Fast-Track To Ritz-Carlton Elite Status Through The End Of 2014

Magic of Miles has the scoop on a new promo Ritz-Carlton has announced. Through the end of 2014 and retroactively you’ll receive double elite night credit for all of your stays.

Ritz-Carlton’s tiers mimic Marriott Rewards, not too surprisingly, and lay out as follows:

Each of these tiers can now be had for half the normal amount of nights, or:

Silver for 5 nights

Gold for 25 nights

Platinum for 38 nights

Marriott hasn’t had a habit of allowing people to qualify on stays and Ritz is the same, meaning a double night promo truly does cut the minimum qualification in half.

I think this is great for two types of travelers:

1.  People who frequent Ritz-Carlton as a chain but want to have elite status with a second program.

2.  People who like playing the miles and points game and work hard to find favorable rates to stay at Ritz properties for leisure stays.

It would certainly be easy to argue it’s also good for folks seeking to acquire status in the Ritz-Carlton program, but I don’t think there’s a deep list of people who secretly pine for this status and only make the decision to switch based on this most recent offer.

If you want to try the Ritz and have the ability to pay the rates, you’ve probably already moved over your business or at least dipped your toe in the water a bit.

And frankly, the listed benefits of the program aren’t all that special, given that suites and club rooms are specifically excluded from the upgrade benefit.  Real-life practices might yield these upgrades but they’re certainly not a guarantee.  Outside of that, I don’t see any killer benefits that stand out.

I’m not 100% sure why Marriott/Ritz put such a generous offer out there.  As I said, I don’t think there’s a pent-up demand for elite status that this promo will unlock.  Hotels are more full and rates are higher, so chains generally don’t feel the need to chase guests.  Maybe Ritz is doing this because it’s tough to get 75 nights given less than 100 Ritz-Carlton properties worldwide.

At any rate, it’s a solid opportunity to bump up your status, and potentially after just one stay of 5 nights.  And, while Silver elite status with Ritz-Carlton won’t blow your socks off, it beats a sharp stick in the eye.

Still, I wonder why they chose now to do this….