Marriott lifetime status: What it is and how to earn it
Marriott elite status offers perks ranging from free breakfast and room upgrades to late checkout. The benefits depend on your Marriott elite status tier and can vary from brand to brand.
You don’t have to be a road warrior to earn higher tiers of Marriott Bonvoy status, though. After all, you can earn up to 40 elite night credits per year by being the primary cardholder of select credit cards. These elite night credits can put even a casual traveler within reach of Marriott’s Platinum Elite or even Titanium Elite status.
But wouldn’t it be nice to have Marriott elite status for life so you don’t need to qualify year after year? It’s possible. Here’s what you need to know about lifetime Marriott status.
Marriott lifetime status requirements
Members can currently earn the following three tiers of lifetime Marriott status:
- Lifetime Silver Elite: 250 lifetime nights and five years as a Silver Elite member or higher
- Lifetime Gold Elite: 400 lifetime nights and seven years as a Gold Elite member or higher
- Lifetime Platinum Elite: 600 lifetime nights and 10 years as a Platinum Elite member or higher
Currently, there is no way to qualify for the two highest Marriott elite status tiers — Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite — for life. However, when Starwood merged with Marriott, some members were given lifetime Titanium Elite status.
Although it might feel like these Marriott lifetime status tiers are out of reach, credit card and promotional elite night credits count toward lifetime status. So, you may find it relatively easy to eventually snag lifetime status, especially if you have one or more Marriott Bonvoy credit cards that provide elite night credits annually.
For example, TPG Senior Writer Katie Genter has lifetime Silver Elite status. But with eight years as a Gold Elite or higher and 353 lifetime nights, she’ll secure lifetime Gold Elite status after staying 47 more nights. Since Katie has the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card and Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, she gets 30 elite night credits as a benefit of these cards each year. As such, she should get lifetime Gold Elite status in 2025 after staying 17 more nights with Marriott.
Related: Here’s why you need both a personal and business Marriott Bonvoy credit card
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Lifetime Marriott elite status benefits
Once you earn lifetime Marriott status, you’ll enjoy that tier’s benefits for the rest of your life. Here are a few of the highlights at each of the three tiers you can currently earn for life:
- Silver Elite: 10% points bonus and priority late checkout
- Gold Elite: 25% points bonus and non-suite enhanced room upgrades (at some brands)
- Platinum Elite: 50% points bonus, room upgrades (including suites at most brands) and a welcome gift choice (at most brands; breakfast is an option at some brands)
If you hold Marriott lifetime status, your points won’t expire. In late 2022, Marriott also introduced the ability for lifetime Platinum Elite members to view their lifetime journey online and request complimentary luggage tags.
Platinum Elite members can ordinarily select an annual Marriott Choice Benefit. However, lifetime Platinum Elite members don’t get to select an annual Choice Benefit unless they meet the standard elite night requirements for Platinum Elite status that year.
Related: When does your hotel elite status expire?
How to check Marriott lifetime status progress
The Marriott app is the easiest way to see your progress toward Marriott lifetime status. Open the app and follow these steps:
- Select “Account” in the bottom right corner
- Tap “Nights this year”
- Select “See lifetime status progress”
The page that loads should show your current lifetime Marriott status (if any) and your progress toward the next lifetime tier.
If you scroll down, you’ll see your lifetime statistics.
As you can see in the above screenshots from Katie’s account, she should reach lifetime Gold Elite status in 2025. But, she won’t reach lifetime Platinum Elite status until 2029 at the earliest since she currently only has five years as a Platinum Elite member. Assuming she accrues 50 elite night credits each year until then, she’ll be on pace to earn lifetime Platinum Elite status in late 2029.
Related: Best Marriott hotels in the world
Bottom line
Qualifying for Marriott lifetime status is a marathon, not a sprint — Marriott adjusted its lifetime status program in 2018 when it merged with Starwood, though. So, remember that Marriott could change the requirements for lifetime status before you obtain your desired tier.
Outside of the lifetime Platinum Elite dashboard, you won’t get any additional perks as a lifetime member compared to members who earn the status each year by accruing elite night credits. You’ll also miss out on Marriott Choice Benefits, which are only available once you accrue at least 50 elite night credits during the calendar year.
We don’t recommend going out of your way to earn lifetime Marriott status, but it may happen if you frequently stay with Marriott. Consider Marriott lifetime status a reward for many years of staying at Marriott brands.
