not running a promotion in NOV/DEC 2020.

With it for the 5 SNA’s, if you can find somewhere easy and cheap for the adt. 2 nights

Totally agree. I did 11 stays during the last promotion (all staycations) but since the promotion ended I’ve only done 1 I think. 3 nights to go to get to 50 - I’ll do them in the last week of December but that’s all I’m up for. A promotion (eg double nights) would have encouraged me to consider going for Tit but it’s too late for that now.

Similar position for 2020. Currently Tit at 68 and trying to decide if 75 is worth it. I can pick up rooms near ORD for $64 a night, and had the RC Chicago not closed down until March 2021, family would have enjoying the weekends in the city to make up the difference instead.

First world problems...

I am Lifetime Titanium and have 68 nights. Decided a couple of months ago I wouldn't hit 75 nights this year, the threshold to get a FNA (Free Night Award). So my last two stays (both 1 night) were at a Holiday Inn Express since it was in a more convenient location and a lower point cost to boot. At the time I wondered if I had made the right decision. Now with the end of the year in sight, I know I did make the correct decision. No way I would have gone beyond 70 nights this year.

Full disclosure, even if Marriott had run some mega promo, it is very unlikely I would have stayed more nights this year. So while the lack of meaningful promotions is still frustrating, it is mainly an academic exercise for me. For others who are still travelling, I can easily see how it has translated into lost business for Marriott. Hopefully by mid next year, the world will be well on the way back to normal and normal travel can resume safely. YMMV....

--Jon

Best advice. It's bargain week at the airport area hotels. Worth getting to the threshold. Was going to push for Titanium this year, but recently could not even get a coffee at a recent Autograph Collection hotel.

What am I missing here???

The benefits of UA Premier Silver, if you would not have otherwise had them.

The expectation that full Marriott Bonv°y Titanium Elite benefits will be restored someday, perhaps while we still have status.

The speculation on my part about the possible restoration of new qualifications for Lifetime Titanium Elite, perhaps requiring 10 years in that status and 1,000 nights.

Not all hotels offer crappy benefits. I stayed at 5 different Marriott hotels across Canada this summer and got full restaurant breakfast at all of them. There was a 6th property I was supposed to go to, but cancelled my reservation when I found out about the brown bag breakfast.

I hope youy informed the hotel why you were cancelling the booking? As a public service, you should name and shame that hotel right here

Residence Inn Gravenhurst (north of Toronto). I don’t think too many people want to go there. :)

Sounds like a pretty grave property...

- However, there is a good chance that a cheap airport hotel would have a mediocre breakfast. This Aug I did stay one night in Courtyard Dulles Airport Herndon on a rate that included breakfast. I was given a brown bag with a small (100 ml?) apple juice, small prepackaged muffin of the cheapest supermarket kind, and a banana. I was also told to prepare coffee in my room using the coffeemaker there. But Westin Hilton Head provided nice hot breakfast at the restaurant and so was Westin Cozumel.
Coming back to the initial question, I would probably do a mattress run of a few nights to get PLT but not for the 5 suite rewards. I am lifetime Titanium with 74 nights right now and 3 more nights booked with Sheraton till the year end. Rest 7 nights are with Hilton because they still run a promotion.

Autograph hotel. Keurig pods removed from the rooms. Staff couldn't locate any at front desk, all restaurant facilities were closed down. I get that there is no symmetry between hotels and lounge access, but basic food perks are so vastly different between properties and even within the same brand. Expectations between a Fairfield and an Autograph are of course slightly different - just think there should be a little consistency amongst the brands.

Which Autograph is this?

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I have 47 nights this year. I am done travelling for work and for fun. Some Marriott hotels in my are are for $75/ night tax-in. So $225 to get 5 suites or 5 elite nights.

Is it worth it mattress running 3 night/$225 for 5 suite nights? My business travel will be severely curtailed next year as well so I may take the elite-night credits instead. But I will probably take a vacation for a month so suite awards may be handy.

On the other hand, platinum perks like lounge, breakfast, upgrades with Marriott will be like 2020. There is no rationale for high end hotels to offer platinum amenities like cocktails and food and full service breakfast when their house is @ 15% and most of that is OTA bookings. And TBH the lounges in Northern North America are awful, including the ones that try to be nice. These hotels are struggling and they're pivoting to volume over high-yield stays, because that traffic is gone and not coming back for a while, if forever. So I may as well stay at a self-service hotel like most Marriotts and 4points+aloft, where SNA are of no use.

But 5 elite nights seems like way lower value to the suites. But also $225 in my pocket can get me 1-2 nights somewhere. 4-5 if I really game it.

Also, if I get 50 nights this year, that counts as another platinum year for lifetime purposes?

TBH I don't think I'll go for 50.

expedia rewards has been VERY rewarding for me this year. very very good program and a huge competitive threat (but also maybe an opportunity?) to hotel chains. this is an understated threat while airbnb is an overstated one imo. i'm a marriott plat and had a year to philander around and it has been very nice.

Be careful when choosing elite nights. IIRC they always count for the year in which the choice benefit is earned, namely 2020 in this case, which would put you at Plat with 55 nights.

50 nights achieved. Which would you choose in the current environment. 5 nights or 5 SNA's and why?
Happy Holidays. Would really like Marriott to make some progress with lounge access in whatever diluted form as an incentive towards shooting for Titanium.

I would just pick 5 SNA since 5 elite nights appears to be less valuable unless you are close to lifetime.

as for making progress on lounge access, are you saying Marriott should scrap platinum lounge access and make it for titaniums and above? If that happens, there will be pitch forks out on FT even before they make that kind of announcement :p.

I would say a good trade off is full breakfast instead of platinum lounge access but I’m in the (very) minority.

5 nights if in any way relevant for Lifetime counter. Otherwise the equally worthless SNA's.

Five nights count for the current year, so you would finish this year at 55 nights. IMO they're only valuable if someone is close to 70 nights or is extremely close to a lifetime status and has already earned the required number of years at elite status.

In the cases cited, the five nights are "extremely" valuable in crossing a finish line.

But gaining extra yardage is also valuable near the beginning or middle of a marathon — even if the payoff is not immediate, and there is a chance it could have been wasted if eventually you Did Not Finish (DNF).

Agreeing with others in that, unless you foresee opportunities to use SNAs outside USA next year, 5 elite nights is a better selection if you are gunning for lifetime status.

David

Not AT ALL! Making progress as in reopening the lounges in a modified form conducive to today's environment. I do like that perk, even for a quiet place to have a cappuccino.

As skywalkerLAX says though, "if in any way relevant" -- for me I have 3 years as Plat and 306 lifetime nights. Lifetime Plat requires 10 years, so if I have 7 more years of Plat then necessarily I will also have 7x50 = 350 nights and 306+350 > 600 already. So it would make no sense for me to pick 5 elite nights *solely* for lifetime qual reasons.

Thus for me if the choice is between 5 elite nights that have 0% chance of being useful in 7 years or SNAs that have 1% chance of being useful now, I'll still take the SNAs :p (but I have taken the elite nights to get from 70 -> 75 for the 40k cert). Sure, the 0% isn't truly 0%, they might bring back Lifetime Tit or something, but the 1% isn't really 1% either...

Bottom line, need to do the math to see whether potential lifetime qualification will be constrained by years or nights.