Several hotel loyalty programs offer lifetime status for those who have been exceptionally loyal over the years — in separate posts, I’ve written about the programs offered by Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt.
In this post, I’d like to take a closer look at how you can earn lifetime status in the Marriott Bonvoy program. The good news is that this is probably the easiest lifetime hotel status you can earn.
How to earn Marriott Bonvoy lifetime status
Marriott Bonvoy has a pretty robust lifetime status program, in the sense that you can earn either lifetime Silver, Gold, or Platinum status.
Below I’ll talk about the qualification requirements for each status, which is based on a combination of a certain number of elite nights plus a certain number of years of elite status.
Lifetime Marriott Silver status
In order to receive lifetime Marriott Silver status you need to earn both of the following:
- 250 lifetime elite nights
- Five years of elite status
Marriott Silver status ordinarily requires earning at least 10 elite nights per year. Marriott Silver status offers basic perks like 10% bonus points and priority late check-out.
Lifetime Marriott Gold status
In order to receive lifetime Marriott Gold status you need to earn both of the following:
- 400 lifetime elite nights
- Seven years of elite status (minimum Gold status)
Marriott Gold status ordinarily requires earning at least 25 elite nights per year. Marriott Gold status offers perks like 25% bonus points, enhanced room upgrades, priority late check-out, a welcome gift of points, premium Wi-Fi, and more.
Lifetime Marriott Platinum status
In order to receive lifetime Marriott Platinum status you need to earn both of the following:
- 600 lifetime elite nights
- 10 years of elite status (minimum Platinum status)
Marriott Platinum status ordinarily requires earning at least 50 elite nights per year. Marriott Platinum status is where perks really start to get valuable, as it offers benefits like 50% bonus points, good room upgrades, 4PM late check-out, complimentary breakfast and/or lounge access at most brands, and more.
Marriott Bonvoy lifetime status FAQs
Perhaps it’s best to explain some of the other nuances of lifetime Marriott status in the form of some frequently asked questions.
Is there a way to earn lifetime Marriott Titanium status?
Unfortunately not anymore. When Marriott and Starwood introduced a unified loyalty program in 2018, the company offered lifetime Titanium status to those with 750 elite nights plus 10 years of Platinum status between the Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs.
This was offered as a one-time courtesy, but unfortunately isn’t offered on an ongoing basis. On top of that, just to be thorough, I’ll mention that there’s no way to earn lifetime Ambassador status.
Do you earn Choice Benefits with lifetime Marriott Platinum status?
Marriott has the Choice Benefits program, whereby you can select certain perks when passing 50 and 75 elite nights each year (these perks include Nightly Upgrade Awards). Note that lifetime members don’t get to select these unless they would otherwise earn 50 or 75 elite nights in a year.
Do you get elite nights that correspond to your lifetime status?
I hinted at this above, but I get this question often, so I think it’s worth addressing. If you have lifetime Platinum status, for example, does that mean you get 50 elite nights posted to your account annually, and only need 25 more elite nights to earn Titanium status?
Nope, unfortunately not. Lifetime status gives you a certain status tier, but you get no elite qualifying nights to go along with that. So if you want to earn a higher status tier, you’ll have to qualify by whatever the criteria is for that.
How can you see your progress toward lifetime Marriott status?
It’s very easy to track your progress toward lifetime Marriott status. Both Marriott’s website and mobile app show you your elite nights and number of years of elite status once you log into your Bonvoy account.
Do Marriott credit card nights count toward lifetime status?
Marriott’s co-branded credit cards can indeed help you toward earning lifetime Marriott status:
How soon does Marriott lifetime status post?
When you pass the threshold to earn lifetime elite status, how long does it take for your lifetime status to post to your account? It’s usually pretty quick, but it depends on your qualification method:
- If you were waiting to earn enough elite nights for lifetime status, you can expect lifetime status to post within days of the elite nights posting to your account
- If you were waiting to earn enough years of elite status for lifetime status, you can expect that your account will update in January to reflect the additional year of elite status
Bottom line
Marriott Bonvoy has the most achievable lifetime status of any major hotel loyalty program. Not only can you earn three different tiers of lifetime status, but elite nights and status earned through credit cards also count toward this requirement.
Most loyal Marriott guests should have no trouble achieving lifetime elite status over time with a bit of effort, especially when using Marriott’s co-branded credit cards. Lifetime status with Marriott is much easier to earn than with Hilton or Hyatt, for example.
What do you make of Marriott Bonvoy’s lifetime status program? Are there any questions about this you have that aren’t answered above?
