Last-minute strategies to earn Marriott Bonvoy elite status

With just a couple of months remaining in 2025, now is the time to earn Marriott Bonvoy elite qualifying nights for your 2026 status.

Depending on your status tier and the hotel brand, Marriott elite status can give you valuable perks like complimentary suite upgrades, a welcome gift, lounge access and late checkout. Plus, elite members earn Bonvoy points faster, so you can redeem free nights sooner.

It's not too late — follow these tips to earn last-minute Marriott status for next year.

Related: How to get Marriott Bonvoy elite status for life

What is Marriott elite status?

Marriott Bonvoy has five elite status tiers, which are reached by earning a certain number of elite qualifying nights. Here's how many nights you must stay per year for each status level:

• ​​Silver Elite: 10 nights
• Gold Elite: 25 nights
• Platinum Elite: 50 nights
• Titanium Elite: 75 nights
• Ambassador Elite: 100 nights (plus $23,000 in qualifying spending per calendar year)

Although each tier comes with its own benefits, Platinum Elite is where the most rewarding perks start to kick in.

Platinum Elite members enjoy Annual Choice Benefits (including Nightly Upgrade Awards), enhanced room upgrades (including suites at most brands), a welcome gift — which can include free breakfast at select properties — and more. As a Platinum Elite member, you receive many of the same benefits that top-tier Ambassador Elite members receive.

So, if you're going to the trouble of earning status, this one will give you the most bang for your buck.

If 50 nights in a year sounds like a lot, don't worry. There are shortcuts on the route to elite status, and one of our favorites is using Marriott cobranded credit cards.

Use Marriott credit cards to qualify for elite status

The fastest route to Marriott Bonvoy elite status is by having the right credit card in your wallet. The following cards give you status outright as long as you hold the card:

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Platinum Elite
• Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card*: Gold Elite
• American Express Platinum Card® and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Gold Elite (enrollment is required)

Related: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Credit Card review: Marriott's most premium card

Additionally, Marriott cobranded cards provide elite night credits that can jump-start your elite status journey each year. Here's how many nights you can earn with each card:

*The information for The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card, Marriott Bonvoy Premier Credit Card and Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Better yet, Marriott allows you to combine credit card nights from one personal and one business card (as long as you're the primary cardholder on both). So, you can earn a total of 40 elite night credits each year by holding the Brilliant card and one of Marriott's business cards, putting you just 35 nights away from Titanium Elite status.

However, you cannot receive elite nights from multiple personal credit cards. And you'll only receive elite night credits from one personal card and one business card, regardless of issuer.

For example, TPG Senior Editorial Director Nick Ewen currently has three Marriott cards: the Bonvoy Brilliant Amex, the Ritz-Carlton card and the Bonvoy Business Amex. He earns 40 elite nights each calendar year — 25 from the Bonvoy Brilliant and 15 from the Bonvoy Business. However, if he canceled the Bonvoy Brilliant, his annual haul would drop to 30 nights (since the Ritz-Carlton card only awards 15 nights each calendar year).

If adding another credit card to your wallet this year won't be enough to close the gap, let's look at some last-minute mattress runs you can make to clinch status for 2026.

Related: The complete guide to earning Marriott elite status with credit cards

Earn status through Marriott award stays

Marriott allows members to earn elite qualifying nights on award stays. Don't forget that the fifth night is free when you redeem your Marriott points — but all nights of an award stay will count toward your status goals.

However, remember that using points won't get you closer to the $23,000 in qualifying spending required for Ambassador Elite status unless you charge eligible incidentals to your room.

If you have a stash of Marriott points, you can redeem them to earn elite qualifying nights. Here are a few ideas, ranging from aspirational stays to discounted trips.

Book high-value redemptions

At TPG, we're all about maximizing the value of your points. If you have a big stack of Marriott points, you can use them to splurge on a luxurious vacation — and earn elite status in the process.

For example, you could spend five nights in November at The Ritz-Carlton Oahu, Turtle Bay for 396,000 Bonvoy points (plus $260 in resort fees). Since the same stay would cost $3,910 in cash, you'd get a value of 0.9 cents per point, well above our November 2025 valuation. Plus, you'd come home from your vacation with five elite qualifying nights.

If you're short on Marriott points, you can transfer additional points from Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards. We generally don't recommend this because you'll lose a lot of value in the process (we value Chase points at 2.05 cents apiece and Amex points at 2 cents apiece, compared to just 0.7 cents apiece for Marriott points, per our November 2025 valuations).

However, transferring points can make sense if you have a great redemption lined up and only need a few thousand more points — especially if you can take advantage of a transfer bonus. Amex happens to be offering a 30% bonus when you transfer rewards to Marriott Bonvoy through Nov. 30.

Make a mattress run outside major US cities

When you don't have the high points balances (or vacation time) needed for an aspirational vacation, you may prefer to book a low-cost mattress run near home to achieve your elite status goals.

If you live in a major city like New York or San Francisco, booking a mattress run in the center of these metropolises will likely be very expensive and outweigh the benefits you would receive from next year's status. Instead, look for cities or towns a short distance away where rates may be significantly cheaper. We recommend typing your home address into the "destination" field on marriott.com, then sorting nearby properties by price.

For example, say you're based in Chicago and you need seven more nights to snag status. You might consider one of these nearby properties, where you could earn seven elite night credits from a weeklong stay in December for under 90,000 points. You could also opt to pay the cash rate, which is relatively low, or cut some of the cost by redeeming a free night award certificate.

Related: How I plan to redeem more than 800,000 Marriott Bonvoy points

Check out new Marriott offers

While hotel room rates seemingly continue to rise, there are plenty of ways to save. Marriott regularly offers sales, including last-minute booking deals for paid stays, so check out these pages to see if any deals pique your interest.

Earn Marriott status with a status match

Just like some credit cards can give you automatic Marriott status, so can some airline elite status tiers.

If you hold United MileagePlus Premier Gold status or higher, you can register online to receive complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status through the programs' RewardsPlus partnership. Additionally, if you have Titanium Elite or Ambassador Elite status with Marriott, you can register to receive complimentary United Premier Silver status.

Marriott's elite status soft landing policy

If you currently hold elite status and aren't going to requalify in 2025, you may be able to take advantage of Marriott's "soft landing" policy next year.

In 2025, Marriott offered the next tier lower to elite members who did not requalify for status in 2024. It's possible this policy will continue into 2026; check Marriott's website for updates.

Bottom line

Holding Marriott Bonvoy elite status can help you save money and elevate your travel across Marriott's vast network, which includes many aspirational properties ranging from overwater bungalows to safari camps.

As the clock ticks toward the end of 2025, now is the time to log in to your Bonvoy account, see how many elite nights you've already accrued and make a plan for the rest of the year. By following the above tips, you can earn the elite qualifying nights you need to enjoy Marriott VIP treatment in 2026.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business, click here.