I love lounge access. After the credit card and other stays, I'm probably typically in the 30-40 night range annually. But I've been Gold for the past few years on rollover nights or being comped it. I'm not too far from Lifetime Gold under the current plan (I'm already Lifetime Silver, approx. 400 nights and 1.3M points), but probably too far to hit Lifetime Gold by August or December to lock in Lifetime Gold (to be converted to Lifetime Platinum in the new plan). I'll never hit Lifetime Platinum under the new plan because I'll never have 10 years of Platinum status... (Are they really taking away the total points thresholds?) Is there anything I can do to keep the lounge access I love so much under the new plan?

If I were you I would get a Marriott credit card and bonus/churn/spend a lot of money on it until you hit lifetime gold. Or you could get the new premium card and spend $35k/year. Otherwise, it sounds like you're exactly the sort of traveler they are trying to keep out of the lounge with this new program, so that they can focus on higher-value customers.

You could always pay for it.

Which premium card is that?

Thanks

Yup, and maybe this will allow the hotels to start keeping the lounge open on the weekends. The whole closure on Friday/Saturday is pretty much designed to keep the CC and their extended families out.

That's easy.
Step 1: Book 10 meeting rooms to fulfill 500 elite qualifying nights for the LT Gold.
Step 2: Find a spouse, or another person who lives in the same address as you. You would need him/her to transfer points to your account. You can read more about it on this thread: https://insiders.marriottrewards.com/thread/53326

duplicate

It could be difficult to find a spouse by August or even December.

What happens if you spend $35,000 on the new premium card?

You get Gold and still no lounge access.

http://www.rosebrides.com

Now, if you can find someone on there who's already an FT member, they're a keeper!

Your definition of easy is not the same as mine.