I am "only" 200 nights (and 5 years) away from being Platinum Lifetime with Marriott

Having one lifetime status it's not just a badge to show off or an extra line in the app: for those who really travel a lot, it's the moment when perspective changes.

As long as you are chasing reconfirmation, even unconsciously you are always doing the math: does this flight credit me? Does this hotel credit me? Is it worth spending a little extra not to lose the benefits? Instead, when status is yours forever, all that mental gymnastics goes away. You no longer have to plan trips around the loyalty program as well; you go back to choosing based on price, convenience, schedule, and cravings of the moment.

And that's really where you realize how valuable it really is. A lifetime status frees you from regulation anxiety, year-end racing, table changes, and renamed qualifications every 18 months to confuse even the most loyal. Of course, barring cataclysms or program failures, you still remain an elite client. E this security also allows you to "cheat" peacefully: you can fly with other airlines, sleep in other chains, try alternatives without the feeling Of losing something along the way. In practice, the real luxury of lifetime status is not just the lounge, the upgrade or the late check-out: it is mental freedom.

Before opening TFC I did not have even in my highest expectations those of getting the "forever" card with any loyalty program, I've always said it and confirm it: if you travel little the status is meaningless, if you travel in business even less.

Sure I feel sorry for those who lost their Winged Arrow card forever, but the only thing that can take away your "for life" card once it is in your wallet is only the end of the program that issued it.

In recent days I opened the Marriott app and was greeted by the Celebration of crossing the Gold Lifetime milestone., as known the Bonvoy gold card is worth very little, and is nowhere near as good as Gold in the Hilton household.

The requirements for Gold are 400 nights and 7 years, including non-consecutive years with Gold status, To go from Silver to Gold took me 2 years, being that Gold is a card associated with Amex Platinum card I needed the nights and between 2024 and 2025 I have accumulated just under 180 qualifying nights, also by taking advantage of the many bonus nights of promotions Bonvoy has launched in past years.

Now Are in sight of the final finish line, the Platinum Lifetime one. If all goes well and Marriott does not change the rules between now and 2030, I should get to the Lifetime membership. Given that for getting to the Platinum level takes 50 nights/year, to get to P4L I will have to accumulate much more than the 600 nights.

However, my strategy is to aim, to the last, for Titanium status so as to shelter myself from any rule changes, but most importantly to take advantage, in case of problems, of the soft landing parachute that Bonvoy annually offers to those who fail to retrain in the field.

• Bonvoy