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United’s partnership with Marriott, called RewardsPlus, provides a way for United elites to get Marriott elite status (and vice versa). Specifically, anyone with United Premier Gold status or higher will automatically get Marriott Gold status simply by enrolling in RewardsPlus.
The deal is even better for top-tier United Global Services members. Even though it’s not officially published on the RewardsPlus website, Global Services members have been receiving Marriott Platinum status.
All of that is very nice, but the problem is that in August and beyond, the status match is expected to stay the same. We have confirmed that United Gold and higher will get Marriott Gold Elite status. And I think it is a safe bet to assume that Global Services members will get Platinum status.
Why is that a problem? In August, the names of Marriott’s elite tiers are going to shift. Current Gold status is pretty valuable, Gold Elite status in August will not be.
This table shows how your matched benefits will differ if you enroll in RewardsPlus now vs. in August:
| United Status | Matched Marriott Status if enrolling in RewardsPlus Before August | Matched Marriott Status if enrolling in RewardsPlus August or Later |
|
| Premier Gold, Premier Platinum, or Premier 1K | Gold Status: Lounge Access, Free breakfast at many hotels, but not at resorts, 4pm late checkout. This will convert to Platinum Elite status in August. | Gold Status: 2pm late checkout | |
| Global Services | Platinum Status: All of the above perks, plus welcome gift. This will convert to Platinum Premier Elite status in August. | Platinum Elite Status: Lounge Access, Free breakfast at resorts and many hotels, 4pm late checkout |
As you can see above, Global Services members won’t lose out on much, but this will be a huge drop in benefits for United Premier Gold through Premier 1K members.
If you have United Premier status today, a simple, but short-term solution is to sign up for RewardsPlus now. This way you can lock in meaningful status for the rest of this year and through the end of January 2019.
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When does the United-Matched Marriott Platinum expire, end of Jan or end of Feb 2019? Planning to take advantage of free breakfast status before it expires. Thanks.
We have been told end of January since that’s when United status ends for the year
I see that you can get Marriott status once you reach a certain status with United — but does it work the other way? I am gold with Marriott and am wondering if I can get status with United.
You need Platinum (75-night status) with Marriott to get Silver status with United.
Thanks
I went to the UA website signed up over a month ago. I’m already Marriott Gold through my Amex platinum card and wasn’t sure whether I could also sign up for gold a UA Platinum member. When I go back to the link it says “we have received your application and are processing it”. It’s been about 5 weeks and I still get that message. I’m worried that it might not go through before August. Anybody know how this works when you are already Marriott Gold?
I am already a lifetime SPG gold member (and a lifetime United Gold). Is there any benefit or harm to matching?
Marriott status matched from SPG will only be “new Gold” (no free breakfast). Marriott status matched from United Gold before August will transition to Marriott Platinum (free breakfast) in August.
[…] United Premier Elites: Sign up for RewardsPlus before August […]
GS does not get platinum. Check the GS FT thread.
This is not a published benefit, but many GS have received Platinum. See this post for example:
https://loyaltylobby.com/2017/05/10/united-airlines-global-services-rewardsplus-benefit-marriott-rewards-platinum-status/
Would this just be through Jan ’19? And then UA non-GS drop back down to Marriott Gold?
Correct
Wow. I’m currently a UA 1K. Marriott has never been my favorite hotel chain. Their loyalty program has many well-known flaws — basically they’re cheap with the perks and expensive with the award prices. But my matched Marriott Gold status has made it worthwhile to stay at Marriotts in certain limited circumstances. So all my perks will be going away in a year or so? That’s going to cause me to essentially abandon the Marriott program.