Pratima Ramkhelawan

I am about 20K point shy of Lifetime Platinum at Marriott. I had the Chase Marriott Visa card but they just cancelled that for Canada. That has been replaced with an offer for the SPG Amex which offers a bonus of 25K SPG (or equivalent of 75K Rewards).
Two questions:
1. Does the 75K count earned "reward" points or only SPG... i.e. does it help me get towards my Lifetime Platinum status. From what i can tell it does not. Does anyone know for sure?
2. Assume the SPG Amex does NOT count towards Rewards points, ...I dont stay at hotels for business much anymore so the Chase Visa was my primary mechanism for earning points that counted towards lifetime status. What are your suggestions on the best way to get about 20K reward points in the next few months that would qualify towards lifetime status? I know you can buy them.. would cost me about $250 US (which might worth it) but trying to figure out another way. I am in Canada so I cannot get any of the US credit cards. I am trying to get to lifetime platinum before they announce any changes to both programs.

Major G

All points, except SPG transferred points, count for lifetime status. The CC bonus should be the easiest way for you to reach your goal.

mahasamatman

Welcome to FT, Pratima Ramkhelawan!

Earning though hotels, rental cars, referrals, and the shopping portals are the most likely sources.

Please re-read the OP. The CC bonus does not apply, as those points are SPG points.

Seabilly

SPG points will convert to Marriott points but do not increase your lifetime points. You could also do some vacation stays at Marriott properties, but if the cost to just buy them outright is $250, that is properly cheaper unless you had a spouse or family member or other who would be willing to give you the points.

drew in the air

Have Chase ultimate reward points or airline frequent miles like United? Can transfer those to Marriott points.

joeags

He's Canadian and can't get US CCs, so the Ultimate Rewards points are going to be a no go. United could work, but as far as I remember, you have to be silver elite or higher to do that, (as well as having the points!!) so that's probably out for OP also.

The cheapest option would be just buying the points outright for $250USD, unless he knows somebody willing to gift him 20K points. Transferred points do count in your total, but not in the transferer's total (oops, as Seabilly said). Hotel stays are going to run much more than $250USD - if you don't need the status right away, perhaps wait towards the end of the year to see if they have any good stay bonuses that you could take advantage of. The 2K after your 1st stay won't help much in this case!

darthbimmer

Check your assumptions, Pratima.

1) There's no committed date for when Marriott Rewards terms will change.

2) There's no promise that Marriott Rewards terms will change materially. (Remember, Marriott is the acquiring company, so the resulting combined program is more like to resemble the current MR than the current SPG.)

3) There's no promise that the qualification requirements for lifetime status will change even if other parts of the MR program are changed materially.

4) Finally, if you don't stay at Marriott hotels often enough anymore to see an obvious path toward earning 20k points from stays, how important is it for you to raise your LT status from gold to platinum, really?

DJ_Iceman

I was thinking it, but glad to see someone else say it. There is a VERY obvious path to earning 20k points, which is to stay at a Marriott hotel and spend a little bit of money.

mahasamatman

But I would guess that who are already LTP will likely be in a better position than those who aren't. If I was that close, I'd go for it, too.

10-15 points per dollar isn't all that efficient.

drew in the air

I mentioned united as an example. I think there are multiple airline transfer miles. Aeroplan is another one.

darthbimmer

Efficiency's not relevant. The point was, anyone active enough with MR to legitimately care about the difference between LTG and LTP should be able to earn 20k points no sweat between now and EOY. In just the past four weeks, for example, I have earned more than double that from stays and stay-related bonuses.

mahasamatman

We're so proud of you. And I'll bet someone else is paying for all your stays, too. The OP is not so lucky as to get all his travel for free.

VA1379

The OP is experiencing some anxiety over the possibility that Marriott may change the rewards program. Right now, there isn’t much difference between gold and platinum at Marriott. That may change, but I doubt it will. Even if it does change, it won’t happen until next year at the earliest.

CJKatl

It's easy to say things like "Marriott will not make any large changes ... without giving some notice" or point out that things probably won't change that much when you are not the one close to LTP who would suffer the negative impact should things change significantly. The OP would rather have one in hand than two in the bush which is understandable. And even if his stays right now might not trigger the needs points, obviously he has had many stays in the past and is likely savvy enough to understand why he would want lifetime status for the future, so nobody should question that. Heck, if for a measly 20k MR points I could have the guaranteed reservation, the extra points and the welcome gift for the next twenty years I'd go for it too.

VA1379

I suggested he wait until closer to the end of the year simply because he won’t need to buy as many points if he ends up taking a trip. From a logistical perspective, a mid year revamp of the awards program is highly unlikely. The greatest risk is if Marriott introduces another published elite level above platinum and restricts complimentary club lounge access to platinum and higher level members. That change would affect a lot of people, and I cannot see them making a mid year surprise announcement like that. It is more disruptive than raising the number of points needed for a free night.

They are going to merge the programs at some point after this year. Why would they change the existing program when it most likely won’t be around next year? They would have to retrain reservation and customer service employees twice. I don’t see them doing that.

OP has lifetime gold, and it would cost him $1600 to earn 20k points at most Marriott properties ($3200 at Residence Inn) plus any taxes and fees. I’m excluding any points earned from systemwide promotions, property specific promotions, rates that offer extra points (any rate that allows extra points at less than 1.25 cents cost including taxes would be worth it), check in bonus points from drawings or other promotional giveaways, and any points for customer service issues.

The only reasons I would buy the points now is if he is planning to stay at a Starwood property so he can get lifetime platinum and match it to SPG platinum or if he is planning to fly on United Airlines so he can get United Silver if he doesn’t have any status on United. In both of those cases, he would gain something of value by having platinum status right now as an infrequent traveler.