Platinum VS. Gold

Just had my 50 night this year and will easily reach 70 by years end. Should I push it to the 75 nights to make Platinum or am I better off staying under the 75 nights and having the other nights rollover.

What are the biggest advantages to Platinum vs. Gold

The biggest difference I could find is the platinum force when a hotel is sold out. That and a few more points. Other than that, meh. Upgrades beyond club level are not so common. With 20 nights to rollover I'd say roll 'em and go for plat next year.

Some may disagree, but other than the 48 hour guaranteed room and the plat arrival gift (I always take the 500 points), I don't see much out of platinum that is better than gold. Gold gets concierge lounge access, guaranteed room type, and EEO's. Plat gets their own phone line, not sure if it's thats anything to care about.

One unwritten benefit that has been referenced on Flyertalk is the soft landing from platinum to gold - if you make plat status for 2010 and don't stay enough nights in 2010 for gold status in 2011, the soft landing means you would be gold regardless. That might be a good reason to get platinum this year if you can (though it's an unofficial benefit, so Marriott can do whatever they please with the soft landings in the future). If you know you are doing 55+ nights next year then the 20 rollover nights is nothing to frown at.

Also, marriott uses the rolling year to do status qualifications as well, so if you have stays planned early next year and your 70 night were towards the end of this year, you could get platinum status midway through 2010 if at any point you have 75 nights or more in a year's time. You would then get plat status through the end of 2011, and probably gold through the end of 2012.

There is definitely more availability for rooms on points at least earlier this year..

Here are a couple of past threads on this topic that might be of interest:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-platinum.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...vel-worth.html

I think I've been one here who typically downplays the benefits of Platinum. With Marriott, Gold is where the "meat" is - EEO's, lounge, a room type guarantee that, for me, always works.

On paper, Plat adds the availability guarantee, 2 extra points per dollar, and the welcome amenity. I personally have found the availability guarantee useless - I've only tried to invoke it 2 or 3 times and it has not worked. I'm more complimentary of the welcome amenity: I actually enjoy having a snack and wine delivered to the room. Some properties do the minimum: a half-bottle of Meridien. But many others deliver a full bottle or something more interesting.

I'd say on 19 out 20 stays the property does nothing to really distinguish Gold from Plat. Gold means you'll generally have a good stay. Then, on the 20th stay, someone will do something very nice - an extra amenity of some sort, an exceptional upgrade, etc. It's easy to criticize Marriott-wide corporate policies here on FT - I have to remind myself not to forget the thoughtful, competent hotel employees out there who still do the little extra things beyond what's required.

Check your rolling calendar, pick up the MR Visa if you don't have it already, and then see if you'll still need more EQN. You will likely find that you can hit Plat without doing anything unusual or wasting money on totally unneeded stays.

Actually 2.5 extra points per dollar at FS props. This IS the best benefit of Platinum IMO. This alone is an extra 50K point per year for me.

Second is the 48 hour Platinum Override which I have used a few times, but have only found out about it when I go back to check rates and get the message Platinum Override previously invoked.

Last would be the Platinum arrival gift. This only adds an extra 5000-7500 points a year to my total as I generally take the points as I can either get all the food and drink I want in the lounge, or in the case of resorts that have no lounge then I will take the gift if I plan on being in the room, or the points if I don't. OT: Now when they add free HSIA access as an option then that will be another story, although they probably won't do it for the duration of ones stay. If they do then I will clean up as my stays range form 5-21 nights.

For the OP, a lot depends on how many nights you plan on staying at Marriott properties in 2010. If you are going to stay 75+ nights anyway, or 60+ nights if you get the MR Prem Visa, then no need for the rollover nights. I wouldn't go out of my way earning Plat as you will probably get it on the rolling calendar anyway.

Doing close to 90% of my Marriott stays outside the US i found there was a significant change in treatment once i made it to Plat. While Gold does guarantee the published benefits Plat seems to add some sort of flexibility when it comes to bending rules.

I had a case where I used the Plat override to book a FS in a town with only a FS Marriott - no other Marriott Brands. Due to delayed flight, I ended up not arriving to the hotel until near midnight. They had given my room away, and ended up walking me. That was a big payday, as back then:
1. They had to pay for my room at the Brand H property I was walked to.
2. Pony up $200.00 cash.
3. Give me certs for 2 free nights at any Marriott.

When I came back to the FS Marriott the following day, they checked me in, gave me a sweet suite and comp'd breakfast for the rest of the stay.

Nice payday.

Room guarantee.....very worth it to me.

I may be confused about rollover nights, but I thought the number of rollover nights is the delta between nights during 2009 and the nights necessary to renew whatever status one started with in 2009.

For example, I started as Gold (a 50 nite requirement). I'm platinum now, on account of the rolling year policy, and anticipate 65 nites for 2009. So, I anticipate 15 rollover nights, n'est-ce pas?

If this agoritm is accurate, getting to 75 nites should not act to diminish OP's rollovers nights. If OP started at Plat, there would be 0 rollover nites, if Gold, there would be 25, if silver, 65. "hitting" 75 nights (as opposed to 70) would not have any effect of diminishing the rollover nites.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

You're plat now, and I believe you would only get the rollover nights above that level. In your case, zero.

You're wrong. Marriot Conceirge addressed this in the rollover thread. Its your status at the end of the year.

I agree with the previous posters, Gold is where the real meat is, but PLT does sometimes have benefits, I have found in the last year as PLT I've been upgraded more often and to a suite on 2 or 3 occasions.

The PLT overide is more difficult to quantify, I know its worked for me twice as I tried later on to book a second room and the website refused as PLT overide already invoked, the only way to be sure if you've got that is to search without revealing your status, then search again after logging in. For all I know I may have used the overide 15 or 20 times this year, or just those two. By memory I did find my hotels unavailable quite often before making PLT and its never happened since, so it could be quite a sizeble benefit. As a matter of interest, one time the PLT overide was triggered I actually received a double upgrade on arrival, bearing in mind its used when the hotel is full, it seemed odd, but VERY welcome. The room (JW in London) was a treat!

I have never needed to invoke the room guarantee, but the message on the confirmation is always reassuring.

I only use the PLT line to book my EEO's (which both Gold and Plt get) simply because thats the only way to redeem them. I've found no difference in speed of response, or annoyingness (is that a real word?) of the system generated messages, so I don't see any real plus there.

The PLT arrival gift can be very welcoming, with some offering a wider choice (JW's especially). As most of my stays are quite short I mostly take the points, adding more than 10,000 to my total!

The extra 2 points per $ (used to be 13 points per $ for PLT but increased to 15 per $) means that the effect of the devaluation has been cancelled out, at least on the points I've earned this year. Before I started this post I felt it was the major benefit, and the rest wasn't worth that much, but I do have to say the whole package of extras is quite good and makes Marriott just that tad bit more attractive than it was. The point is the benefits do actually really help the frequent traveller, so are aimed right... Although free breakfasts at weekends AND in resorts would be a VERY welcome addition, if concierge is lurking!

Lastly, the rollover, a benefit to all members, but like tvetter01 and Jan_az I would concur, the rollover is based upon your status at year end, so if you make PLT on 65 nights (assuming you've been made up on the "rolling year" basis) you'll have no nights to rollover into 2010, but if you end the year on Gold at 65 nights, you'll rollover 15 into 2010. Likewise, if you dont make PLT during the year having done 74 nights, you'll then have 24 nights to start your assault in 2010. I know that Marriott has in the past comped PLT to Golds who get perilously close to PLT, whether that would be so welcome to Golds who'd prefer their rollover to 2010 remains to be seen, especially if they fear they wont make the 50 nights in 2010, but then again the "soft landing" referred to by goldenbear should give them no cause for distress!

That thread is old and outdated. Plat today has some advantages but I wouldn't break my back achieving it. Don't get me wrong I easily achieve it with about 150 nights but Hyatt is calling me back so choose your Rewards Programs wisely.