I am a new MR member. I have spent 45 nights so far this year (starting 20th March, 2008).

I am staying this week another 4 nights. So that will make it 49 nights.

I am then required to stay at Marriott for another 15 consecutive nights.

Thus, I'll complete 50 nights on first day of the second stay.

Questions:

a) when do I attain gold status - after 1st night on second stay or after entire second stay.

b) Is there any way I can get the gold status after first night on second stay to be able to avail benefits of gold status e.g higher bonus etc?

c) It looks like I'll complete 75 days before Dec, 08. Is it better to complete it by Dec, 08 or is it correct that I should delay it to Jan, 09 to ensure I remain Platinum in 2009 as well.

Thanks for your help....

A couple of options.

1. Try to get a one night stay before your 15 night stay. This gets you your 50 nights before your long stay.

2. Have the hotel charge your CC after your first night during the 15 night stay. That will cause your 50th night to post sometime during your current stay. You will at least get your extra 5% bonus points for the other 14 nights. Also, the hotel knowing that you just reached Gold, may go ahead and give you CL access (assuming they have a CL) even though the internal Marriott system may not recognize you as a Gold immediately. Just talk with them. Most hotel front desk staff are pretty nice and willing to work with customers.

3. If you haven't yet applied for and received one of the Marriott branded CCs, you can apply for the Premier Visa and receive 15 nights toward elite status or the base personal Signature Visa for 10 nights toward elite status. Either will get you the needed nights plus some bonus points and a free night cert.

If you are interested in becoming a MR Plat I sure would ask them to comp you plat status in advance-since you will be making plat probably within the next 45 days.
Call them and ask about it-tell them to look at your booked stays as well as your stay history.
Not guarrenteed-but if anyone has a shot at it you do.
If they say no then follow hhoope01 excellent advice-do a 1 night stay before yor upcoming long stay(can be at the cheapest possible MI property near you)So that you have gold bennies for your next stay.
You probably will have to call MR to make sure your new status is reflected in your upcoming reservations.
Hitting Status now assurees you have status through Feb1'2010!

Oh and welcome to Flyertalk b2b-think you will find a great group of folks here

[QUOTE=hhoope01;10584739]A couple of options.

1. Unfortunately it is not possible to get a one night stay before 15 night stay for me due to my travel schedule.

2. Having the hotel charge my CC after the first night during the 15 night stay - this sounds a brilliant idea. I didnt know this was possible. I'll try this.

3. Marriott branded CCs - This is another brilliant idea. I'll try to do this. I hopt this is also available in the UK.

Could anyone answer the following question as well:

4. It looks like I'll complete 75 days before Dec, 08. Is it better to complete it by Dec, 08 or is it correct that I should delay it to Jan, 09 to ensure I remain Platinum in 2009 as well.

and the first month of 2010

ALSO-make sure you register for the MR "mega"(HAH!)promo and use your new MR visa to pay for this.

If you get your 75 days in this year, you will be a Plat for the rest of this year and all of next year (2009). If you wait and get that 75th night in Jan '09 through the rolling 12-month calendar, then you will be Plat for the rest of 2009 AND all of 2010 as well.

So if you have the option, you might want to wait to reach the Plat milestone.

Are you going back to the same hotel over and over? My three trips up to Gold were predominately at the same hotel and I was usually extended club floor before I hit 50 nights, because they recognized me and I was already one of their regulars.

In any event, you might call ahead and request club floor because you would be at 50 nights the next day anyway. Will probably work, and usually club floor and access is all the upgrade there is. Suites are less frequent, and usually for a very short stay, or at a hotel you spend a lot of time in.

When I had a long stay that would put me over the Gold threshhold, I called MR customer service after I had checked in. They could see I had commenced a stay that would give my GLD, and based on that, they comped it right away.

Thanks for the clarification. Brilliant. I'll now try to manage nights at Marriot this year to ensure I attain Plat in 2010.

Thanks for your reply. Quite useful. I'll call them ahead and request club floor.

Thanks for sharing the experience. Quite useful.

nm, did my research.

I just wanted to thank all the members for their response and advice.

As suggested here, I contact Marriott rewards and they have agreed to upgrade my membership to gold status after my current stay is posted to the rewards account.

I've received mail from Marriott as below:

Your Marriott Rewards account has now been upgraded to Gold Elite status, with an expiration date of February, 2010. A Gold Elite membership card has been requested. Please allow four to six weeks for processing and delivery.

Just as a reminder, this is an exception and you will need to stay the qualifying number of nights during 2009 to retain this status for the following year.

However, I cant see the status on the website yet. Will the hotel system be updated with my updated status?

I would guess that if you can't see the upgrade online yet, then the hotel won't be able to see it either.