Platinum worth it?
 

I'm currently at Gold and I'll be about 10-15 nights short of making Platinum at the end of the year. I'm wondering if it's worth the effort of making to the next level. I'm thinking of perhaps opening a Marriott credit card and get that 15 nights (will those nights even be credited by end of the year?). Thanks for your input!

If you don't already have the Marriott Visa, then there's no question about it: Platinum is worth it. Even without the Platinum hook, the new Visa more than pays for itself. That's a no-lose proposition.

If the question were "I already have my 15 Marriott nights and need 10-15 more EQN's that I have to pay for out-of-pocket to reach Plat. Should I do it?" I'd say, for most situations, no. The outlay of several hundred dollars or more for the sole purpose of reaching Platinum generally won't be worth it.

But yeah, anybody who stays at Marriott at all - and lives in a market with access to the "new" version of the Marriott Visa (with the annual free night cert and the 15 EQN's per year) should be carrying it regardless of whatever else they have in their wallet.

Thanks! I don't have the Marriott Visa, so I guess I can go that route. Will the 15 nights post in time for this year though?

If you apply for a card now, you should get the nights credited before the end of the year. It usually takes less than 4 weeks for the nights to post.

Also, Marriott employs a rolling calendar for determination of elite levels. I qualified for Plat in August based on 75 nights August-to-August.

So if your 15 nights post on Jan 2, it's no biggie.

The only thing I don't know is if a January posting of your 15 nights might actually be beneficial. Would that appear to Marriott as a new Plat qualifying in '08, thus being Plat through early '10? I don't know the answer to that...

Of course, you need to look at your pattern of stays over the course of the past 12 months to make sure the rolling qualification would work for you.

The answer is Yes. So if the OP were to get the 15 nights this year, then they would have Plat status through Feb. '09. If the 15 nights posted in January and the rolling callendar hits 75 nights then, the OP would instead have Plat through Feb. '10. :cool:

Get the card. You'll go from 12 pts per dollar spent to 18 with platinum and the visa. The $65 fee is paid for by the free cat 4, plus you rack up in a mega bonus time like now where they require visa for payment.

That happened to me this past January, they gave me status until Feb 09.

Or you could take those nights and qualify for top tier in a program(or three depending on your stay pattern) that shows respect for its best customers(hint-not Marriott)

Does Marriott still use a rolling calendar scheme?

I've found this passage on the Marriott website:
As of June 2, 2003, to achieve or renew Elite status, the following number of personal nights must be stayed between January 1 through December 31 of any given year at participating locations:

Yes, they still use a rolling 12 month calendar for achieving the next higher elite status.

Yes, for details see this link post #23.

Thanks so much! That was a great thread on Marriott's unofficial upgrade practice. ^ I'm surprised that it wasn't made a sticky.

You've gotten several good responses telling you how you can make Platinum before year's end but not really saying if Platinum is worth it or not.

If you are going to be staying in full-service (Marriott, JW Marriott or Renaissance) properties most of the time and if you are going to be a frequent enough stayer that would sustain the Platinum level, then the answer is "yes"! The Platinum perks make a difference at these properties.

If you are going to be staying mostly at limited-service properties then going out of your way to attain Platinum status is, in my opinion, not worth it. In this case, I would agree with bigguy and direct my efforts at making mid-tier status in another chain so you would have a fallback when Marriott's weren't convenient or available.

So, I recently made Gold on Marriott and have been less than impressed:

1) grudingly given a 2 PM late checkout at the Napa Marriott
2) no breakfast at the Sonoma Rennaisance (it is a "resort" property)
3) understand that you basically get nothing at Courtyard properties

This is in contrast to Hilton which always gives Diamond breakfast and Starwood which gives 4 PM checkout to Platinum without much trouble etc. (I am also Hilton Diamond thru 2010 or something silly like that and Starood Platinum thru 4/2009 having requalified already for those.)

Now, it turns out that I am sitting on 70 Marriott night credits this year (including the Premier Signature Visa Card).

So, my question is, do I go for 5 more night credits to make Marriott Platinum? Is it worth it? I could perhaps swing a business trip for some of the nights, but I might have to buy 1, 2, or all 5 myself.