Marriott Platinum Status Match For Everyone

Status Matches are probably one of the most under reported tricks of frequent flying.

Hotels & Airlines always want to steal Customers from their competitors, so anytime you are ready to jump ship, it is not hard to find another Company waiting in the wings for you.

Typically, to request a Status Match you have to already hold status with another Hotel or Airline.

That is why whenever there are free Elite Status offers, I ALWAYS encourage you to get them even if you don’t plan on using it, because you can use it for a Status Match.

Gary from View From The Wing had an interesting post this weekend that said that you can get matched to Marriott’s top Platinum Elite Status if you simply call in and ask for it.

Typically, you either need to fax or email in your Statement from your other Elite Status to show proof, but Gary says if you call Marriott over the phone that they don’t even ask for proof.

Instead they issue you a Challenge, which is basically a, “If you stay X amount of times in X amount of months, we will give you status until X”.

Way back in 2010, I did a Platinum Challenge with Marriott, however they needed 15 nights in 3 months and I was unable to complete it.

However the nice thing is that during the time period where I was attempting the Challenge, Marriott gave me Platinum Status.

So even though I failed to complete the Challenge, I still had Platinum Status when I actually needed it and stayed at Marriott.

The really interesting part about this is that apparently you can request a Status Challenge every 12 months…

Anyways, if you are staying at a Marriott anytime in the near future, I HIGHLY suggest calling Marriott and requesting a Platinum Status Challenge because it will get you the following Platinum Benefits:

• 50% Marriott Point Bonus
• Late Checkout
• Arrival Gift (Wine, Fruit, Nuts, Points, etc)
• Free Internet
• Potential Room Upgrade
• Free Lounge Access / Free Breakfast

It typically takes 75 Nights to earn Platinum Status, so this is a steal!

Although the other benefits are nice, the one that I really like is the Lounge Access.

When I stayed at the Marriott Sydney, we (Emily’s family of 5 and I) ate breakfast there every morning and then in the evening they had appetizers and a fully stocked bar in the lounge.

At a minimum just the free Breakfast saved us over $150 a day, not to mention the free drinks at night.

Even if you are staying for 1 or 2 nights at a Marriott Property, I highly suggest calling up and asking for a Platinum Status Challenge because you literally have nothing to lose!

-Parag