It could if you fly a lot on United, and you want free economy plus and free checked bags. Especially with UA now having the minimum spend requirement. I think $800 for UA Silver is a decent deal. A year subscription to Economy Plus is $499, then when you throw in free checked bag, and priority boarding, and one or two business class upgrades (if you get a little lucky), it could make a lot of sense. And actually if you want global economy plus for a year, it's $699.

On the same subject, what extra perks do you get at an RC property for being Platinum, since they will not upgrade to Club Level.

I'm not sure because I rarely stay at Ritz - and by rarely I mean three stays in the past six years. I believe you get free internet.

If you actually do stay at RC, you should get that credit card because it gives you some free club level upgrades. And like someone else said you get the $200 travel credit you get with Amex Plat, so the card is really only $200, and if you use a few club level upgrades it pays for itself.

Nada except free Wifi.

Maybe to get lifetime status? Otherwise there's no point to status if you don't stay in Marriotts.

Recently signed up for MR and the visa card is on the way, obviously looking to get points fast, what is the advantage of gold level? was it worth getting the Marriott visa or the ritz? I like the meeting room idea.

We did a few ballrooms a few years ago , I wonder if i talk to management would they put it on my account you think?

Retroactively? I doubt that.

If I had to start over I'd just get the Ritz card for Gold for the first year then earn the nights via BIB after that.

Gold gets you lounge access, assuming you stay at FS or RENs or JW's, that is the only perk you can really count on. Not at resorts or the lesser brands. And the food offerings & quality vary wildly IME. There are entire stays where I just use the lounge for OJ in the morning and water at night! Your experiences may vary!

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Unless you're close on nights, that would be a LOT of conferences. And then there's the matter of the 2 million points. If you earned 2 million points you've gotta be nipping at the heels of 750 nights…unless you're staying at places with ridiculously high nightly rates.

For example, let's say you're Platinum since Day 1 in the Marriott program. Earning 2 million points (promotions aside) would require a spend of $133,333 -- a bit less if you have the credit card.

At an average rate of $200 a night -- which is on the high side -- that would equate to 667 nights; pretty much right there at the 750 mark. So, I guess if your travel pattern significantly changes to where you go from staying 75 nights a year 9 years in a row to Zero -- yeah go ahead and book some conferences.

As others have said, this method of getting status seems pretty pointless for a large majority of people. Pay $395 a year to get gold via the RC credit card if you need lounge access that bad (you get $200 back in airline credit each year, so the net cost is really $195)


Besides 25% extra points and the paltry welcome gift there isn't much difference btwn gold and plat.

For someone who would otherwise end the year with 40-45 or 65-70 nights, the quick cheap meeting and bump to next status level can be easily worth it.

A $10 food credit or 500 points/stay, plus the extra bonus points, can really add up for those with dozens of stays. And for those without UA status, the bump to free Silver can be valuable, even if used for nothing more than free bags and early boarding on occasion. For Lifetime Status purposes, if you happen to already have the points needed but are low on nights, spending a few hundred bucks to lock in status for many years without worry can be a great value.

It's definitely not great for everyone, but an extremely good deal for some.

If you got Gold via the Ritz card, would you then need 25 night to PLT or still the entire 75?

I'm not familiar with all the perks of the Ritz card, but typically being gifted status does not reduce the number of nights needed to earn/renew status. Some cards do gift you nights to help you get status quicker. Check the terms and see what it says.

Automatic Gold Status for your first year. Spend at least $10,000 on the card in additional years to maintain Gold status -- there is no night requirement.

If you want to go for Platinum you must stay 75 nights. It's not like the Marriott card that posts promotional nights to your account. The RC card does not give you any night credit for having it or for spend.

BTW...I heard from the Platinum desk that they were "considering" adding a benefit to the card where if you spent $75,000 a year they would give you Platinum status. However, that was in June of last year and I haven't seen/heard anything about it since. I know they were reviewing the card's benefits last summer -- I got invited to a focus group on it in NYC. Maybe there's some changes coming or maybe they are deciding to leave it as-is.

Ahh yes, good point on the UA status. I wonder how long that will last….

If you have the MR credit card, thats 15 EQN's
so you could do this for $600 to get plat if you can find the $100 C/Rs

lets assume that you can find $100 C/Rs

you probably could knock this down to $500 if you only stay 10 nights a year and I'm also going to assume one stays at a FS Marriott or equiv. as there isn't any tangible benefit to me at any other brand

in addition you get the UA benefit so if you are a UA part time flyer (I'm not) that has as others have shown a tangible benefit so your out of pocket cost is quite minimal

then factor in the credit to lifetime and I'd go out on a limb and say anything at $500 or less is probably worth it (again assuming you fly UA which I do not)

at what point is it worth it for a FS marriott person but less than 50.. that is the question (also factor in if you have the CC)

My personal amount would be, if I could get to 40 revenue nights and have the CC, I'd definitely do it at $200 I'd have to think about it at 30 nights + CC at $300 though - again, I don't get a UA benefit since I do not fly them