The Race to 2.0MM Points is On!
 

There are many of us out there who are at or very near the night and years of elite status requirement to make the one-time LTPP for the combined program. However, we are short the 2.0 MM points to do so by either 1 Aug or 31 Dec depending on who you believe. I thougth I would start a separate thread to stregize how to make enough points for this lifetime cutoff. I personally am at 1.6MM and wondering if it is possible. Here are some techniques and speculation on others. Please add to the list:
1. Buy 50k points from Marriott.
2. Get 50k points gifted to you from a spouse's account.
3. Get the 75K offered with the Chase CC. Probably impossible to churn this with the Chase rules.
4. Convert 50K UA miles into Marriott points.
5. Find a way to spend like crazy on the Marriott CC.
6. ???

One additional - Convert Chase UR on a 1 for 1 basis to Marriot points. That's a pretty poor use of UR points, but another avenue if you are desperate.

Does this for sure work? I am at 800 nights and 1.8m points so would like to push over the edge. I guess the bigger question is if it's really worth it to be lifetime Plat v. lifetime plat premiere!?

I had 2,000 miles orphaned with UA. It was a modest but helpful transfer opportunity.

Overall I'm in a good position to achieve this by 1 August. I'm 4 nights & 53K points short of LTP. The nights will surely be covered with my business travel. I should be able to winnow down the points to around 20K by mid-July. The remainder will be purchased.

Is it ok by the rules for the wife to open account and buy and then transfer the points?

I just wish it was more clear on whether you have until August 1 or December 31 to get those points.

What's the source of confusion? I don't know why everyone thinks August. The website is pretty clear:

Yes, anyone can buy points and transfer them as a gift - even your wife.

Can anyone confirm that you are permitted to exceed the 50k transfer cap if you are redeeming an award?

Say I have 0 Marriott points. Wife has 270,000. I call to redeem a Travel Package in my name. Wife's points flow to my account and we redeem the TP in one phone call. My LT total goes up 270k. (Assume my wife would need to be present to verify her account.)

I've heard references to this, but never done it myself.

Also, are there waiting periods for transfers? I know my wife *had* Marriott and Starwood accounts, but it's been a few years since we've traveled on her accounts. If they're dead and have to be recreated from scratch, I'm wondering if there is a 30-day period or something before a transfer is allowed?

Another member on another thread posted a chat transcript from Marriott that said August 1 for the LTPP status in particular. For LTG and LTP, end-of-year seems to be the consensus.

The transcript made it sound like LTPP was a one-thing thing. If you're Marriott "old" LTP on August 1, you get it. Otherwise, you have five additional months to shoot for LTG or LTP.

Marriott really needs to post an entire FAQ about LT levels. Perhaps they can read this forum to find all of the crazy scenarios we've all laid out.

There aren't currently huge differences between LTP and LTPP (currently!!!!!). Note that for the annual gifts (including the 5 SNAs and then 5 more SNAs), you actually need 50 or 75 nights, not just the lifetime status.

However, if Plat (LTP) is devalued in the future, it could be good to have the grandfathered LTPP.

IMO if someone is close, they should go for it but not otherwise (although note that I'm not a MSer).

Manufactured spending will can get you a lot of points on the MR credit card. I don't know the latest on MS, but it can be time consuming.
The 'common' way to do this used to be buying Simon Malls Visa gift cards, then going to Walmart and buying money orders with the gift cards. I don't know if that still works.

Purchase Marriott Gift cards using a Marriott Credit card is another option and one I am using to get the last few points I need.

Theoretically you can buy these from Marriott online and have it treated as a Marriott Purchase (earning 5 points per dollar) but a safer strategy in my opinion is to buy them in person at a hotel where they should be no question or issue of getting 5 points per dollar.

I was 96K points short of the 2MM on the day of the announcement. I bought 50,000 points the night of the announcement and have since redeemed 48,000 MR points for 20,000 UA miles, to turn around and transfer them back to Marriott. (I had already transfered 30,000 UA miles earlier in the year). I have a few paid Marriott nights coming up in May and June.

I am planning on buying a $1000 Marriott gift card using a Marriott credit card in May and will try to convert my current Marriott credit card to the Premier card on May 3rd (for the better earning rates).