I wanted to throw this out there and see what other insiders thought about m situation. Here it is:
In October Marriott offered up the 20 nights before 12/31 to maintain Platinum offer. As of right now I'm 3 nights in and by the end of November, I'll be at 12 stays. Anticipating my work schedule for next month, I'll probably land somewhere between 15-17 days by 12/31. With that in mind, my Girlfriend and I are leaving on a 5-day, much-needed getaway to Halifax, Nova Scotia At the Courtyard up there. I have 3 Cat 1-5 cents from old megabonuses and the Marriott Card that will expire in May and Sept of next year. If I use three of them towards the five day stay later this week, it will save me approx $400 USD on my stay, or I can pay out of pocket and shelve the certs until after this year and try to go for Platinum again. I'm leaning towards letting my Plat status lapse, and using the free nights, as it would result in me probably doing a few nights on a mattress run to squeeze in those 20 nights. The only added perk (besides the extra points) I like about Platinum is being able to cancel a Rez the day of my arrival. I'm not sure if this carries over to Gold as well or not, because before when I was Gold, the general policy on most of my reservations was you could cancel the DAY OF by 6 pm. What do you think? What would you do? Is a late cancelation still allowed for Gold Rewards Members?