Marriott elite status: What it is and how to earn it

3 weeks ago 9

Marriott Bonvoy is the loyalty program for over 30 hotel brands. These brands offer almost 8,900 properties in 141 countries and territories. If you have Marriott elite status, you'll enjoy extra perks when you stay at properties across the program's portfolio.

Marriott elite status can be extremely valuable to frequent travelers. So, here's what you should know about Marriott elite status, including its best perks and how to earn it.

What is Marriott elite status?

Marriott elite status gives you extra perks when staying at Marriott properties. Once you join Marriott Bonvoy, you'll be a member. Marriott also offers five elite status tiers that you can earn via nights — and for top-tier status, spending with Marriott Bonvoy — within a calendar year.

You'll have the entire calendar year to earn elite night credits — and accrue qualifying dollars if you're going for top-tier Marriott Bonvoy status. Once you earn a specific Marriott elite status, you'll keep your status through the end of the following February. You'll also earn Marriott Annual Choice Benefits once you accrue 50 and 75 elite night credits during a calendar year.

Marriott elite status tiers

Marriott Bonvoy has five elite status tiers that you can earn as follows:

Silver Elite: 10 elite night credits per calendar year
Gold Elite: 25 elite night credits per calendar year
Platinum Elite: 50 elite night credits per calendar year
Titanium Elite: 75 elite night credits per calendar year
Ambassador Elite: 100 elite night credits per calendar year and at least $23,000 in qualified spending per calendar year

In addition to these tiers, you can also earn lifetime elite status with Marriott Bonvoy. It's no longer possible to earn lifetime Titanium Elite status, but you can earn other lifetime Marriott statuses as follows:

Lifetime Silver Elite: 250 nights and five years as Silver Elite or higher
Lifetime Gold Elite: 400 nights and seven years as Gold Elite or higher
Lifetime Platinum Elite: 600 nights and 10 years as Platinum Elite or higher

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Although it takes a while — and many nights with Marriott — to earn lifetime status, doing so will let you continue to enjoy benefits on stays even if you don't stay frequently enough to continue earning Marriott elite status each calendar year.

How to qualify for Marriott elite status

You can earn Marriott elite status by accruing elite night credits — and, in the case of Ambassador Elite, qualifying spending — during each calendar year. However, your elite night credits and qualifying spending reset to zero at the end of each calendar year.

Elite night credits

Here's how stays at Marriott properties earn elite night credits toward elite status:

Protea Hotels, City Express and Four Points Express: One elite night credit per every two qualifying nights stayed per stay
Marriott Executive Apartments: One elite night credit per every three qualifying nights stayed per stay
Most other Marriott properties: One elite night credit per qualifying night stayed

In the case of the brands and properties for which you only earn an elite night credit after you stay two or three qualifying nights, you won't earn partial elite night credits. As such, two three-night qualifying stays at Protea Hotels locations would only net you two total elite night credits since each stay would earn just one elite night credit.

You can also earn elite night credits if you hold a qualifying event at a participating Marriott Bonvoy property. Specifically, you'll earn one elite night credit for every 20 room nights booked and stayed, up to 20 elite night credits per event contract. You can also earn elite night credits through Marriott Bonvoy credit cards, as I'll discuss later.

However, even if you book multiple rooms on a specific night, you'll only earn elite night credits for one room in which you stay. You must pay for the room or occupy a room directly billed to your company but not part of a convention or group meeting. Unfortunately, contract rooms, rooms your corporation reserves on an ongoing basis and master-billed rooms won't earn elite night credits.

Qualifying spending for Ambassador Elite status

The top Marriott Bonvoy status, Ambassador Elite, is the only tier with a qualifying spending requirement. To earn Ambassador Elite status, you must accrue 100 elite night credits per calendar year and at least $23,000 in qualified spending per calendar year.

Fewer expenses than you might expect count as qualifying spending. Based on the Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions, qualifying spending only consists of qualifying charges from stays completed within the qualifying period. As such, you can't boost your qualifying spending by prepaying stays for future qualifying years, incurring on-property charges without a stay or spending on cobranded Marriott Bonvoy cards.

Marriott elite status benefits

Now that you know how to earn Marriott elite status, let's look at the best benefits of status. For each of the best benefits we discuss in this section, we'll detail the benefit and how it varies by tier.

Bonus points

Bonvoy members earn 10 base points per dollar spent on qualifying charges at most Marriott brands. However, you'll only earn 5 base points per dollar spent at Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, Protea Hotels, City Express, Four Points Express, Element, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy properties. Additionally, you'll only earn 2.5 base points per dollar spent at Marriott Executive Apartments.

Plus, members with Marriott elite status earn bonus points on the base points as follows:

Silver Elite: 10% bonus
Gold Elite: 25% bonus
Platinum Elite: 50% bonus
Titanium Elite: 75% bonus
Ambassador Elite: 75% bonus

Welcome gift

As a Gold Elite member, you'll get a welcome gift of points once per stay at participating Marriott brands. You'll get 500 points per stay at most brands. However, you won't get a welcome gift of points at City Express, and you'll only get 250 points per stay at Courtyard, Four Points, SpringHill Suites, Protea Hotels, Fairfield, AC Hotels, Aloft, Moxy, Four Points Express, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Element.

Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite members and above also get a welcome gift at participating Marriott brands, excluding City Express properties that aren't City Centro locations. However, Platinum Elite members and above get a choice of welcome gift at most brands. The choices depend on the brand and region but may include a food-and-beverage credit, breakfast, points and special amenities. It's best to look at the table in Section 4.3.c.iii of the Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions to see your welcome gift options before you arrive at the check-in desk.

Room upgrades

Gold Elite members and above are eligible for complimentary room upgrades subject to availability and as identified by participating Marriott properties upon arrival.

Gold Elite members are eligible for enhanced rooms, which may include rooms on higher floors, rooms with appealing views, corner rooms and rooms on Executive floors. However, Gold Elite members aren't eligible for upgrades to rooms with direct club lounge access at The Ritz-Carlton.

In addition to the complimentary upgrade types available to Gold Elite members, Platinum Elite members and above may also get suites — although Ritz-Carlton properties may only offer suite upgrades to Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite members.

Regardless of your Marriott Bonvoy status, know that Marriott Vacation Club; Marriott Grand Residence Club; Sheraton Vacation Club; Westin Vacation Club; The Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale; and Ritz-Carlton Reserve don't participate in the complimentary room upgrades that are part of the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Lounge access

Platinum Elite members and above can enjoy lounge access with one guest staying in the same room at JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Delta Hotels, Le Meridien, Westin, Autograph Collection and Renaissance Hotels that have a lounge (although you'll only get lounge access at resort properties for Sheraton, Le Meridien and Westin). Platinum Elite members and above also get lounge access at Courtyard properties outside the U.S. and Canada when the property has a lounge.

Late checkout

If you have Marriott elite status, you may be eligible for complimentary late checkout. However, some brands don't participate in this benefit, including Marriott Vacation Club; Marriott Grand Residence Club; Sheraton Vacation Club; Westin Vacation Club; The Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale; and Ritz-Carlton Reserve.

Silver Elite members may get priority late checkout at participating Marriott brands if they call the front desk on the morning of checkout. Meanwhile, Gold Elite members can request a 2 p.m. late checkout at participating Marriott brands by calling the front desk on the morning of checkout. However, Silver Elite and Gold Elite members only get late checkout based on availability.

Platinum Elite members and above can check out as late as 4 p.m. at participating properties if they request to do so during booking, check-in or anytime during their stay. Late checkout is only guaranteed until 2 p.m. at Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy for Platinum Elite members and above, although you can request a 4 p.m. checkout based on availability. Late checkout at 4 p.m. is based on availability for Platinum Elite members and above at resorts, convention hotels and Design Hotels but is guaranteed at other participating properties.

Your24

Ambassador Elite members can access a unique perk via Your24: the ability to request a specific check-in time and then check out at that same time. Ambassador Elite members must request Your24 at least two days before arrival, and the hotel must approve the request.

If you get an approved check-in time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., you can request the Platinum Elite and above late checkout benefit to extend your checkout time to 4 p.m. The room you booked might not be available at check-in, so the property may temporarily place you in another room and then move you to your booked room type once it's available.

However, Marriott Vacation Club; Marriott Grand Residence Club; Sheraton Vacation Club; Westin Vacation Club; Design Hotels; MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy properties; The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach; Atlantis Paradise Island; and The Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale don't participate in Your24.

Partner perks

At select Marriott Bonvoy status tiers, members can enroll in perks with partner programs as follows:

United Airlines and Marriott RewardsPlus partnership: Titanium Elite members and above can enroll in complimentary United MileagePlus Premier Silver status.
Emirates and Marriott partnership: Gold Elite members and above earn 3 points per dollar spent on eligible Emirates flights (in addition to Skywards miles); Platinum Elite members and above can enjoy priority check-in and boarding when flying Emirates.
Singapore Airlines and Marriott partnership: Gold Elite members can enroll in a fast track to KrisFlyer Silver status; Platinum Elite and above members can get KrisFlyer Silver for 12 months and a fast track to Gold status.
Hertz and Marriott partnership: Platinum Elite members can enroll in a fast track to Hertz Five Star status, Titanium Elite members can sign up for complimentary Five Star status and Ambassador Elite members can sign up for complimentary President's Circle status.

Can a credit card help earn Marriott elite status?

Credit cards can help you earn Marriott elite status. You can enroll in complimentary Marriott Bonvoy status as a perk of the following cards (terms apply):

Silver Elite status: Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Gold Elite Status: Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (enrollment required), The Platinum Card® from American Express (enrollment required) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Platinum Elite status: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

You can also upgrade to Marriott Gold Elite status by spending $35,000 on purchases each calendar year on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.

Even if you want to earn Marriott elite status through elite night credits, having one or more Marriott Bonvoy credit cards can help. Most consumer Marriott Bonvoy credit cards offer 15 elite night credits per calendar year, although the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex offers. You can also get 15 elite night credits if you have the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex.

As such, getting up to 40 elite night credits each calendar year is possible just by holding the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex and the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex. However, I prefer to get 30 elite night credits each calendar year by holding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex. You can also earn one elite night credit for every $5,000 you spend with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card. So, if you want to spend your way to more elite night credits, the Boundless card is for you.

Is Marriott elite status worth it?

Marriott elite status offers valuable perks to frequent guests. When deciding whether Marriott elite status is worth pursuing, consider how often you stay with Marriott (or would stay with Marriott) and how much value the perks would provide. If you don't stay frequently, it's likely not worth actively pursuing status outside of the complimentary status you can get as a perk of select credit cards.

Whether Marriott elite status is worth it becomes more complex if you tend to accrue at least 20 elite night credits organically through stays each year. In this case, it could be worth focusing your stays on Marriott and getting one or more Marriott Bonvoy credit cards so you can get more elite night credits and earn at least Platinum Elite status.

I stay with Marriott frequently enough that it makes sense to have the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex and then stay at least 20 nights for Platinum Elite status or 45 nights for Titanium Elite status each calendar year. I strive to earn at least Platinum Elite status each year because the most valuable perks — such as complimentary breakfast as a welcome gift option at some brands, lounge access at some brands, 4 p.m. guaranteed late checkout at most properties and space-available upgrades up to suites — start at this tier.

Bottom line

Marriott elite status offers valuable perks, especially at the higher tiers. And if you're eligible for Marriott Bonvoy credit cards, you could obtain complimentary Platinum Elite status as a perk of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex.

But even if you don't want to pay a high credit card annual fee, you can still earn Marriott Bonvoy status without earning all your elite night credits through stays. After all, you can earn lower tiers of Marriott elite status and elite night credits through most Marriott Bonvoy credit cards.

Compared to other hotel loyalty programs, Marriott lifetime status may also be more attainable for some travelers since it only requires you to meet thresholds for elite night credits and years with the status. For example, you can secure lifetime Platinum Elite status after 600 nights with Marriott and 10 years as a Platinum Elite member or higher.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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