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Picture yourself having lifetime elite status. Doesn't everyone like the sound of that? You no longer need to re-qualify every year, yet you continue to enjoy your benefits stay after stay. It makes sense that many hotel chains, Marriott among them, reward you with lifetime status after years of loyalty. In this guide, we'll walk through Marriott lifetime elite status, including how to earn it, the benefits it offers, and how to track your progress.
Before you assume that Marriott lifetime elite status is out of reach, know that it isn't. We'll show you how you can make reasonable progress toward it even if you only stay with Marriott occasionally.
How to Earn Marriott Lifetime Elite Status
Marriott Bonvoy offers three tiers of lifetime elite status. The qualification requirements are as follows:
- Lifetime Silver Elite: 250 cumulative qualifying nights + five years as Silver Elite or higher
- Lifetime Gold Elite: 400 cumulative qualifying nights + seven years as Gold Elite or higher
- Lifetime Platinum Elite: 600 qualifying nights + 10 years as Platinum Elite or higher
I do want to mention the fourth tier of Marriott lifetime elite status: Lifetime Titanium Elite. When the Starwood Preferred Guest and Marriott Rewards programs merged, this status tier was awarded to members who achieved 750 lifetime nights and 10 years of Platinum status across both programs. Given how valuable Titanium benefits are, some members who were close went out of their way to achieve it. Members cannot earn Lifetime Titanium Elite any longer. Similarly, members cannot earn Lifetime Ambassador status.
But you shouldn't worry. Platinum Elite offers plenty of benefits, and you can make strides toward this lifetime tier easier than you might think. Elite nights earned from holding a co-branded Marriott credit card count toward lifetime status, which is quite helpful. Other than that, elite nights from qualifying stays all count toward your lifetime total.
Related: The Complete Guide To Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status
How close to Bonvoy lifetime elite status are you?
The best way to check your Marriott lifetime elite status is through the Marriott Bonvoy app. Also, you can check online at marriott.com, but I find the app is easier. You can open the app, click “Account” at the bottom right, and then “View Progress” where it says “Lifetime Status.” Clicking on the bar will pull up your total nights stayed and your progress toward your next Marriott lifetime status tier.
If you scroll down to the bottom, you'll numbers for how many years you've held each status level. This can help you in determining how quickly you can earn the next level.
Using Marriott's website, you'll need to log in. Then, click where it says “Hello” and your name at the top. This opens a details panel where you can click “Overview” to go to your account. On the account page, you'll see your current points balance and the number of elite nights you have accrued this year. Click on “Details” under the number of nights. This will show status details on the current year, past year, and lifetime elite status.
An easy way to work toward Marriott lifetime elite status
I mentioned before that elite night credits from Marriott co-branded credit cards count toward the lifetime total. This is great if you want to plod toward earning lifetime status. You can earn up to 40 elite night credits each year by holding two Marriott credit cards (one personal and one business).
This is one reason I keep a couple of Marriott cards open, even though I don't stay with Marriott very often. Specifically, I have the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card and Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. The two annual free nights (one from each card) are worth more than their respective annual fees since they can be redeemed for up to 35,000 points each. That's not to mention the 30 nights I receive from these cards immediately qualify me for Marriott Gold each year. This also means Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status is only 20 nights away.
- Limited Time Offer: Earn 125,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after you use your new Card to make $8,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 11/1/23.
- Receive a 7% discount off standard rates for reservations of standard guest rooms at hotels that participate in the Marriott Bonvoy program when you book directly through Marriott. Terms and Conditions Apply.
- 6x Marriott Bonvoy points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program.
- 4x points for purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping.
- 2x points on all other eligible purchases.
- Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card renewal month. Plus, earn an additional Free Night Award after you spend $60K in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Awards can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees.
- Enjoy Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status with your Card.
- Terms apply.
- Rates & Fees
- 6x Marriott Bonvoy points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy™ program
- 4x Marriott Bonvoy points on each dollar of eligible purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping
- 2x Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on all other eligible purchases
- Earn 6X Bonvoy points per $1 spent at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels
- Earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy® points for every $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on gas stations, grocery stores, and dining
- Earn 2X Bonvoy points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Thanks to the Marriott credit cards, I qualified for Lifetime Silver Elite in 2021. This isn't worth much since I already have Gold every year thanks to the credit cards. But within a few years, I will have enough elite nights to reach lifetime Gold.
Related: Last-Minute Strategies to Reach Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status
It's also worth mentioning that you can earn 25 elite night credits automatically with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. Holding this card and Marriott Bonvoy Business Card can give you 40 elite night credits to jump-start each year and automatic Platinum Elite status (courtesy of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, though you won't qualify for an annual gift without an additional 10 nights).
Benefits of Bonvoy Lifetime Status
The benefits of Marriott lifetime elite status are the same as what is published for each elite tier, with a couple caveats. Here are the primary Marriott elite status benefits for Silver, Gold, and Platinum:
- Silver Elite: 10% bonus points on stays, priority late checkout, reservation guarantee
- Gold Elite: 25% bonus points on stays, welcome gift (points), room upgrades (excluding suites) + Silver benefits
- Platinum Elite: 50% bonus points on stays, room upgrades (can include suites), welcome gift (some brands include breakfast), lounge access (at hotels with lounges), 4:00 p.m. late checkout + Gold benefits
The main loss is for Lifetime Platinum Elite members. Normally, you receive an Annual Choice Benefit when you qualify for Platinum Elite. But lifetime members don't receive this unless they stay enough nights to meet the standard annual requirement (50 nights).
Although Lifetime Platinum Elite members don't receive an annual Choice Benefit, Marriott does reward them with a one-time lifetime elite gift to recognize the loyalty milestone. The gift? Luggage tags. They look nice and come nicely packaged. Lifetime Platinum and Lifetime Titanium members also can access their Lifetime Journey. In short, this is where they can review the lifetime statistics for their Marriot Bonvoy accounts and across the accounts of all lifetime elite members.
Final Thoughts
Think of Marriott lifetime elite status as a long-term goal. Even for the road warrior, you need 10 years of Marriott Platinum Elite status to attain lifetime status at this tier. Plus, if you're only hitting 50 nights per year, you still won't have enough qualifying nights. The requirements are cumulative, though, so you'd only need a few more years to hit the finish line.
Given the way the Marriott lifetime elite status requirements are structured, I don't recommend going out of your way to earn it. However, Marriott Lifetime Platinum is an eventual goal of mine. The annual 30 elite nights provided by holding two Marriott credit cards will slowly get me there. Of course, this is assuming the requirements don't change. The cards offer enough ongoing value to keep year after year. Plus, I find myself staying with Marriott a handful of times per year. Sometimes much more.
If you're generally unfamiliar Marriott Bonvoy, you should check out our full guide: Everything About the Marriott Bonvoy Rewards Program.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees)
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“You can earn up to 40 elite night credits each year by holding two Marriott credit cards.” Perhaps it would help to clarify that those must be 1 personal and 1 business?
Good point. We include all of those details in the linked article, but I clarified that in this post as well.