I started traveling heavily for business at the begining of October of this year, and I've been staying at a Marriott for 4 nights a week pretty much constantly. Including the 15 bonus nights I got for the Marriott Visa, I will be at 64 nights by the end of 2006. (I will hit Gold when I check out tommorow).

Had anyone had any success getting MR to allow a longer duration of time to achieve platinum, or perhaps reduce the requirements?

I would really hate to end the year with 64 nights and then have to wait 75 nights into next year before I achieve platinum.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509705 should provide some assistance..we really should have a sticky on the subject since this seems to come up about every 2 weeks.

I believe PT and Gold are based on a 12-month rolling year. Once you get it, then Marriott uses a calendar year to evaluate your status.

Also, you can call and request PT or Gold. Sometimes, they will give you a challenge, ie, stay 12 nights in the next 3 months to achieve Gold. I believe this can only be done 1 time.

Thanks! I guess I should be platinum by the end of January.

Good Luck - also, my understanding is that Marriott will usually give you a break if you are within 5 nights of the next level.

75 nights in a calendar year is a lot of loyalty...

I was offered the Gold Challenge, however, it was for 15 nights in 3 months. I have heard of others getting challenges with 12 nights. I wonder why I had to acheive 15 nights?

Really? I'll be at 73 nights at the end of this year. Do you think that they'll give me a break?

My first stay in '06 was in Feb, so I figured that I'd hit Plat through a sweep (several Jan 07 stays on the books).

To the OP: Do you have a MR Premier Visa card? Gives 15 nights/year toward status. - you probably do, but figured that I'd throw that idea out there.

I think this should clear things up a bit. I am currently silver and a few night from Gold. I inquired as to whether or not I'd be bumped if I came in at 48 or 49 nights. They responded with this which clarifies many of the questions on this thread.

A few key points:

- Looks like Silver is ALWAYS calendar year
- When reaching Gold/Platinum for the FIRST TIME it is trailing 12 months

Read the below email for more detail . . .

*************

Elite nights and status for Silver members are calculated by the number of nights achieved from 1/1-12/31 of each calendar year.

As of August 17th, 2005 for our Gold and Platinum members, initial Elite level achievement is handled differently. To achieve Gold or Platinum, a member only need stay the required number of nights in any rolling calendar year. As an example, let's say that you had 30 nights from September 1st, 2004 to December 31st, 2004 and 45 nights from January 1st, 2005 to September 1st, 2005. As this would give you 75 nights in a rolling year, you would qualify for out Platinum status.

As always, any Elite status you earn would be valid for the calendar year you achieved the status in, as well as the next calendar year. In order to maintain your Elite status for subsequent years, you would need to stay the required number of nights during a fixed, non-rolling calendar year. Please note that the Elite night counter will reset every January 1st of each new calendar year.

I'll have 64 nights by the end of this month, with an additional 8 nights booked the first part of January. Maybe they'll let me make plat...

Looks like I'll drop down to Gold. I have 48 nights on the ledger, and 3 this week will nail the Gold. I should have something in the 60's by January, and there might be enough nights left in February to make the 75, but if we restart Jan 1....

Oh well, maybe a challenge or something.

75 is really tough to do, even with the 15 from the Visa card.

Yes I do have the card. I will be at 64 nights including the 15 from the card. It should not be a problem as I will make platinum through a sweep in January. This is actually prefferrable for me because at least as I understand it I will be platinum through the remainder of 2007, all of 2008 and the first two months of 2009.

Hard to argue with that.

I hit 50 nights for the year on this past Sunday night... but the nights, points, and status have not yet posted. I'm used to it taking a couple of days, but we're beyond "normal" right now.

I'll have 12 more nights this year, and I *may* pick up 10-11 more in January. Will have to look back and see when a rolling year would be.

It would seem to me, given the conditions above, that anyone going for Gold or Platinum status for the first time would be better off to only stay 49 or 74 nights in their first year, and do the additional night in January, giving them a what basically amounts to a full two years of status.

I am currently gold but have been platinum once in the past. When they say 'initial elite status' does this apply if you drop a level for say a year and therefore the rolling count starts again (for the next level) or does the rolling count only ever apply once for each status during your life as a MR member.

Hope this sounds clear! I am likely to be only a couple of nights shy of Plat and could easily achive with stays in Jan on rolling count if applicable?

I don't think I've seen this question before - hoping somebody knows the answer.

I will be seven nights short for Plat this year but I've organised 3 meetings (2 conferences, 1 only a block of 11 rooms) at Marriotts in 2006. Marriott gives Silver status for 2 meetings, Gold for 5 meetings, Platinum for 7. Is it a reasonable argument to ask that I get my Plat renewed on the basis of my nights AND meetings? Has anyone done this in the past?