Ever since SPG and Ritz Carlton Rewards were folded into Marriott to become the Bonvoy monster that it is today, status has never been tougher to get.

With Platinum requiring 50 nights to get, one of the lesser known nifty trick was to book a meeting with Marriott. For the first meeting or event held at a Marriott property in 2019 and before, you will get 10 free elite nights credit.

On top of that, you also get:

• One elite night for every 20 eligible room nights you book, up to to 20 elite nights per event
• Two points per USD spent on qualifying event charges, up to 60,000 points per event. Elite bonuses will stack on top of these points.

The meetings booking is a rather value-for-money way to earn 10 elite night credits, as meetings can go for as cheap as S$500 or under for a half-day meeting package in Singapore.

No more 10 elite nights for first meeting from 2020

Starting 2020, the 10 night credit will be removed. The other perks remain, so you will still get the points based on your spend, as well as the elite night credit for every 20 room nights booked.

So for those who are chasing to keep their platinum status, this is definitely a bad development. That also means that they will continue to have to earn the nights the good ol’ way of actually booking rooms.