I have an upcoming stay at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, an Autograph Collection hotel and have no status with Marriott.
In fact, I stayed at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas a few years ago shortly after its Grand Opening. At that time, I had Marriott Gold status and was upgraded from a regular room to a Terrace Studio (one category higher). I’ve already secured SPG Platinum and have already stayed and planned for 50 nights with Starwood. Now I’ve been thinking about adding another hotel status to my portfolio just to try out another program.
I was reading about the Marriott Rewards Platinum Status Challenge for 4 Months on The Miles Professor. According to The Miles Professor, “Getting the status is very easy. You simply call Marriott at 801–468-4000 and ask for the Platinum Challenge. You instantly get Platinum Status for the month your enroll and for an additional three months after that.”
Marriott Rewards Platinum Status is the top-tier status and comes with a multitude of benefits, including:
50% Base Earning Bonus on paid stays
Possible room upgrades
Hotel lounge access with free breakfast
Free internet access
To complete the challenge, you have to have 9 stays in 4 months. I thought to myself, surely that is too good to be true? I would love to try out a new program that I’m not that familiar with and have instant Platinum Elite status for my upcoming stay at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas.
I called up Marriott at 1-801-468-4000 and was on hold for 20 minutes. When I finally got to representative, I asked her if I could be enrolled into the Platinum Challenge. I had already entered my Marriott Rewards number into the screen, so she had all my information in front of her. In less than one minute, without any verification or documentation to send in, she said that she had processed the Platinum Elite status on my account and that it would take 24 hours to reflect. I pleasantly thanked her and was instantly upgraded from a General Member to a Platinum Elite in less than one minute!
I can’t wait to see how the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas treats top tier Marriott Platinum Elite members. By the way, you can download the Marriott app and display your Platinum Elite membership card if necessary while waiting for the physical card in the mail.
Had you ever done a challenge with Marriott before? I’m wondering if this is a “once in a lifetime” kind of thing.
Challenges and Matches are once in a lifetime (which in airline terms is generally 10 years). The interesting thing about Marriott Plat is it requires you to do butt in bed nights to requalify. Sure you can do 9 stays to hit Platinum for the temporary period but after that, Marriott does NOT do stays. They only do nights (75 unless you use their credit card and it gets knocked down to 60).
The Cosmo is a nice Marriott property because they waive resort fees for Plats so you don’t have to fake complain about internet not working.
No, the Marriott Taste of Platinum challenge is not once in a lifetime. You can sign up for another once after the account that was upgraded waits 18 months from the expiration of the previous challenge.
“By the way, you can download the Marriott app and display your Platinum Elite membership card if necessary while waiting for the physical card in the mail.”
Actually I do not think you should expect a physical card unless/until you meet the requirements of the challenge. I do not believe they mail out ‘temporary’ Platinum credentials for members working on a challenge.
Do know that you lucked out. Many Marriott CSRs have been tougher on giving out Platinum challenges the past few months. Usually they’ll offer Gold (which you do not have to accept, and can hang up/call back).
You can even request a challenge by e-mail, however I rarely see them come back with Platinum offers over email… usually they suggest Gold that way.
Thanks for the tip. I was able to replicate this. Took about 2-3 minutes.
awesome! glad I could help
Thanks for the tip Jamison! Got platinum on my first try.
They had changed the rule. Now you don’t get the status until you complete the challenge.