Yes, you are right - in fact, I've remarked to my wife how business travel has transformed me into a person who demands near perfection at every turn and the slightest thing off can really ruin my mood for a bit.

I once thought I was lucky if I found a good pillow on my way back to my seat. Now I am peturbed if they don't provide me one.

I once thought it was great to get a quick meal on the place with CO. Now I am critical of the little cheese pizzas.

I once thought it was nice when the Elite's were allowed to board right after the first class and ahead of the rest, even if a few non-elites got through also. Now I am outraged at the slightest possibility that a non-elite was allowed to slip through.

But I will never be as bad as the person I saw in a Hampton Inn a few months ago - he showed up in the hotel lobby with the phone from his room in his hand and threw it at the front desk clerk, yelling about how much static was on the line and he had asked them to fix it the day before. He went on to detail to everyone that would listen that his sink leaked, faucet dripped, room stunk and bed was uncomfortable.

I'm not a huge Hampton Inn fan, but the two weeks I stayed there I found this one to be a pretty good one - with an awesome breakfast (this was King of Prussia, PA). they even provided a snack-bag for people too busy to sit down and eat that contained a bottle of juice, muffin and an apple.

Anyway, I think people like that are put on this earth to remind the rest of us to chill out sometimes.

Wow, after reading this thread I logged in to my Marriott account and saw that I just made platinum as well! I definitely think they used the rolling year for me. Must have just happened late yesterday or today since I was a gold yesterday when I logged in to make a reservation.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words!

And congratulations to USWEST33 for making Plat also. Status does make a difference.

Most of my points have been earned at the LHR Renaissance ( not the best, I know) and I really appreciate the receptionsists saying stuff like "Welcome Back to our hotel, Mr Mickeypops" and "We've reseved room XXXX for you Mr. Mickeypops, will that be OK?"

I really like the room upgrades and the Club use as well. Like Jayer says, sometimes it's easier to just have a quick bite there rather than bother with the restaurant. A strange quirk at this hotel is that 250ml glass of wine costs �3.50 in the club lounge - where all the drinks are the same price - as opposed to �5.50 in the bar!