I am seeking some advice. This year, I recently changed jobs halfway through the year. My previous job had me traveling 45 or so weeks/year up and down the East Coast. I easily hit Diamond with Hilton and Platinum with Marriott. My new job, I will be traveling a little less but should still be able to hit top-tier status with both. My issue is, I had a big gap where I was off the road due to training for the new job. That put me behind and I hit Gold, but won't hit Platinum by the end of the year.

My question is this: Do I call and see if they will give me the one-time bump? I realize that I could only do this once (assuming they would even do it). My hesitation is that I would have a number of rollover nights if I don't call. I know that rollover nights end after this year, so do I just accept my Gold status, take my rollover nights and just hit Platinum next year. I assume that if I call and they agree to the bump, I won't be able to then rollover nights toward next year.

Advice?

if it's so important to you just use points to buy it back

If you've atleast 9 stays coming up by end of March 2018 (not night - stays) - you can opt for platinum challenge if they decline to give you bump. You'll receive platinum status till Feb 2020.

To piggyback on this, if you have stays before the end of the year but the nights don't post until the new year, do those nights still count as 2017 nights for rollover?

Yes, these nights would count for the 2017 calendar year.

If you have been platinum for the past year(s) Marriott will probably afford you a (very) soft landing (read: extension of your platinum status for another year without meeting the required threshold this year). If this doesn't help, you can call and ask for a challenge (9 stays or 18 nights - your choice) to become platinum again soon. Buying back status may not be optimal since points used for a buyback are permanently deducted from your lifetime points balance.

If you are currently Platinum, and only have enough nights this year to reach Gold, how will you have rollover nights? Thought you had to exceed current year status to reach rollover night potential?

channonc,

When you say you "hit Gold," what exactly does that mean?

Does that mean you're currently Platinum, but you only had enough nights in 2017 to qualify for Gold in 2018?

Or does that mean you failed to re-qualify for Platinum in 2016; you've been Gold all of 2017; and you have enough nights to re-qualilfy for Gold for 2018, but not to return to Platinum?

Rollover nights are based on your status on December 31, so it makes a big difference if your status will be Gold or Platinum on December 31.

What is your current status (not the status you expect to be at the beginning of 2018)?

Yes, if you are Plat, or reach it by year-end, you will need more the 75 EARNED (not counting previous rollover) nights before getting any rollover nights posted to your account next year.

How close do you expect to be by the end of year? If within a night or two, there is a good chance they will extend your status. If within 10 nights, then I'd suggest doing a meeting room and get the 10-night credit that way.

Also, if the new job travel is going to ramp up pretty quickly, taking the drop to Gold (IF it happens) and then getting your 75 nights in as quickly as possible may not be that bad.

You can call and ask. Not sure if the phone customer service agent will have the ability to bump you up or not, but it shouldn't hurt to ask.

And 2 things to note with Marriott. First, Gold gets most of the same benefits as Plat. So dropping down to Gold probably won't be that much different for you in terms of benefits received. Second, if a member has a "history" of making a certain elite level (i.e. Plat/Gold) Marriott has been known to automatically keep folks at their current elite level for a year even when they didn't have the nights to keep that level. It is a very nice move on Marriott's part and probably part of the reason they can have a higher nights threshold for Gold/Plat than most of their competitors do.

Sorry, I should have provided more details. I am currently Platinum now. I will end the year with 62 nights, qualifying me for gold in 2018 and 12 rollover nights. I've been platinum the past 8 years.

If you are now Platinum, and you drop to Gold at the beginning of 2018, you will have ZERO rollover nights.

Unfortunately, status buy back is gone for 2018.

You could do two meetings before year end for 20 nights credit.

Or hope that Marriott soft-lands you to Platinum.

Or do the challenge in 2018.

Thanks all for the advice. I have one final stay coming up over Christmas (24-28). I'll call in January when I return.

I should have mentioned that I also hold the credit card. (not sure if this makes a difference).