Hi

Staying in the Marriot brand for the first time.

Is there any Elite status upgrades or anything like that out there?

I am in Hong Kong (I have HSBC Premier, and an American Express card).

I was able to use HSBC premier to get GOLD on SPG.

Hoping for something similar around for Marriot Rewards.

Many Thanks

There are a couple ways to get Marriott status other than staying the required nights:

United and Marriott have a relationship that if you have gold or higher status on United you can get gold with Marriott.

Status Match. The status goes into effect right away and you have it for the duration of the match.

I don't think Marriott does status match any longer.

Cheers.

You mean taste of gold/plat challenge. Much harder to get than road to gold/plat.

Marriott has 3 elite statuses:

Stay 10 nights for Silver. Not much to this, just 20% extra points

Stay 50 nights for Gold. This is a big step up from silver but gets big rewards at FS brands (Marriott/JW/Renaissance/Autograph) including guaranteed free wifi, breakfast and lounge access. Room upgrades too, subject to availability, don't expect suites though!

Stay 75 nights for Platinum which really simply adds extra points.

You need to be Gold but the only way to get there besides staying the nights is with a credit card and only the v. Expensive Ritz Carlton credit card gives Marriott Gold. Not available outside USA, alas.

As others have pointed out, ringing Marriott for a status challenge may get you upgraded. There are 2 offers:

1. Road to Gold. Stay 6 times in 2/3 months for Gold. Status only kicks in when you complete the stays.

2. Taste of Gold. Immediate status upgrade to Gold for 2 or 3 months which to keep for the rest of the year must complete 6 stays.

The taste of gold used to be uniformally offered to anyone who asked. Now it's much tougher. Your best chance to get offered the taste is to have a screenshot showing lots of stays with a competitor, or to reserve lots of stays on Marriott and then call asking for the taste on the basis of the multitude of stays you already have booked. Neither are guaranteed to work. You're far more likely to be offered the Road to Gold

I think it's case by case. I saw in the Chinese FT that someone who is an RA with IHG and stayed over 200+ nights/year in only IC hotels, and he sent him statements listing how a big customer he is. Marriott matched him into Plat.

Definitely case by case. I got my co-worker the taste of plat challenge a couple weeks ago by calling into the Plat desk

It's probably case by case, but challenges are different than status match.

Cheers.