With just two months to go until the new year, now is the time to earn Marriott Elite qualifying nights for your 2024 status.
Depending on your status tier and the hotel brand where you stay, Marriott elite status includes a variety of benefits such as complimentary suite upgrades, daily breakfast for two, and late checkout at 4 p.m.
This guide will show you some last minute ways to get Marriott status.
Marriott elite status
Marriott Bonvoy has five status tiers. You can earn status by 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 expenses)
Related: What is Marriott Bonvoy Elite status in 2023?
Set up your sales for Platinum Elite
While different benefits are associated with each Marriott status tier, Platinum Elite is the level when the most rewarding benefits begin to accrue.
Platinum Elite members enjoy benefits such as 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 as higher-level Ambassador Elite members.
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This Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card Automatically comes with 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 close the gap with a few extra Elite nights to top off your account.
On the subject of credit cards, let’s discuss how opening a Marriott cobranded credit card can help you earn status.
RELATED: 3 Reasons I Keep Chasing Marriott Platinum Status Year after Year
Marriott credit card to qualify for status
Marriott cobranded credit cards come with either 5 or 25 annual Elite qualifying nights that can help you qualify for status.
Remember that you cannot earn elite nights with multiple individual credit cards. Also, you must be the primary cardholder to link business and consumer cards.
Related: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Credit Card Review: Marriott’s Most Premium Card
Here’s how many elite nights you’ll earn with each Marriott cobranded card:
*The information for these cards has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Again, you only get one elite night set from a personal card and one from a business card, regardless of 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 per year – 25 from Brilliant and 15 from 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 per year).
Now that we’ve discussed how to earn status through Marriott cobranded credit cards, let’s look at some of the mattress runs you can do to earn Marriott status.
RELATED: 17 Ways to Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points
Earn status through discount award stays
Marriott allows members to earn elite qualifying nights on award stays. Don’t forget that the The fifth night is free when you redeem your Marriott points for an award stay — but all nights of an award stay count as elite qualifying.
If you have a collection of Marriott points, you can redeem them to earn elite qualifying nights. We’ll show you some ambitious stays and some discounts you can book on points to earn elite qualifying nights.
Remember that using points won’t get you anywhere near the $23,000 in qualifying spending for Ambassador Elite status unless you charge the appropriate incidentals to your room.
Mattress operates outside of major US cities
When searching for Mattress Run, I recommend entering your home address in 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 less expensive hotel options at points outside four American cities.
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A five-night stay at the Fairfield Inn & 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 devalued a bit, you can use your points to go on vacation and book what would be an expensive room if paid with cash. Here are some 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 Kona Beach Hotel that will cost $2,435.91 cash can be booked for just 140,000 points. MARRIOTT.COM
If you’re low on Marriott points, you can transfer additional points from Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards, although we generally don’t recommend it.
Related: Ouch: It’s Not Just You, Marriott Stays Now Cost More Points
Earn status by investing cash
While hotel room rates are on the rise, there are some great year-end cash deals. 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 AAA rates from $110-per-night. MARRIOTT.COM
For additional deals, visit This page on Marriott’s website, and explore which options may be near you.
Related: Great for business or pleasure: The new JW Marriott Charlotte
The bottom line
Marriott is the largest hotel company and has some of the best hotels in the world. Its status includes suite upgrades, complimentary breakfast and a Status match with United Airlines.
Now it’s time to log into your Marriott Bonvoy account and see how many elite nights you’ve already accrued to plan for the rest of the year.
By opening a credit card or booking a last-minute stay with points or cash, you stand to earn more Marriott Elite qualifying nights to enjoy higher status in 2024.
For Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant rates and fees, click here.
For Marriott Bonvoy Bevy rates and fees, click here.
For Marriott Bonvoy Business rates and fees, click here.