lcpteck

I remember it doesn't as per previous discussions.

geclub1

It does count for the counter of #years of being Gold.

lcpteck

Ah thanks for the verification.

fandu

Great. Thanks. I stopped flying for work and I am a year away from being LT gold.

JayK

Regarding Lifetime Platinum, does anyone know the current policy regarding whether each of the ten Platinum years needed for Lifetime Platinum status have to be years in which one achieves either 25 stays or 50 nights stayed?

I ask because apparently when Starwood consolidated around eight ears ago one of my accounts into another (that was issued without me requesting it) they did not consolidate all the history from my first account. For about the last two weeks they have been "researching" whether I qualify for Platinum Lifetime, but given the number of errors they have made with my account over the past few years, I want to independently verify that their conclusion is correct should they tell me I am not yet qualified for Lifetime Platinum. Although I have close to 800 nights stayed, and have been Platinum for around ten or eleven years, it is possible that one or two years of Platinum were the result of either matching another chain's status, or an advertised promotion ("if you do such and such, we will give you platinum for a year"). I hope I'm not going to have to go back ten or eleven years and evaluate the manner in which I achieved Platinum in each year, but may have to do so if "promotional platinum years" do not count and Starwood informs me I am not yet qualified for lifetime Platinum.

LovetoTravel83

It doesn't make a difference whether its 50 nights or 25 stays. As long as you qualified for platinum for 10 years and you have 500 nights total, you will earn Lifetime Plat.

The 10 years of platinum don't have to be consecutive, and the 500 nights doesn't have to be reached as plat.

JayK

My question though is what constitutes qualification for Platinum for purposes of Lifetime Platinum? Does it have to be earned via stays or nights? Or can it be achieved using another method? For example, does spending a year as Platinum as the result of a status match count as "achieving Platinum" for purposes of fulfilling the ten years of Platinum requirement?

The question is analogous to, but broader than, the earlier one here about whether being Gold owing through the AMEX card rather than through number of stays or nights counts towards the requirement for Lifetime Gold.

lcpteck

You need to be Platinum for 10 years and you need 500 nights.

JayK

So are you saying that a Platinum year that was obtained through a status match counts as a year towards the ten-year requirement? And if that is what you are saying could you please provide the source of your information as the SPG website says (to the best of my recollection) you need to "achieve" Platinum status ten years, without specifying whether getting Platinum status through a status match (or some other method apart from 50 nights or 25 stays) constitutes "achieving" that status?

LovetoTravel83

The way I see it, is that you are achieving platinum by doing a status match.

Here's a link that can help.

http://starwoodworldwide.custhelp.co...inum-status%3F

JackE

Why would you bother independently verifying it until you learn their finding? If they determine you are LT, then that's that.

JayK

Yep, if they come back with the conclusion I am not qualified yet for lifetime Platinum status, I will then want to independently verify whether they are correct because I have had numerous instances where the Starwood reps got things all wrong (the latest concerned their assignment of wrong expiration dates to Platinum suite upgrades that were returned to my account after being rejected by a Starwood property. It took FOUR emails, and three "we are right and you are wrong" emails from them before a rep finally admitted they were wrong and corrected the expiration dates). So based on my extensive experience with SPG, I always prepare myself for their mistakes, and in the majority of the cases the preparation turns out not to have been wasted.

I trust though you don't know the answer to my straightforward question about whether Platinum status that results from status matches or other promotions count towards the ten years of Platinum status needed for lifetime. Oh well.

ryukus

I've been trying to find a link to this topic but I didn't seem to find one -- so here it goes

What do you think will happen to the Lifetime Plat status if Starwood get sold (there's an article in WSJ about them actively looking for buyer).
I'm 6 year Plat and just need another 4 years of Plat. Will be very upset if the new owner didn't recognize my 6 years of pains

iflyjetz

Yes, it has to be earned through nights/stays. I was upgraded to Gold after a multiyear hiatus from SPG - it was my fifth year as Gold. I wasn't awarded LT Gold until I met the Gold stay/night requirement later that year.

montreid

SPG has a pretty good inventory tracker. Many times I cancel a room to change the dates on a sold out night or prevent back-to-backs and room changes. SPG booking will only search open; even with reservation changes---so one has to CANCEL existing, and then quickly rebook the room with the extended days. The inventory releases and updates that fast.

Just did it last week at Universal City.