After a long day of meetings, oh – such boring meetings, few things feel quite as nice as a cold glass of champagne on the top floor club lounge of a skyline hotel. That, and free breakfast is nice when you’re on vacation.
Elite guest status has its perks, and if you are looking for a reasonable chance to grab some of your own, without the hassle of an entire year of road warrior life, Marriott’s Platinum Challenge and elite status match is an excellent way to get in. Here’s how to go from zero to Platinum in 15 nights…
Marriott Bonvoy recently announced changes including new points rates, 5th night free tweaks and a flexible date finder – for hotel rooms, that is. It’s also dealing with insane levels of competition with fall promo offers like 2X points from Hilton with only 9 nights to achieve top tier Diamond, as well as 4x points from IHG and the sharing economy options like Airbnb, all over the world.
Marriott is winning over guests with a new version of the Marriott Platinum Challenge, which allows anyone who currently holds elite status with a competing hotel chain to earn Platinum guest status with just 15 nights in three months.
And no, taking the Marriott Platinum Status Challenge doesn’t mean giving up your current hotel elite status, it just means potentially gaining another.
That’s just 5 nights per month over 3 months for more than an entire year of fantastic benefits. Yep, the status is good until February, 2022 if you earn it beyond the 90 day trial period, which is yours to enjoy. Here’s the full scope of Marriott Bonvoy Platinum benefits.
When should you take the Marriott Platinum Challenge? Really, the sooner the better. Marriott says once it’s enticed enough members, it’ll shut the program down.
This Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Challenge
The challenge is really simple, provided you haven’t applied before, and have elite status of any level with a competing hotel chain – aka not Marriott.
- Register online.
- Stay 15 (paid) nights within 90 days
- Enjoy Bonvoy Platinum status within 48 hours.
- Keep it for over a year, if you complete 15 nights.
The only thing that would disqualify you is participation in a Marriott status challenge within the last three years. The Marriott Bonvoy system will tell you online if approved for the challenge. Other than that, you could sign up for a free Bonvoy account today, and be enrolled within days.
Like we said, this is all pretty simple.
To enrol in the Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Challenge simply read up on the latest details here, and then submit your request at Marriott’s status match page. There’s absolutely no cost to join the challenge, other than the obvious stays you’ll need to complete.
15 nights is a really reasonable task, especially since hotel rates tend to drop in fall and winter, and all brands are included.
Why bother? Many Marriott properties refuse to honor Platinum benefits and there isn’t anything you can do about it.
+1 I wish you were wrong.
Do you know if they have ever considered backdating the status challenge? I have stayed a few times in the past 2months and have another 12 nights booked before mid October. I am currently a Hilton Diamond.
Beware of the fine print! Recently I stayed at a Marriott property with family members in 4 rooms for two nights, and one room for 1 night. My Bonvoy account was credited only 2 nights, although I paid for 9 nights. The gentleman who answered my email was very sure of the computation.
The same thing happened to me in Moscow. I booked two suites and stayed in one and let my family stay in the tiger and I paid for all, and I was only credited for the one room.
I love Marriott Platinum. I earn $100 per check in about half the time. And Bonvoy compensate with points well whenthings aren’t up to standard IMO.
You should’ve included a link to the Platinum guarantee Gib. https://www.marriott.co.uk/loyalty/member-benefits/guarantee.mi
Thanks Chris, great call!
For premium brands their promotions are worthless……….Ritz Carlton basically honors nothing………where the Park Hyatts roll out the red carpet with suite upgrades and beautiful buffet breakfasts……..the only thing I value about Bonvoy is the ability to transfer points to Alaska…..other than that it is dead in the water with their properties or their customer service……..
I called today and the agents told me that award stays are counted?
Is this true?
Also was told if I register mid-month I have the rest of that month then 3 calendar months. This means you could actually get close to 120 days to get this if you planned correctly.
The second half is true, the first half I strongly believe not to be.
In my experience, the customer service agents use a Marriott 8-ball, like a magic 8-ball, when you call with a question they shake it and use it to guide what answer they give you at that particular time, lol!
Sounds about right in my experience haha.
Does this challenge work if you’re currently Platinum but under normal rules (50 nights) you wouldn’t requalify but you could get 16 nights within 3 months. Would that allow you to requalify for Platinum for another year?
Can I ask if the 10 elite qualifying nights you earn for holding a meeting would count toward this challenge at all?
Award stays are counted towards eligible nights for status purposes. That is absolutely true. And, I have also found that Ritz and especially, Editions, don’t seem to care about Members with status. I can’t even get one Editions property to respond to my emails. I am canceling my upcoming res there shortly.
What if you are current platinum but need 21 to reach 50 nights. Will this deal cut my need to 16 and potentially give me a few extra months to requalify? I think Max asked the same question a few days ago.
Hey Jana, I’d ask Marriott what they can do.
If I start my challenge in Dec 2019 and complete it in Feb 2020, do I get status until Feb 2022 or only until Feb 2021?
Hi Gilbert,
I completed the challenge. 18 nights in three months. According to Marriott, I registered too late and have therefore not qualified. No word on a start date in the terms. I am Accor Platinum with status at several other chains. Not a single program is as bad as Marriott Bonvoy.
I will now probably completely stay away from Marriott in the future.
If you complete the challenge and get Platinum status – does that mean that you will get upgraded to Titanium Elite if you complete another 25 nights?
I requested a challenge in Oct 2019 and completed 16 nights, however customer services only say I have completed 12 nights. Marriott customer service stinks.