Last-minute tips for earning Marriott Bonvoy status

news7g10/31/2023

1 4 minutes read

With just two months remaining until the new year, now is the time to earn Marriott elite qualifying nights for your 2024 status.

Depending on your status tier and hotel brand you’re staying at, Marriott elite status includes a variety of perks like complimentary suite upgrades, breakfast for two daily and 4 p.m. late checkouts.

This guide will show you a few last-minute ways to earn Marriott status.

Marriott elite status

Marriott Hotel Grand Place in Brussels. TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY

Marriott Bonvoy has five status tiers. You can earn status through elite qualifying nights, credit cards or status matches.

Silver Elite: 10 elite nights
Gold Elite: 25 elite nights
Platinum Elite: 50 elite nights
Titanium Elite: 75 elite nights
Ambassador Elite: 100 elite nights (plus $23,000 in annual qualifying spending)

Set your sails for Platinum Elite

Platinum Elite may give you upgrades to rooms like this suite at the W Rome. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY

While various benefits are associated with each Marriott status tier, Platinum Elite is the tier when the most rewarding benefits start to kick in.

Platinum Elite members enjoy benefits like annual Choice Benefits (including Suite Night Awards), enhanced room upgrades (including suites at most brands) and free breakfast at select properties.

As a Platinum Elite member, you receive many of the same benefits that top-tier Ambassador Elite members receive.

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The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card comes with automatic Platinum Elite status. Additionally, the card comes with 25 annual elite qualifying nights. So, if you’re shooting for Titanium Elite status, the Brilliant card can be a great way to top off your account with some extra elite nights to close the gap.

While on the subject of credit cards, let’s discuss how opening a Marriott cobranded credit card can help you earn status.

Marriott credit cards to qualify for status

The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C. MARRIOTT

Marriott cobranded credit cards come with either 15 or 25 annual elite qualifying nights that can help you qualify for status.

In 2020, Marriott liberalized its rules, allowing you to earn credit card elite nights from both a personal and business card. By holding the Brilliant card and one of Marriott’s business cards, you can earn 40 elite qualifying nights. That’s just 35 nights away from Titanium Elite status.

Remember that you cannot receive elite nights from multiple personal credit cards. Also, you must be the primary cardholder on a business and consumer card to combine them.

Here’s how many elite nights you’ll earn with each Marriott cobranded card:

*The information for these cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Again, you only receive one set of elite nights from a personal card and one from a business card, regardless of the issuer.

For example, TPG director of content Nick Ewen currently has three Marriott cards: the Bonvoy Brilliant Amex, the Ritz-Carlton Card and the Bonvoy Business Amex. As a result, he earns 40 elite nights every year — 25 from the Brilliant and 15 from the Business. However, if he canceled the Bonvoy Brilliant, his annual haul would drop to 30 nights (since the Ritz-Carlton card only awards 15 nights each year).

Now that we’ve discussed how to earn status through Marriott cobranded credit cards, let’s look at some mattress runs you can do to earn Marriott status.

Earn status through discount award stays

The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart. MARRIOTT

Marriott allows members to earn elite qualifying nights on award stays. Don’t forget that the fifth night is free when you redeem your Marriott points for award stays — but all nights of an award stay count as elite qualifying.

If you have a stash of Marriott points, you can redeem them to earn elite qualifying nights. We’ll show you a few aspirational stays and some discount ones that you can book on points to earn elite qualifying nights.

Remember that using points won’t get you closer to the $23,000 in qualifying spending for Ambassador Elite status unless you charge eligible incidentals to your room.

Mattress runs outside of America’s major cities

When searching for a mattress run, I recommend typing your home address into the “destination” field on marriott.com. Marriott will show you all the hotels within a 50-mile radius, and you can sort them by price.

Here are some of the least expensive hotel options on points outside of four American cities.

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Five nights at a Fairfield Inn and Suites 25 miles southwest of Houston costs just 22,000 points. MARRIOTT.COM

Earn status through high-value redemption vacations

While Marriott points have been slightly devalued, you can use your points to go on a vacation and book what would be a costly room when paid for with cash. Here are a few high-value vacation redemptions you can book to get more Marriott nights before the end of the year.

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A five-night stay at the Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel that would cost $2,435.91 in cash can be booked for just 140,000 points. MARRIOTT.COM

If you’re short on Marriott points, you can transfer additional points from Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards, though we don’t generally recommend it.

Earn status through cash stays

While hotel room rates have been on the rise, there are some great cash deals through the end of the year. Perhaps one of these deals will be the perfect excuse to book a stay to earn more Marriott elite qualifying nights.

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The Moxy Washington, DC Downtown has $110-per-night AAA rates. MARRIOTT.COM

For additional deals, visit this page on Marriott’s website, and explore what options may be close to you.

Bottom line

Marriott is the largest hotel company and has some of the best hotels in the world. Its status provides benefits like suite upgrades, complimentary breakfast and a status match to United Airlines.

Now is the time to log in to your Marriott Bonvoy account and see how many elite nights you’ve already accrued to make a plan for the rest of the year.

By opening a credit card or booking a last-minute stay on points or cash, you stand to earn more Marriott elite qualifying nights to enjoy higher status in 2024.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business, click here.