Do you get Marriott points / stay credit when you stay at quarantine rates? 
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They state that it does not apply here, but maybe someone did get it - curious to know as well!
My experience direct Eva air flight from toronto to taipei
You need the following additional documents to board the flight:
- Negative PCR test (report has to be dated within 72 hours of departure time)
- Gold card authorization printout (has to be color per gold card application website)
- Quarantine system for entry form (use your foreign number for now, will have to switch to taiwan number once you enter taiwan and buy a sim)
Upon landing
- Airport stuff checked my quaratine authorization form and since I didnt have a taiwan number. They sent me to kiosk.
- Buy a taiwan SIM, bring some taiwanese cash with you I got a 60 day prepaid with unlimited data, and 60 phone call credits for $1500 ntd. The data is very fast.
- An airport stuff will then help you update your quarantine authorization form with the new taiwanese phone number
- Go through some standard immigration procedure, pickup luggage etc
- Paid some money at a taxi kiosk to take a taxi to the hotel, I also had the option to do metered, but I felt a bit safer with the lump sum.
The flight was normal aside from being less than half full and there being less ability to choose meals.
As I booked business class, so Eva air gave me a $30 meal voucher as all the lounges at toronto airport are closed. Most of the restaurants were also closed, so I ended up getting a salad and a few other items at the one cafe that was open.
As mentioned the flight seemed pretty empty so not sure if its worthwhile to get business class at this time.
Got 15 days in quarantine now, but at-least have this view to look forward to in the morning.
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Oh maybe had I printed it in color (didnāt see this notice, maybe new? Maybe because turkey creates such a fuss about the gold card notice before boarding?), It would have been easier in Istanbul.
They first stranded me alongside other passengers where they didnāt like the paperās (most correctly because no covid19 test results yet, telling the staff it only has to be there before immigration in tpe, rapid test instead of PCR, or quite old test,some other special permit). Had to discuss 20 minutes till they let me on just before the plane left. Had I not been pushing hard, I think I would have been stranded in Istanbul. Basically they photographed my gold card paper then sent it somewhere waiting for confirmation that never arrivedā¦
So if Istanbul (Turkish is the best/cheapest option from Europe to Taiwan right now) get in line early before boarding, and or try to get it checked before boarding opens to give them time, less stress
(At baggage check in in Vienna Turkish airlines looked for a reference number that doesnāt exist on the quarantine form, that was solved within 1-2 minutesā¦(
What number are you all calling to ask questions? I called the number at the bottom of the gold card system website, the guy answers, I ask if he speaks English, he doesnāt seem to understand (or canāt hear me at all? He just repeats āweiā), I ask again, and he hangs up.
Call ms Chien. She likes to speak english. She kinda repeatedly changed to english as soon as I mixed in one english word. Guess most of us speak fluent Chinese 
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Could try the new dedicated Gold Card Office helpdesk ā¦ https://goldcard.nat.gov.tw/en/help-desk/
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I called the help desk number and asked what the wait time would be after supplying additional documents. She asked when I submitted the document, I said last week, and she said it would take 50-60 days, due to increased volumeā¦ I mentioned it only took 30 from my initial app to be asked for the additional documents (and I know people here are getting approved in 30 days) because I wanted to make sure she understood, and she said yeah, 50-60 days from this pointā¦
Hoping sheās wrong 
but I doubt sheās that wrongā¦ Guess I can forget a quick turnaround. Itās crazy they put you back in the back of the line. And whatās bad too is I have real doubts that theyāll accept what I gave them, and may come back asking for something else, putting me back in waitingā¦
Well, I applied 12/08/2020, and today (01/13/2021), I got the dreaded āSubmit Supplementā information. Then I realized I had applied under the āScience & Technologyā profession and submitted my W-2s and 1040s (U.S.) ā So I changed/modified it to āEconomicā and picked the NT$160,000 and re-uploaded my W-2s and 1040s and sent/saved it and now itās back to āProfessional Review by Workforce Development Agencyā so Iām guessing itās the waiting game again.
Do I need to contact them to make sure my application is sent to the right ministry or am I good? The application now shows āEconomicā under āProfessionā.
Yes you can, but they will charge about 20% extra on top of quarantine rates for that privilege 
Iām a Marriott card member and didnāt bother, itās not worth it unless your company is paying for it all
Hmmm, if you need nights to bump up to platinum status, thatās a pretty good dealā¦ 
50 nights for platinumā¦ youād need to stay in marriott hotels 2 months in a year. Iām only silver elite
Get a Marriott card with a 15 night bonus, the 2 week quarantine, and you wouldāve practically been platinum. 
750 lifetime nights hereā¦ I had like 78 Marriott nights last year (and a couple other random Hyatt and Hilton nights)ā¦ Something like 140 the year before, but there was some extended stays associated with a moveā¦
Whatās the biggest benefit to platinum though? 4pm checkouts? Seems like fringe benefits. Maybe if they auto upgraded me to a suite every time, that would be worth it after spending ~10K a year on their hotels
Upgrades (including suites), lounge access, and free breakfast.
In Asia, I do get upgraded to a suite almost everytime. Hawaii too.
It seems like being able to speak the language is a huge help, as I was just reading in this thread about someone who needed to submit additional info, called them up, talked to the person reviewing their application, sent the document to them by email, and was approved a couple days later. And theyāre telling me 50-60 days. Granted itās gotten busier, but it seems if you know who to talk to you can skip being put in the back of the line?
I had to submit supplemental documents, called and spoke solely in Chinese and still had to go to back of the line for a weekās time. Donāt think it makes a huge difference. Biggest factor most likely depends on which category you apply to and how many people in que.
He was applying under economy/salary (in July) so thereās no way back of the line was two days.
A lot more people have applied since July. Gold Card has had a bunch of publicity that has caused a surge in applicants since November.
Plus economy only needs to view W2 forms. Itās an easy review. Other categories have more documents that need to be reviewed and then be re-reviewed.
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What Iām seeing though is itās always taken close to 30 days for a review. Looking back to July, May, whenever. If submitting your supplementary info sent you to the back, it should be another 30 days from then. I see someone else, in May, saying it took 4 months to get their gc because they had to submit additional info and each time it took 30 days to do the next step. So I donāt think itās just that the queue was short - he somehow talked to the right person (the person actually in charge of reviewing his application) and skipped the line.
I imagine 90% of applications are under salary, and most requests for additional info are for a w2, letter from employer, something like that.
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