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Marriott announced last month that they’d be making it far easier for Bonvoy members to earn status during 2020 for status through the beginning of 2022. (See Marriott gifting elite night credit & dropping many redemption rates.)
This was being done due to reduced travel opportunities for most people as a result of COVID-19. The way they decided to make it easier to earn elite status was to award bonus elite nights based on the status you earned in 2019. Here’s a table listing the extra nights that could be expected at each level.
| Status earned in 2019 | Regular requirement | 50% elite night credits deposited in late July |
|---|---|---|
| Ambassador | 100 nights + $20K spend | 50 nights |
| Titanium | 75 nights | 38 nights |
| Platinum | 50 nights | 25 nights |
| Gold | 25 nights | 13 nights |
| Silver | 10 nights | 5 nights |
| General Member | None | None |
When Marriott announced this benefit, they advised that the elite nights would be awarded in late July. Somewhat surprisingly (for Marriott), they’re actually ahead of schedule and those elite nights are now posting to accounts.
I earned Titanium elite status in 2019, so I’d been expecting to receive 38 bonus elite nights this year. Sure enough, those nights have now been credited to my account and are listed on a ‘Promotional’ line. Our current stay at a Residence Inn was due to push me to Titanium Elite status again this year, but these elite nights have gotten me there a little earlier than expected. I now have enough nights for the year for Ambassador status, but that unfortunately also requires $20,000 of spend at Marriott properties in the year which is never going to happen.
My wife only earned Silver status last year as all our stays were booked under my account (her status was thanks to nights award from Marriott credit cards). As a result, she’s only been awarded 5 bonus elite nights this year.
She only has Marriott business credit cards, so that leaves her with 20 elite nights for this year. If you only earned silver status last year but have both personal and business Marriott credit cards, you should expect to see 35 elite nights – 5 from the Silver bonus and 15 nights each from the personal and business cards as a result of how credit card elite nights are now awarded. (See: Marriott Now Offering Up To 30 Elite Nights From Credit Cards (15 Personal + 15 Business).)
It’s great that these bonus nights are posting to accounts a few weeks earlier than expected as it means that some people will end up at a higher status level than expected in time for an upcoming stay.
Having said that, not everyone is seeing the bonus elite nights on their Bonvoy accounts yet – Greg is one of those still waiting for the nights to post. If they’re not showing up for you yet, you should hopefully see them in the coming days.
h/t Travel on Points Facebook group
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[…] people are very close, even if they didn’t stay in Marriott hotels at all this year because Marriott added bonus elite nights to many accounts. I covered this topic in-depth previously here: Marriott Bonvoy: 7 nights to Platinum. What to […]
[…] next level status. In addition to extending everyone’s current elite status into 2021, Marriott has added bonus elite nights to our accounts. If you earned status in 2019 for the year 2020 (or got status for free from a credit card, […]
They also count toward lifetime night accrual. Got my 25 credited yesterday.
Missing platinum by one night last year hurts extra now.
Hurts just thinking about that.
I’m Titanium but only received 25 nights instead of 38. Typical Bonvoy… will have to contact them to get it corrected.
I had the same experience as a Titanium Elite
i was Platinum in 2019, only got 13 nights