I did find it interesting that Marriott has not publicly announced this offer

I usually receive infos from Marriott after they have been posted by FlyerTalkers here:
* about 3 weeks later I might get an email from Marriott
* about 6 weeks later I might get a printed info, sent to Switzerland, in english, and another 2 weeks later I get the same in german ...

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 10-11-2001).]

USA Today had a mention of this offer its Business Travel box in today's paper

In taking freeupgrade's question a tad bit further... I'm not quite interested in the double stays through 01 although the 2X points are great.

However, I have registered for the promo, will use my Visa and am currently MR plat.. I was wondering for stays starting 1/1/02 through 3/31/02 only... will those double stays count towards my 02 MR elite renewal? Or will I only receive double points but a single stay.

The answer will definitely make a difference on how I plan my lodging for the first quarter of the next Calender year.

Just curious if anyone else has heard that answer.

thanx

Unless Marriott changes the terms of the program, they will count. The wording in the the Elite Membership Requirements Terms and Conditions is clear:

• "To achieve or renew elite status, the following number of personal nights must be stayed January 1 through December 31 of any given year at participating locations:
  
  Silver 15 to 49 nights
  Gold 50 to 74 nights
  Platinum 75 or more nights"

http://www.marriottrewards.com/terms/elite.asp

Thus, those nights will count for both years, unless Marriott announces a change. The written word is on our side.

Remember that total nights also goes toward lifetime. I don't know whether they will count, but I assume they will.

I hadn't thought of that; has this question (lifetime) been addressed by MR? Is MR going to be DL and only count actual Base miles (nights) or like AA and count all bonus'? I hope I'm right on the way DL and AA count towards their million miler qualifications ?????

I spoke with Spencer at Marriott Rewards to clarify some things about this promotion.

My important question was to find out IF you sign up for "Double Points, Double Nights" that would disqualify "Reward Weekends"

The answer is NO! You can take part in both promotions. But with "Double Double" you have to request points.

Another point: All Stays earned after October 15 thru December 31 will count toward 2002 status ONLY. Stays from January 1 to March 31, 2002 count towards 2003 status.

So you CANNOT earn credit toward qualification in TWO Years.

Also it's important you register for Double Points, Double nights A.S.A.P. and make sure you realize it's after the SECOND stay and ONLY with VISA stays.

I did not ask about this counting towards lifetime status. Was unaware Marriott had this.

Also a point about the "Rewarding Weekends" promo: those certificates are only good for catagory 1-4 hotels. Make sure you double check what catagory hotel you want to stay before using them. The negative is they are mostly not good at Many Marriotts in the major world cities.

thank you Catman.

Just one correction: in other words the current qualification period (calendar year 2001) is extended by 3 months (until march-2002) and your current status (2001) is valid until march-2002.

It might (hopefully) be, that stays between jan-1 and march-31-2202 (counting double anyway) will count for status in both calendar years (the extended 2001 and again 2002 for the follwong year) so 'in a way' one night during these three nights might count 4 times (twice for each status = calendar year)..

Could you clarify what you were told?

The promotion clearly says: "We recognize the fact that your travel schedule may have been reduced over the past several weeks, so we�re extending the timeframe during which you can renew or achieve elite status through March 31, 2002." Thus, any nights from January 1, 2002 through March 31, 2002 (in addition to all 2001 nights) can be counted in qualifying for 2002 status.

But as you state, "Stays from January 1 to March 31, 2002 count towards 2003 status."

So it sure seems as though nights during those three months count for 2002 status (as outlined in the promotion) and for 2003 status (as outlined in the T&C and in your post).

And, as always, regardless of what you were told, it's clear that the reps don't always have the correct info. (e.g., Remember all of the misinformation about 713/714 awards in the waning days of the old program?)

Does anyone have any details on Marriott lifetime status? I have never heard of it before.

I wish you all safe travels-

Kevin

If they wanted to help us travelers out with qualifying, why did they have to through in the VISA crap. Did VISA give them some marketing bucks or something?

Lifetime: I have never seen this announced. However, I did talk to a rep who looked and was able to find a written reference. I was told that Lifetime Gold (the middle level) requires 2 million points *and* 800 nights.

sbrower,

Were they able to tell you how many nights you have currently for the lifetime status? If so, where in Marriott did you call?

The 2 million points is easy (I'm assuming that's how many accumulated, not currently in your account)-- the 800 nights is alot.

However, I'd love to see where I'm at in getting to that point.

Any info is appreciated.

For all who are interested in the Marriott Rewards lifetime status issue, I suggest you review the following string, which pretty well covers current knowledge of this issue -
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum63/HTML/001050.html

The lifetime status issue is in the bottom half of the string.

Thinking - the Marriott Rewards service center had that information on their computer. But they had to look one or two screens beyond the basic screen. The points is easy - I have already exceeded the requirement. But I have just under 2/3 of the nights, after 14 years of Marriott program.