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 wanted 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.
In this post:
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, suite 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 suite night 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:
- You can earn up to 40 elite nights per year with Marriott credit cards, and those count toward the lifetime status nights requirement; for example, I have the combination of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (review) and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (review), and together they earn me 40 elite nights per year (15 from the Bonvoy Business card and 25 from the Bonvoy Brilliant card)
- If you earn status with Marriott entirely or partially through a credit card, that would still count toward the requirement for number of years needed for status; for example, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card offers Platinum status for as long as you’re a cardmember, so each year you have the card would count as a further year toward lifetime Platinum
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?
What are the EXTRA benefits to being a Lifetime Titanium Elite, if any, beyond plain old Titanium Elite??
I do have this status now, but I understand that it is no longer possible to earn it, only Titanium Elite, with no Lifetime.
Thanks for any help. I cannot find the benefits online.
Lifetime Titanium also required 2 million lifetime Marriott points (for those coming from the Marriott side)
I hit lifetime Marriott Titanium status before the Bonvoy conversion (Platinum Emeritus was the first card I got). Back then I received presidential suite upgrades. Since Bonvoy, cannot even get the same floor as the lounge unless I pay extra. I've now qualified for Titanium lifetime status twice over I started the journey on Hilton, but they're in a race to the bottom on upgrades so not worth the trouble.
Do you travel solely in the US?
I'm Lifetime Titanium Elite, and I get suite upgrades quite frequently - in the EU, Brazil, and Australia. It's not as good as SPG, but it does happen.
I've had poor luck at US hotels, unless I use SNA's. The late checkout & welcome gift/breakfast is pretty good, though.
@Ben - When the years of status show up in January, does that number reflect the prior year or the year that's just begun?
In my case, when I checked on Jan 1 or 2 (forget which), the website said "9" (as it had ever since I first checked after qualifying for Platinum in 2022). Today (1/25), I checked, and it said "10" (!). Unknown exactly on what day it ratched up.
If staying at a hotel in the Marriott 30-brand family with status higher than Platinum - there's simply no difference in terms of upgrades. If you are staying in Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia - then Titanium and Ambassador levels make a difference.
Why is it that US based hotels of US Brands treat higher levels the same but the benefits work abroad ?
I would think they'll bring back Lifetime Titanium back at some point. As the Bonvoy program ages, number of Lifetime Plats will only grow. When everyone has status, no one has status. Guessing 900 nights + 15 years Titanium.
That's the whole point of loyalty programs.
Hook you in with a made up title without needing to offer you anything beyond a fancy name.
We've used up only 5-6 elements in the last half century to name status, we have a few dozen more that would last us until the next millennium.
Get ready for Lifetime Mendelevium when you're born to parents who hold Lifetime Praseodymium or higher and you have stayed 2500...
That's the whole point of loyalty programs.
Hook you in with a made up title without needing to offer you anything beyond a fancy name.
We've used up only 5-6 elements in the last half century to name status, we have a few dozen more that would last us until the next millennium.
Get ready for Lifetime Mendelevium when you're born to parents who hold Lifetime Praseodymium or higher and you have stayed 2500 nights and have 40 years of Rubidium.
The benefit of Mendelevium is now a continental breakfast for two, replacing Titanium tier that lost breakfast benefit in 2045 with the Marriott merger with BALTIA. 10 years earlier, 2035, Platinum lost its breakfast when the whole industry decided to devalue since they couldn't compete with Hilton after @DCS became their new CEO and proved to the world how great the chain is. (LOL, sorry mate)
Where’s my popcorn? The comment section should blow up any minute now ;)
The one comment that says it all: so, you're telling me I get to be denied tier benefits for life?
(By the way, Hilton Lifetime Diamonds are in the same bucket.)
Do you think so? Is anyone going to bat for Marriott?
Smarter to frequent Hiltons, Hyatts, and IHGs with no status than chase any kind of loyalty with Marriott.
Of course, there's a catch to "free" WiFi. If the property charges non-elite guests for basic WiFi, then elites receive premium WiFi free. If the property does not charge non-elites for basic WiFi (that is, basic is free), then elites do not receive premium WiFi free (that is, premium must be paid for). Where do they come up with these things?
This is one thing that always gets me wondering. How fast internet do you actually need. It's not like your speed gets split with more devices in your room.
Unless you are a professional E-Sports player or streaming 4K movies most of the time, the normal wifi is more than sufficient, even for multi-way video conferences. 4G/5G are even a more reliable fallback than ever.
I've never run into any speed problems in the...
This is one thing that always gets me wondering. How fast internet do you actually need. It's not like your speed gets split with more devices in your room.
Unless you are a professional E-Sports player or streaming 4K movies most of the time, the normal wifi is more than sufficient, even for multi-way video conferences. 4G/5G are even a more reliable fallback than ever.
I've never run into any speed problems in the last several years.
I do know one thing that will annoy you. If you choose the automatically connect option, it will always default to the standard wifi and never the enhanced one.
Yes! I've noticed that too re: the automatically connect option !
I never click on that option anymore !
A hole in the head lasts forever too, and you don’t see anybody touting that.