Checking in online [and then not actually staying]
 

I may fall short of platinum by about 4-6 nights this year. If I find a cheap hotel in some far away land, can I check in online and bypass the desk all together? Trying to find the cheapest option to keep my status even though I’ve received almost no room upgrades worthwhile all year. In Paris last week I got a free redbull drink. They can shove the complimentary $6 credit up their ... because I’m not staying there again.

The answer is no. You need to "stay and pay" to get elite nights from a hotel stay. That means you need to check in personally at the property. Using online check-in and then not actually showing up doesn't work.

You may find anecdotal evidence that it worked for someone else. However, most likely, the hotel will treat you as a no-show. You'll be charged, but you won't get elite nights.

No, it won't work as per the rules, you have to physically occupy the room to get credit. Truth is, Marriott doesn't really care how many nights you stay at its hotel, they care about how profitable a customer you are. Marriott uses number of nights as a general proxy for profitability. The number of nights is a less on-the-nose way of determining profitability than money spent. More profitable customer = more valuable customer = more perks that Marriott will provide to keep them. If your plan were allowed, Marriott would have many more people who could artificially elevate their status without them generating sufficient revenue according to Marriott's internal metrics. Your best bet is likely a mattress run. Find the cheapest property near you (cash, points or any combination which works for you), check-in, mess up the room a little, hang the DND sign, then go home. One caveat, you have to factor in that many hotels, even those without daily housekeeping, will perform a welfare check every so many days, usually around every 3rd day. If housekeeping discovers that you have not been in the room, it is possible, even likely, that you will be checked out of the room. The safest way to avoid this is every day return to the hotel and use the room. That may be a pain, Alternatively, you can tell the front desk that you are using the hotel as a base of operations, that you will be staying at another hotel for days 2 - 5 and please don't check you out of the room. That way, when the hotel does its welfare check, you won't be checked out of the room.

Are you sure? It is not even April 15th.:confused:

This was my first thought as well. I don't even know where I'm staying next month, let alone Q3...Q4.

Paraphrasing the OP... "I want to do 4-6 mattress run nights because all I get for my status is drink coupons. Screw them...." :confused:

Right... skip the mattress run and head over the 7-11 or similar store and buy your drink outright ;)

Marriott's online check in (and especially Mobile Key, which is what you really need to skip the desk) work so rarely that its doubtful this would work.

I got my mobile key after being at the front desk to show my ID and my CC.

seriously, I was given a free rebbull in Paris a few weeks ago at the courtyard. Yes all my travel is laid out for the year with my company so that how I know I will fall short by a few days. I also hold Hilton Diamond too although that will be downgraded to gold this year. Company cut our travel expenses this year.

I haven’t received a suite upgrade anywhere this year.

Your HH D would either have downgraded by now or downgrade March 2024. As others said, a red bull in Paris might cost you 3 EUR in a hotel and 1,5 elsewhere, which is a lot cheaper than doing a mattress run. The $ you use for mattress run can buy you enough red bulls that you can at least take a foot bath in them.

If your mind is set for mattress run, do it in a proper way by taking a weekend trip somewhere to actually sleep in a Marriott to get those nights. If someone here said "You can bypass front desk check-in at Hotel A", and later you found out that it wasn't possible and they charged you for no-show. You will lose out $ and get nothing in return. All our experience here is YMMV so it might be correct when we were there but you never know whether that still stands when you check-in.

I got 1 upgrade so far this year as LTP - I asked using chat because I really needed the space to pack before flying home. Fortunately it was a slow day at that hotel so I got a one bedroom suite.

Why does a suite upgrade matter on business? You aren’t paying and why would anyone need the space when alone? I have 1600 nights, Lifetime Titanium and only stay for leisure and pay myself. A suite is handy for me as husband is disabled and is impossible to sleep in same room on many occasions. Sometimes I just pay for two rooms. I ask nicely where I know there are multiple suites and I sometimes get one as the managers are amazed at the nights I have stayed as a leisure traveler

I'm an attorney. A suite on business works very well.

• More space to spread out papers, files, etc.
• Private place to meet clients

It really depends on whether you have an office at the place you visit. Mr's business trips are going to have meetings in the overseas offices so he uses the hotel to basically sleep and shower (he works a lot when he is out), as he usually travels with his colleagues so he has dinner with them after work and then go to the hotel to basically sleep, no time for the gym either.

A previous poster opined that suite upgrades were pointless on business trips. My response was that the need (let alone desire) for a suite upgrade varies based upon the individual's circumstances and we cannot make broad statements. In my case, as an attorney, I routinely work remotely and even on business trips, I meet with international business partners. Having a one bedroom suite allows me to have a video Teams or Zoom meeting with Europe at 2am from the comfort of my suite. Without a suite, I'd either lose the video or have to leave the suite, which is fine at 9am, less so at 2am.