Now Posting: Marriott Bonvoy 50% Bonus Elite Nights

The interesting thing is, this goes directly against one of the FAQs on Marriott's article about this: https://help.marriott.com/s/article/Article-24119

Question: "I achieved Platinum status in April this year but only received 13 Elite Night Credits in my Account. Why did I not receive 25 Elite Night Credits?"

Answer: "The 50% Elite Night Credits is based on the status tier that you earned in 2019. It is not based on the tier you achieved in 2020. The Elite status that you earned in 2019 was Gold Elite, which is why you received the 13 Elite Night Credits in your Account."

Based on this, I wonder if behind the scenes, they officially made the cutoff the end of March 2020 rather than December 2019. I mean, they specify April in the FAQ, so maybe I got lucky by earning my status in March and getting sorta grandfathered in.

Anybody else here earn a higher status in 2020 than they did in 2019, and can confirm (a) what month you earned it and (b) whether your deposited elite nights correspond to your 2019 or 2020 earned status?

My backup hypothesis is that it's because I didn't earn any status at all in 2019. Like, maybe if I'd stayed 2 more nights and hit that 10-night Silver threshold, I would've accidentally screwed myself and only received 5 extra nights this year. After all, it's Marriott, so who really knows how their system works behind the scenes?

Welp, I have to take back part of what I said yesterday. Just checked, and 25 nights were deposited in my account, bringing me up to 76 nights and Titanium status! (Quick recap: only stayed 8 nights last year; stayed 51 in the first 2.5 months of this year, earning Platinum; was concerned I wouldn't get any additional nights deposited based on the wording of the promo.)

Apparently it's not based on status earned in 2019 like Marriott's wording suggests, but more based on status currently held at this point in 2020 regardless of how/when it was earned (including lifetime status, as Scott pointed out above).

Now if only they give that 12-month status extension to folks who qualified this year... (Even if it only applied to status earned before the extra nights were deposited, i.e. Platinum for me, I'd still be happy!)

It's unfortunate that Marriott doesn't seem to be doing anything for those of us who didn't earn status in 2019 but already qualified in 2020 before the pandemic hit.

I hit 51 nights in early March, earning Platinum through February 2022 - essentially two full years - but haven't gotten to take advantage of it at all in 2020, and won't be able to safely do so until at least early next year whenever an effective COVID vaccine comes out. (The sentence "All current Marriott Bonvoy status is being extended by 12 months, given the pandemic" is actually incorrect, as status earned this year has *not* been extended, as far as I'm aware.) Without an extension, this takes away at least 50% of the value of Platinum that I paid good money (and points, which cost money) to earn.

Now, they're adding elite nights for people who qualified in 2019 but not those who already qualified in 2020? I was well on my way to Titanium this year and probably would have earned it if not for COVID. Seems to me a better solution would be either (a) base it on status earned in 2019 or the first half of 2020, whichever is higher, or (b) just lower elite qualification requirements across the board like IHG did.

Something that would help on both fronts would be combining 2020 and 2021 into one status year. Then, someone earning status in 2020 would have it for the rest of that status year (2020/2021), all of the next year (2022), through February of the following year (2023) - effectively the same 12-month extension that was given to those who qualified in 2019, which seems fair. And in, say, January 2021, they could add more elite nights into people's accounts based on how many nights they stayed in 2020 - so in my case, I'd receive 25 nights at that time, bringing my 2020/2021 total to 76 so far, and qualifying me for Titanium through February 2023. (Technically, if they did that, they should provide another Choice Benefit at 100 and 125 nights so they're not taking anything away that someone could otherwise earn if the years weren't combined.)

Just a thought. But it feels frustrating that Marriott is rewarding those who spent a mere 10 nights at Marriotts last year (or simply held a credit card without spending any nights in their hotels!), and none this year, more than someone like me who had only 8 nights last year but 51 in the first 2.5 months of this year.

@Norman alsup: I agree. This will be a big problem in 2021 with all these elites. I will say I had a much easier time getting upgrades in 2020 before the pandemic than in 2019 or 2018. But getting any kind of courtesy in-room amenities like a bottle of wine or fruit plate have been nonexistent since 2019 except in Asia. At least for the rest of this year, I’ll take a limited-service Marriott brand over a much more expensive full-service brand that is providing no service. I’ve stayed at a Ritz-Carlton recently that wasn’t doing any housekeeping, had all in-room amenities (Even bathrobes!) removed and yet was still charging their full rate plus a resort fee.