Last-Minute Strategies for Earning Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status

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

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

It’s not too late — follow these tips to secure 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 levels of elite status, which can be reached by earning a certain number of qualifying elite nights. Here are the number of 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 eligible spending per calendar year)

Although each level comes with its own benefits, Platinum Elite is where the most rewarding perks begin.

Platinum Elite members enjoy annual choice benefits (including nightly upgrade awards), enhanced room upgrades (including suites in most brands), a welcome gift — which can include free breakfast at select hotels — and more. As a Platinum Elite member, you receive many of the same benefits as top-tier Ambassador Elite members.

So, if you’re going to go through the trouble of getting the status, this one will give you the most money.

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If 50 nights a year sounds like a lot, don’t worry. There are shortcuts to elite status, and one of our favorites is to use Marriott co-branded credit cards.

Use Marriott credit cards to qualify for elite status

The quickest path to Marriott Bonvoy elite status is to have the right credit card in your wallet. The following cards give you status exactly as long as you hold the card:

Related to: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Credit Card Review: Marriott’s most premium card

Additionally, Marriott co-branded cards offer Elite Night credits that can jump-start your elite status journey each year. Here’s how many nights you can earn with each card:

*Information for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card, Marriott Bonvoy Premier Credit Card, and Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card was 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 lets you combine credit card nights from one personal card 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 obtain Elite Nights through multiple personal credit cards. You will only receive Elite Night credits from one personal card and one business card, regardless of issuer.

For example, TPG Senior Managing Editor Nick Ewen currently owns three Marriott cards: the Bonvoy Brilliant Amex Card, the Ritz-Carlton Card, and the Bonvoy Business Amex Card. Gets 40 elite nights each calendar year – 25 from Bonvoy Brilliant and 15 from Bonvoy Business. However, if he cancels Bonvoy Brilliant, his annual package will drop to 30 nights (since the Ritz-Carlton Card only gives 15 nights per calendar year).

If adding another credit card to your portfolio this year isn’t enough to fill the gap, let’s take a look at some last-minute mattress runs you can make to get in position for 2026.

Related: The Complete Guide to Earning Marriott Elite Status Using Credit Cards

Earn status through Marriott Award Stays

Marriott allows members to earn qualifying elite nights on award stays. Don’t forget that The fifth night is free when you redeem your Marriott Points – but all award nights will count toward your status goals.

However, remember that using points will not get you closer to the $23,000 in qualifying spending required for Ambassador Elite status unless you collect qualifying incidental fees from your room.

If you have a stockpile of Marriott points, you can redeem them to earn qualifying elite nights. Here are some ideas, from aspirational staycations to discounted trips.

Book high value redemptions

At TPG, we’re all about maximizing the value of your points. If you have a large collection of Marriott points, you can use them to enjoy a luxury vacation — and gain elite status in the process.

For example, you can spend five nights in November at the Ritz-Carlton Oahu, Turtle Bay for 396,000 Bonvoy points (plus a $260 resort fee). Since the same stay would cost $3,910 cash, you’ll get a value of 0.9 cents per point, which is significantly higher than our November 2025 valuation. Plus, you’ll 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 each and Amex points at 2 cents each, compared to just 0.7 cents per point for Marriott points, according to our November 2025 valuations).

However, transferring points can make sense if you have a great redemption and just need a few thousand extra points — especially if you can take advantage of a transfer bonus. Amex is offering a 30% bonus when you transfer rewards to Marriott Bonvoy through November 30.

Make a ranking outside of major US cities

When you don’t have the high point balances (or vacation time) needed for an ambitious vacation, you may prefer to book a low-cost mattress close to home to achieve your elite status goals.

If you live in a major city like New York or San Francisco, reserving a mattress in the middle of these major cities will likely be very expensive and outweigh the benefits you’ll get from next year’s status. Instead, look for cities or towns within a short distance where prices may be much cheaper. We recommend that you type your home address in the “Destination” field. marriott.comThen sort nearby properties by price.

For example, let’s say you’re a resident of Chicago and need an additional seven nights to get status. You might consider one of these nearby properties, where you can earn seven Elite Night credits from a week-long stay in December for less than 90,000 points. You can also choose to pay the cash price, which is relatively low, or cut some of the cost by redeeming a free night award certificate.

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

Learn about Marriott’s new offers

While hotel room prices seem to keep rising, there are plenty of ways to save. Marriott delivers regularly salesincluded Last minute booking deals For paid stays, so check these pages to see if there are any deals that interest you.

Get Marriott status through a status match

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

If you carry You can have United MileagePlus Premier Gold status or higher Online registration To earn free Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status through the programs’ RewardsPlus partnership. Plus, if you have Titanium Elite or Marriott Ambassador Elite status, you can Score To get free United Premier Silver status.

Soft landing policy for elite status at Marriott

If you currently have elite status and won’t qualify again in 2025, you may be able to take advantage of Marriott’s “soft landing” policy next year.

In 2025, Marriott offered the next level down to Elite members who do not qualify for status in 2024. This policy could continue until 2026; Check out Marriott Website For updates.

Bottom line

Achieving Marriott Bonvoy elite status can help you save money and elevate your travel across Marriott’s extensive network, which includes many aspirational properties ranging from Overwater huts to safari camps.

With 2025 drawing to a close, now is the time to log into your Bonvoy account, see how many Elite Nights you’ve already accumulated and make a plan for the rest of the year. By following the tips above, you can earn the elite qualifying nights you need to enjoy Marriott VIP treatment in 2026.

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