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

By DFB Guy On Feb 21, 2024

Marriott Bonvoy is the loyalty program for over 30 Marriott brands. These brands offer almost 8,700 properties in 139 countries and territories. And if you have Marriott elite status, you’ll enjoy benefits across the entire Marriott portfolio.

Marriott elite status can be extremely valuable to frequent travelers. So, here’s what you should know about Marriott Bonvoy 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. But 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 Bonvoy 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 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, Four Points Express and Fairfield by Marriott Copenhagen Nordhavn: 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.

Sometimes, Marriott promotions offer double elite night credits on paid stays. You can also earn elite night credits through Marriott Bonvoy credit cards, which we’ll discuss later.

Petra Marriott Hotel in Jordan. RYAN SMITH/THE POINTS GUY

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, spending on cobranded Marriott Bonvoy cards, buying Marriott gift cards and other similar activities.

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

Marriott Bonvoy members earn 10 base points per dollar spent on qualifying charges at most Marriott brands, although you’ll only earn 5 or 2.5 base points per dollar at some brands. Then, 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, although 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 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 desirable reviews, 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 at The Ritz-Carlton, suites are only offered 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 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). You can also get lounge access at Courtyard properties outside the U.S. and Canada if the property has a lounge.

Lounge at the JW Marriott Hotel Bogota in Colombia. KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY

Late checkout

You may be eligible for complimentary late checkout if you have Marriott elite status. 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. Four p.m. late checkout is based on availability for Platinum Elite members and above at resort and 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. The request must be made at least two days before arrival and approved by the hotel.

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 and Design Hotels don’t participate in Your24. Likewise, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach; The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas; and The Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale also 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: Ambassador Elite and Titanium Elite members can enroll in complimentary United MileagePlus Premier Silver status.
Emirates and Marriott partnership: Gold Elite and above members earn 3 points per dollar on eligible Emirates flights (in addition to Skywards miles); Platinum Elite and above members can enjoy priority check-in and priority 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 match to complimentary Five Star status and Ambassador Elite members can match to 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):

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 still help. Most consumer Marriott Bonvoy credit cards offer 15 elite night credits per calendar year, although the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex offers 25. You can only earn 15 (or 25 if you have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex) elite night credits from consumer cards each calendar year, but 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 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 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 Gold Elite status you can get if you have the Amex Platinum Card or the Amex Business Platinum Card.

But, 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 to 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 Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex and then stay at least 20 nights for Platinum Elite or 45 nights for Titanium Elite 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 can obtain complimentary Marriott Platinum Elite status as a perk of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex. But, since you can earn elite night credits through most Marriott Bonvoy credit cards, you can earn Marriott Bonvoy status even if you don’t earn all your elite night credits through stays.

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 could earn lifetime Platinum Elite status after 600 nights with Marriott and 10 years as Platinum Elite or higher.

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