With most major hotel loyalty programs, elite status is based on qualifying activity within a calendar year. So, how exactly does elite status credit work for a hotel stay on December 31? Does it count toward the previous year or the following year?
While this is niche, with the new year being right around the corner, I imagine this is something that some people are curious about. Maybe some people are even planning a last minute mattress run in order to qualify for status.
In this post:
Elite status credit on December 31 hotel stays
If you check-in to a hotel on December 31 and check-out of a hotel on January 1, in which year would you earn the elite credit? Let’s take a look at the policies of the four most popular hotel loyalty programs for those into miles & points:
- With Hilton Honors, the elite night would count toward the following year
- With IHG One Rewards, the elite night would count toward the following year
- With Marriott Bonvoy, the elite night would count toward the previous year
- With World of Hyatt, the elite night would count toward the following year
In other words, if we’re talking about a stay on December 31, 2025, Marriott would credit you for 2025, while Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG, would credit you for 2026.
Elite status credit on longer stays over the New Year
What about for longer hotel stays, where you have some nights before New Year’s Eve, and some nights after New Year’s Eve? While the same general principle applies, it works a bit differently.
With Marriott Bonvoy, the elite nights would be split by year. All nights through (and including) December 31 would count toward the previous year, while all nights starting January 1 would count toward the following year.
In other words, if you stayed five nights, checking in December 29 and checking out January 3, you’d get three elite nights for the previous year, and two elite nights for the following year.
Now, it’s a different story with Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, and World of Hyatt, where the entire stay would be credited based on the year of the date where you’re checking out. In other words, that December 29 through January 3 stay would credit entirely to the following year.
In the Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, and World of Hyatt situation, some may wonder if they could simply do back-to-back days. For example, using the same stay as above, could you simply book one stay from December 29 through December 31, and then a separate reservation from December 31 through January 3?
If you’re staying at the same hotel, that wouldn’t work, even if you physically check-in and check-out. That’s because the system automatically consolidates back-to-back stays at the same hotel. However, that would work if you were switching hotels, since those would be distinct stays.
Bottom line
New Year’s Even is a popular time to travel, and for those of us into miles & points, it’s also our last chance to qualify for elite status in a particular calendar year. When it comes to hotel elite nights, it’s worth noting that Marriott will generally count a December 31 stay toward status for the previous year, while Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG, will count it toward the following year.
What has your experience been with getting elite nights credited for New Year’s Eve stays?
At Hilton, all credit goes to 2026 as long as you had an uninterrupted stay checking out in 2026?
If you checked-in at the latest 13 Oct 2025 and checked out on 1st January 2026, plus spent $18k you’d be Diamond Reserve by 2nd January?
I thought Hilton proportioned it out.
Oh, the trick is don’t wait until December 31 for any calendar-year-based status-related-earnings, on flights, hotels, etc.
Worth mentioning that for Bonvoy, the *spend* (if you're chasing Ambassador Elite) counts based on the checkout date, so would roll into the new year in your example.
So the prize for too much mediocre Marriott is . . . even more mediocre Marriott
Jack, that’s a whole lotta ‘mediocre.’
And when a Marriott property denies you complimentary bottles of water, they can go full-Immortan Joe, and say: “Do not, my friends, become addicted to water. It will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence.”