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• Quick Guide
• Marriott / SPG Brands
• Free Night Certificates
• Award Chart
• Cash and Points Awards
• Transferring Points to Airlines
• Hotel + Air Packages
• Acquiring Points
• Points Expiration
• Member Benefits
• Benefits with United Airlines
• Shortcuts to Status
• Credit Cards

Quick Guide

• Points are worth about .7 cents each. How Much are Hotel Points Worth?
• Like most other hotel programs, you can earn enough points for several free nights by signing up for one of the program's credit cards. With five main cards available from Chase and Amex, you can get even more free nights, by signing up for multiple cards. But, you can't simply signup for all five cards in a short span of time—you need to follow a set of complicated rules that Amex, Chase, and Marriott have instituted to try to minimize the number of bonuses they give to any member
• Every year, each credit card also provides a certificate good for a free night at one of the program's hotels. The certificates, from each of the four "standard" credit cards, are good for any hotel night that would cost 35,000 points or less. The certificates from the "premium" cards are good for hotels nights that would cost up to 50,000 points. If you have multiple cards, you can receive multiple certificates each year.
• It can be a good deal to transfer your points to partner airlines in order to book frequent flyer tickets. With almost every partner, the rates are 1 frequent flyer mile for every 3 points. If you transfer a 60,000 point block, you'll get a 15,000 point bonus, or a total of 25,000 miles. At a value of .7 cents per point, you are "buying" miles for 1.68 cents each.
• Marriott has a promotion available for new members. where you can earn a free night certificate (good at lower category hotels), if you make two stays within the first four months after becoming a member. Wait to join, until you are likely to make two stays, and make sure to use the link above to register (you may need to open it in private / incognito mode).
• Historically, Marriott runs frequent promotions that let you earn free nights, with just a couple of qualifying hotel stays. Even though you often only get a Category 1-4 or 1-5 hotel certificate, it is easy to earn these certificates with a couple of stays at their less expensive hotels, and then use them on your future travels. There is no reason to think that they will stop doing so.
• Platinum elite status in the new program gives you lounge access and breakfast, at most of the program's hotels, and the possibility of an upgrade to a suite. Platinum status requires the same number of nights (50) as Gold status in Marriott's old program. But, it will no longer be possible to easily get this level of status from a credit card.
• Platinum Premier members get automatic United Silver elite status. This status requires the same number of nights as the old Marriott Platinum status (75).
• Cash and Points awards are almost never a good option.
• Using points for upgrades can often be a good deal, with only 5,000 points needed to jump up each room category.
• If you are making an award stay of at least 7 nights, you can take advantage of Marriott’s Hotel and Airfare awards, which let you use your Marriott points to “purchase” airline miles at cheaper rates. If you are making a peak-period stay, you can use a package to acquire miles for only 62.5% of the normal rate.

Marriott Brands

Because Marriott has so many brands and locations, with both middle-of-the-road and higher-end hotels, many people wind up staying at their hotels while they travel.

Marriott

Starwood

You can use their Hotel Directory to search for hotels by location, or their hotel category database to search by country and award category.

Free Night Certificates

Every year, each of the program's credit cards provides a certificate that you can use for a free hotel night. By getting multiple cards, it is possible to get multiple certificates. Marriott Free Night Certificates.

• Each certificate is limited to less-expensive hotels, based on a "points cap". Unlike the Hilton certificates, you can't use them to stay at the program's most expensive hotels.

Card	Max Points	Annual Fee
Chase Marriott Premier Plus	35,000	$95
Amex SPG Personal	35,000	$95
Chase Marriott Business	35,000	$95
Amex SPG Business	35,000	$95
Amex SPG Luxury	50,000	$450
Chase Ritz Carlton Card	50,000	$450

The Ritz Carlton card is no longer available for new signups.

• You won't receive a certificate during the first year you have the card. You'll only receive them, each year, after you renew. Certificates aren't credited until a month or two after your anniversary date, so you can't cancel the card right after your anniversary, get a refund of the annual fee, and still receive the certificate.
• There are some limitations to how quickly you can sign up for multiple cards and still receive the signup bonuses. You are also restricted from getting the signup bonus for some cards, if you already have other cards. So, if you want to maximize the number of certificates you can receive each year, and you want to qualify for signup bonuses for each card you get, you'll need to spread your applications out, and apply for cards in a specific order. See more details at our guide to Marriott / SPG Credit Cards.

Earning Promotional Free Night Certificates

Marriott runs occasional promotions where you can earn free night certificates by staying a couple of times at their hotels. There is no reason to believe that they will stop doing so. These are likely to be capped at either 35,000 points or 25,000 points.

It is often easy to qualify for these promotions through normal paid stays at one of the thousands of mid-level hotels in the Marriott program. Because even the 25,000 point certificates can easily be redeemed in the $100 range, and can often be redeemed for around $150, these can be lucrative promotions to take advantage of.

If you aren’t a member of either of these programs yet, you might be able to still take advantage of the signup promotion (using our link above). If you register, you get a free night certificate, when you complete two stays in the first four months.

Award Chart

• If there are “standard” rooms available, you can usually book them with your points. SPG would always allow you to book any available standard rooms, and you still can at the SPG brands. Marriott allowed individual hotels to opt out, and still does, but they intend to be moving closer and closer to the SPG model, where you can always book standard rooms.
• A single unified award chart applies to all of the program's hotels.

Cat	Normal			Saver
	Standard	Off-Peak	Peak	Standard	Off-Peak	Peak
1	7,500	5,000	10,000	6,000	4,000	8,500
2	12,500	10,000	15,000	11,000	8,000	13,000
3	17,500	15,000	20,000	16,000	12,000	18,000
4	25,000	20,000	30,000	22,500	17,500	27,500
5	35,000	30,000	40,000	32,500	27,500	37,500
6	50,000	40,000	60,000	45,000	35,000	55,000
7	60,000	50,000	70,000	55,000	45,000	65,000
8	85,000	70,000	100,000	80,000	65,000	90,000

• Category 8, and the off-peak and peak rates, won't kick-in until 2019. From August to December 2018, the "standard" rate will always apply, and the maximum point cost for any hotel will be 60,000 points. Those point costs apply for reservations made during that time window, even if the hotel stay itself is in 2019.
• "PointSaver" rates are available for some hotels that save 10-20% off the regular award rates. Marriott publishes new Pointsaver options every week. You don't necessarily need to go to a special webpage, Pointsaver rates will show up automatically when you search for award reservations.
• If you want to book a nicer room, you may be able to upgrade an award booking for only 5,000 points ($35) per step. It may take multiple steps to get to the room category you want. Availability is up to each hotel. Particularly at more expensive hotels, you can often spend a little bit extra for a significantly nicer room. It is usually also possible to upgrade your room by paying the cash difference between the rate for the upgraded room and the rate for the standard room.
• Unlike most other programs, Marriott allows you to book a points-based reservation, even if you don’t have enough points at the time of booking. You can lock in any availability ahead of time. You then have until 14 days before the reservation to earn enough points to pay for the free night award.
• Your 5^th night is free when booking with reward points. It is still unclear about whether this will apply to the Cash & Points rate.

Taking Advantage of Cheap Award Rates at High-end Hotels

From August to December of 2018, the most expensive award rate (for standard rooms) will be 60,000 points. That is substantially fewer points than is currently required for the highest-category hotels. The current SPG chart maxes out at 35,000 SPG points, which is equivalent to 105,000 points. The current Ritz chart maxes out at 70,000 points.

So, you can get a substantial savings on these very expensive hotels, if you book the reservation during that window.

Comparisons to the Old Award Charts

Marriott Chart

Old Cat	Existing	New Cat	New
1	7,500	1	7,500
2	10,000	2	12,500
3	15,000	—	—
4	20,000	3	17,500
5	25,000	4	25,000
6	30,000	—	—
7	35,000	5	35,000
8	40,000	—	—
9	45,000	—	—
—	—	6	50,000
—	—	7	60,000
—	—	8	85,000

The old Category 1, 5, and 7 required the same number of points as the new Category 1, 4, and 5, making the mapping relatively straightforward. Nevertheless, Marriott took advantage of this opportunity to "rationalize" their hotel categories, so a lot of these hotels are still moving between categories. About 8% of the old Category 1 hotels are moving to Category 2. But, about 40% of the old Category 5 hotels are dropping to new 17,500 point level, rather than staying at 25,000 points; and about 20% of the old Category 7 hotels are dropping to the 25,000 point level.

The old Categories 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 required a number of points that sits between two of the new levels. Marriott is raising the price on around 80% of the old Category 2 hotels, and lowering the price on around 80% of the old Category 4 and 6 hotels, and about 70% of the old Category 8 hotels. The old Category 3 hotels are being split about half and half to the lower and higher number of points.

Marriott's old chart maxed out at 45,000 points per night (not including some of the Ritz Carlton hotels). The new chart as a 50,000, 60,000, and 85,000 point level, and some of Marriott's more expensive hotels are being placed in those higher categories. For example, 23% of Marriott's old 45,000 point hotels are now priced at the 60,000 point level (and higher during peak dates).

SPG chart

The current SPG point requirements have been converted to the Marriott point equivalents to make the comparison clearer.

Old Cat	Existing	New Cat	New
1	6-9,000	1	7,500
2	9-12,000	2	12,500
3	21,000	3	17,500
—	—	4	25,000
4	30,000	5	35,000
5	36-48,000	6	50,000
6	60-75,000	7	60,000
7	90-105,000	8	85,000

The old SPG point levels don't really match up to the new award categories. Many of the cheaper SPG hotels become substantially more expensive. About half of the old SPG 1 hotels have moved to the new Category 2, which requires 12,500 points per night, rather than 9,000 on weekdays, and 6,000 on weekends. The other half drop to 7,500. Almost all of the old SPG Category 2 hotels have increased to either 12,500 or 17,500 points, instead of 12,000 on weekdays, and 9,000 on weekends.

At the high-end, many SPG hotels will require fewer points as the old SPG category 6 and 7 required a lot of points, especially during peak seasons.

About half of the hotels in the old category 3 and 4 are moving up to a more-expensive category, and about half are moving down to a less expensive category. Most of the Category 5 hotels drop by 1,000 points from 36,000 to 35,000, but peak rates will be cheaper.

Cash and Points Awards

In the new unified Marriott program, Cash and Points awards are no longer a good deal. In almost every case, when you take advantage of a Cash and Points award, you are essentially paying more than the our typical value for a Marriott point (.7 cents per point). The amount of money that you need to pay as the "cash" portion of the award is too expensive for the number of points that you save on the normal award cost. Use Points and Cash Awards to Get a Better Deal When You Redeem Hotel Points.

In both the older Marriott and older SPG programs, Cash and Points awards had usually been a good deal.

Cat	Standard			Off-peak			Peak
	Normal	Cash and Points	Cost per point	Normal	Cash and Points	Cost per point	Normal	Cash and Points	Cost per point
1	7,500	3,500 + $55	1.38	5,000	2,500 + $50	2.00	10,000	4,500 + $60	1.09
2	12,500	6,000 + $65	1.00	10,000	5,000 + $60	1.20	15,000	6,500 + $70	.82
3	17,500	8,500 + $80	.89	15,000	7,500 + $70	.93	20,000	9,000 + $90	.82
4	25,000	12,000 + $105	.81	20,000	10,000 + $90	.90	30,000	13,500 + $120	.73
5	35,000	17,000 + $140	.78	30,000	16,000 + $120	.86	40,000	19,000 + $165	.79
6	50,000	25,000 + $190	.76	40,000	22,000 + $165	.92	60,000	27,500 + $225	.69
7	60,000	30,000 + $250	.83	50,000	27,500 + $225	1.00	70,000	35,000 + $325	.93
8	85,000	42,500 + $440	1.04	70,000	35,000 + $325	.93	100,000	50,000 + $635	1.27

Transferring Points to Airlines

Converting your points into frequent flyer miles remains one of the best uses of your Marriott / SPG points. Using Marriott Points for Airline Tickets.

Unlike other hotel programs, you'll receive competitive conversion rates. And the program has many more airlines partners than the other major transferable points programs (such as Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards). The big drawback is the amount of time it takes for your points to transfer to many of the supported frequent flyer programs.

With almost every airline, you'll get 1 mile for every 3 points. The only exception are JetBlue and a couple of airlines that have unique frequent flyer currencies that don't have the typical award mileage requirements.

You'll get 25,000 miles, instead of 20,000 miles, for each block of 60,000 points you transfer. The precise terms are that that will transfer an extra 15,000 points, whenever you transfer 60,000. This works out the same as the old SPG mileage transfer bonus.

They have far more frequent flyer partners than any other transferable point program. SPG has always had a long list of airline partners. After the initial integration steps, you also gained the ability to transfer your points to Marriott to take advantage of some of their unique airline partners (or to use Marriott's lucrative Air + Hotel packages on the overlapping airlines). The new program includes essentially all of the existing SPG and Marriott airlines, adds a couple new airlines, and increases the conversion rate for the old Marriott-only partners to match the "standard" SPG conversion rate.

However, the overall "Use Your SPG Credit Card, Earn Starpoints, and Redeem for Airline Tickets" strategy takes a significant hit. The credit cards earn 2x points (rather than the equivalent of 3x points) on everyday purchases, so you'd be earning only .67 miles per dollar (.83 with the bonus). Even before this change, we didn't think 1x SPG point per dollar was better than the 1.5x Ultimate Rewards or 1.5 - 2x Membership Reward points per dollar (that you could have earned). But now, it's not even close.

Star Alliance {United}	SkyTeam {Delta)	Oneworld (American)	Other
United (10% bonus) Air Canada (Aeroplan) Singapore Airlines (Kris Flyer) ANA (Japan) Asiana Avianca (Columbia) Lufthansa (Miles and More) Aegean Air China Air New Zealand (200:1) COPA South African TAP Air Portugal Thai Airways Turkish Airlines	Delta Air France / KLM (Flying Blue) Korean Air Aeroflot Aeromexico Alitalia China Eastern China Southern Saudia	American British Airways Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles) Japan Airlines (JAL) Iberia LATAM (South American) Qantas Qatar Airways	Alaska Southwest JetBlue (6:1) Hawaiian Frontier Emirates Etihad Virgin Atlantic Virgin Australia Hainan Airlines (China) Jet Airways (India)

Hotel + Air Packages

If you are planning on converting your Marriott points to airline packages, you can use a Marriott Hotel + Air Package to get a 7-night hotel certificate at a discounted rate. If you are transferring a block of 240,000 points to acquire 100,000 miles, you can spend an additional 90,000 points to get a 7-night Category 4 certificate. That is the normal cost of only 3 peak-period nights. Use Marriott Hotel + Air Packages to Get More Value From Your Points.

If you are transferring 120,000 points to acquire 50,000 miles, it will cost an extra 135,000 points for the 7-night certificate. That still 75% of the normal cost.

Because the discounts are fixed, the 90,000 (or 45,000) point savings represents a smaller discount if you wind up staying at a higher category hotel, or if you use the certificate at a non-peak time.

If you are already planning on making a 7-night peak-period Marriott stay, you can use the opportunity to purchase 50,000 or 100,000 miles at only 62.5% of their normal cost. Savings will be less if you were only staying for 6 nights, or are staying during non-peak periods.

Acquiring Points

Acquiring last minute points

If you do see a great redemption deal on the program's hotels, there are several ways that you can acquire additional points. Get a Discounted Room Rate by Buying the Points for an Award Night.

Purchasing points	You can purchase (or receive as a gift) a total of 50,000 points per year. Points cost $12.50 per 1,000, and it can take up to two days for the transaction to be completed. Acquiring More Hotel Points When They are On Sale.
Transferring between accounts	You can transfer up to 100,000 points per year to any other member. The minimum transfer is 1,000 points, and there is a $10 transfer fee (waived for gold elites and above).
Transferring credit card points	You can transfer Ultimate Reward points (1000:1000), Membership Rewards (1000:1000) or Diners Club points (1250:1500) to Marriott. We would normally recommend just paying cash or purchasing points, rather than using more valuable credit card points, at these low-value transfer rates.
Transferring from frequent flyer programs	For the sake of completeness, you can transfer points from a small set of frequent flyer programs, but the exchange rates are likely to remain uninteresting enough to make this something to consider.

Earning points from your stays

You'll earn a base rate of 10 points per dollar spent at program hotels. At Element, Residence Inn, and TownePlace Suites, the base rate is 5 points per dollar. This is a significant bump compared to the points earned from the old SPG program. And unlike the old Marriott program, you always earn points on both the room rate and incidental purchases. Like the existing program, you won’t earn points for stays booked through online travel agents, or other channels. You need to book directly with Marriott.

Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Platinum Premier members earn bonuses of 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% on the base rates. In general, elites will be earning more points than they would from the older programs.

You can choose to earn airline miles instead of points. But, this isn’t typically a great option, because you usually only earn 2 airline miles, rather than 10 Marriott points.

You’ll earn an additional 6 points per dollar, if you use one of the program's credit cards. This is a slight improvement from the older Marriott cards, and essentially the same as the old SPG cards. It works out as a better return than you’ll get from a general-purpose reward card, but not as good as you can get from a card that earns a good bonus reward rate on travel spending. Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.

Other ways to earn points

The best way to quickly earn a bunch of points is by signing up for one or more of the program's credit cards. All of these cards will be new or revised, and we aren't sure what the normal signup bonuses will be. They are likely to stay in the 80,000 - 120,000 point range, good enough for 2-3 nights in a mid-tier hotel, more than a night at their most expensive hotels, and double-digit nights at their least expensive hotels.

The personal version of the Marriott card is still affected by the Chase 5/24 rule. People who currently or previously had the SPG personal and business cards won't be eligible for the signup bonuses on the new cards. But, everyone should have at least some new options for earning signup bonuses. Credit Cards 101.

Marriott has a bunch of other point earning partners such as Cruises Only, NRG Utilities, Travelling Connect cell phone roaming, and Ctrip (the leading online travel agent in China). The exact set of partners may change, with the potential of including some of the SPG partners. Marriott earning partners. SPG earning partners

Keeping your Points from Expiring

You can lose your points, if you go too long without any account activity. You can lose your points if you go 24 months without earning or redeeming points. Transferring points to or from other members, or earning points through social media programs doesn't count, but transferring to miles or buying points does. Our Keep Your Points from Expiring article provides more details about strategies for keeping track of upcoming expiration dates and keeping your points alive.

Member Benefits

Award nights count towards earning elite status. Like most other programs, you won’t earn credit for nights booked through 3^rd parties like Expedia. The old SPG program allowed earning credits for up to three rooms per night. The new unified program will let you earn points for those rooms, but only allows you to earn elite credits for a single room.

Changes to the elite status levels

It can be confusing to understand how the new program relates to the older programs, because the same names "gold", "platinum", etc., corresponding to different numbers of qualifying nights.

Nights	New Level	Old Marriott Level	Old SPG Level
—	Member	Member	Member
10	Silver	Silver
25	Gold		Gold
50	Platinum	Gold	Platinum
75	Platinum Premier	Platinum	Platinum 75
100	Platinum Premier 100		Platinum 100

The most valuable benefits of the unified program kick-in at the "Platinum" level. For Marriott users, this is a big step forward. The same 50 nights that used to get "Gold" level status, now give you "Platinum" status, which comes with significantly better benefits. While it isn't a strict super-set, the new Platinum level is probably better than even the old top level Marriott Platinum level, that had required 75 nights. Even better, you get to count nights you stay with hotels that used to belong to either program, rather than having them counted separately.

In addition, Marriott members get some benefits at the 25-night level, that roughly correspond to the old SPG 25-night Gold elite level, and some nice extra benefits at the new higher-than-Platinum levels.

The downside is that a large number of people used to have ways to get some of the nicest benefits, without having to qualify with 50 nights. SPG members could qualify for "Platinum" status with only 25 stays, rather than 50 nights. SPG Gold members, who only needed 25 nights or 15 stays, could match to the old Marriott Gold level (which required 50 nights) and get many of the benefits of the new 50-night Platinum level, at least at hotels in the Marriott program. Amex Platinum cardholders and many Amex SPG cardholders could get SPG Gold status without any stays, match to Marriott Gold status, and get the same benefits. Ritz Carlton cardholders could get many of the good benefits through the old Marriott Gold level that came with the card. All that is gone now.

There is also no equivalent to the old SPG "Preferred Plus" level that came with the SPG credit card and included some of the Gold level benefits, including guaranteed late checkout, and complimentary room upgrade (upon availability).

Benefit list

Rewards Member (entry level) Bottled water had been a named benefit for all SPG members and is not listed as a benefit in the new combined program (at any level). Time will tell if members will get free bottled water. Discounted “member” rates. Free Wi-Fi.

Silver (10 nights) This level didn't exist in the old SPG program, and roughly corresponds to the old Marriott Silver. 10% bonus points on stays, and the following benefit: Priority late checkout (upon availability).

Gold (25 nights) This roughly corresponds to the old SPG Gold level, and didn't exist in the old Marriott program. However, SPG Gold members also used to receive "Guaranteed" 4pm checkout rather than 2pm checkout upon availability. 25% bonus points on stays, and adds the following benefits. 2pm priority late checkout (upon availability). Extra points or welcome amenity per stay. The option varies per brand. Enhanced room upgrade (upon availability). This usually translates to a higher floor or better view. Enhanced Internet access.

Platinum (50 nights) This level roughly corresponds to the old SPG Platinum level. It is much more valuable than the old Marriott Gold level, that used to require the same 50 nights, and probably better than the old Marriott Platinum level, that required 75 nights. 50% bonus points on stays, and adds the following benefits: Breakfast for two. Platinum members will receive some level of breakfast benefits at most of the program's hotels. But, due to overlapping rules and existing franchise agreements, the benefits you are entitled to, at any given hotel, can be very confusing. For more details, see the box below. If the hotel is providing you access to a lounge, you are typically only entitled to breakfast in the lounge, not the restaurant. But, the hotel will sometimes allow you to have a restaurant breakfast instead. Breakfast is in lieu of points or other welcome amenity. Lounge Access. You get access to lounges at any Sheraton, Westin, or La Meridien that has one, and at at non-resort locations of JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance, Marriott, and Delta hotels. You might also get access at any additional hotels that have lounges. For example, the few SPG hotels from other brands, that had lounges, historically provide access as well, even though they aren't covered in the terms of use. Upgraded room, including select Suites. You are intended to get the best available room that is still available at the hotel, as with the old SPG Platinum level, and that will still be true at SPG-branded hotels. At Marriott-brand hotels there is no guarantee, but they intend to move in that direction. In any event, with the changes, there will be many more Platinum members chasing the same rooms, and it is unclear whether higher-level members will have priority for any un-booked suites (rather than being first-come, first-served). Guaranteed 4pm late checkout. Subject to availability at resort and convention hotels. 5 suite night awards. Each certificate allows you to pre-confirm a suite room for a single night. They won't try to upgrade you, until 5 days before arrival, and they are not required to give you your upgrade, so there is no guarantee that you'll be able to use the certificate, and you shouldn't expect to be able to at high-demand hotels. In other words, you'll stay behind people who are paying for a suite ahead-of-time, but you'll probably jump in front of anyone who would be freely upgraded upon arrival. Receiving the certificates require 50 actual hotel nights, not just reaching the Platinum status level. Old SPG Platinums used to receive 10 certificates with Platinum status, but will now need to reach 75 nights (although will have far more hotels to count towards status). Guaranteed bed type. You’ll get your choice of the options available in your room category. At hotels in US and Canada, and many hotels outside North America, you are also guaranteed your smoking / nonsmoking preferences. Making Sense of the Marriott Breakfast Benefit The Marriott breakfast benefit is very confusing. Breakfast and lounge access: At Sheraton, Westin, and Le Meridien hotels, you're entitled to continental breakfast in the restaurant (or an alternative welcome amenity) and lounge access (if the hotel has a lounge). This is the same as old SPG Platinum benefit. Breakfast and potentially lounge access: At most other SPG brands (St. Regis, the Luxury Collection, W, Tribute Portfolio, Four Points, and Aloft), your are entitled to breakfast (or an alternative welcome amentity). Most of these hotels don't have lounges, but if they do, you will probably be given lounge access, but you aren't strictly entited to it. This is the same as old SPG Platinum benefit. Breakfast only: At "Resort" hotels for several Marriott brands (JW Marriott, Marriott, Delta, Autograph Collection, and Renaissance) you are entitled to free breakfast. The same is true at Protea hotels. But you aren't entitled to lounge access or an an alternative Platinum benefit. This is an "enhancement" of the new program, as you didn't use to get breakfast (or lounge access) at these hotels. Lounge access only: At non-resort hotels for these same brands, you are entitled to lounge access (and breakfast in the lounge), along with an alternative platinum amenity. If the hotel doesn't have a lounge, or the lounge is closed, you are only entitled to a food and beverage credit. At many of these hotels, the lounge is closed during the weekends, effectively eliminating the breakfast / lounge benefit on weekend stays. In the US, Canada, and Europe the F&B credit is only worth $10 per stay. You might be given breakfast, but you aren't entitled to it. Food and beverage credits: At Courtyard, AC, and Moxy hotels, you receive a $10 credit per person per day. Marriott had announced that these hotels would now offer a Platinum breakfast benefit, but that doesn't amount to covering the full cost of hotel breakfast. The silver lining is that if you don't want breakfast at the hotel, you can use your credits for snacks, drinks, or other food and beverage expenses. At Gaylord hotels, you receive a measly $10 credit per stay. Free breakfast for all guests: SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, and Element hotels provide breakfast to all guests. Platinum members can choose an alternative welcome amenity. No breakfast or lounge access: No breakfast benefit (or alternative Platinum amenity) is provided at Ritz Carlton, Edition, Design Hotels, Marriott Vacation Club or Marriott Executive Apartments.

Platinum Premier (75 nights) 75% bonus points on stays, and adds the following benefits: 48-hour guaranteed room availability. Except during unusual circumstances. 5 more suite night certificates.

Platinum Premier 100 (100 nights and $20,000 in spending) Adds the following benefits: Ambassador service. A personal "ambassador" will help you navigate the hotel program and can often bend the rules as necessary. You24. Each hotel night allows you to stay for any 24-hour period. For example, if you check-in at 9pm, you don't need to check-out until 9pm; and if you want to check-in at 8am you can, as long as you check-out by 8am the next day.

Benefits with United Airlines

Platinum Premier members get automatic United Silver status. This gives you and companion free access to Economy Plus seats at check-in, the possibility of a premium cabin upgrade, free checked bags for your entire party, access to priority lines at the airport, and a bonus when you earn miles from flying. Benefits of Elite Frequent Flyer Status.

All you need to do is to register with the Rewards Plus program.

SPG's old partnership with Delta has been ended. The status of the partnerships with Emirates and China Easter are currently uncertain.

Shortcuts to Status

All of the old shortcuts which easily let you receive free breakfast / lounge access at hotels in the Marriott program are gone. However, there are still ways to more easily earn the new 50-night Platinum status, and to automatically get status at lower levels.

• Starting in 2019, any of the program's credit cards will give you 15 nights credit towards qualifying for elite status. This reduces the number of qualifying nights for Platinum status to 35 nights. You can only receive this bonus once, regardless of how many of the program's credit cards you have.

After 2018, having multiple cards doesn't make it any easier to qualify. However, during 2018, you have the opportunity to take advantage of multiple credits from different cards, as long as you had them earlier in the year. You should have earned 15 credits from the personal version of the older Marriott card, another 15 credits from the business version of the Marriott card, 5 credits from the personal version of the older SPG card, and another 5 credits from the business version of the existing SPG card.

• There are several ways to get automatic Gold status—but that no longer includes breakfast and lounge access. Each of these paths entitle you to the "new" 25-night Gold level (that has benefits akin to the old SPG Gold level) and does not include breakfast and lounge benefits.
• United Premier Gold members get automatic Gold status. You just need to register for the Rewards Plus program.
• The Amex Platinum card gives you Gold status.
• The new Amex SPG Luxury Card and the revised Ritz Carlton card automatically gives you Gold status.
• You'll get Gold status if you spend $35,000 per year on one of the other cards. For 2018, the spending threshold is $30,000 with the the SPG cards.
• Marriott will probably offers status challenges for Gold status. But, it will be harder to get matched outright. Time will tell whether it will be possible to do a status match or challenge to the new Platinum level. Boost Your Hotel Status.
• Starting in August, you can earn Platinum status by spending $75,000 per year on the SPG Luxury card or the Ritz Carlton card. That is a lot to spend, but status can last up to two years.

Credit Cards

Marriott Credit Card Guide	The standard" credit card comes in four different versions: Amex issues a personal and business version of the SPG Card, and Chase issues a personal and business version of the Marriott card. Each card comes with a free night certificate, good for any hotel night that would cost 35,000 points or less; offers a signup bonus of 75,000 points (with higher promotional offers); earns 6x points on hotel stays; and has a $95-99 annual fee. The fees for the Amex cards are waived during the first year. You can collect certificates from multiple cards. All four versions come with nearly worthless Marriott Silver status, and 15 nights credit towards higher-level elite status. But, you can't combine credits from multiple cards to get more than 15 nights. In addition, you can spend $35,000 per year on any of the cards, to earn Gold status. However, the weak benefits you'd get wouldn't generally be worth the lost rewards from using one of these cards for this amount of spending.
Marriott Credit Card Guide	Amex also issues a new premium card, called the SPG Luxury Card. It costs $450 per year, but come with an annual $300 credit that can be used at Marriott and SPG hotels (including on room rates). As a result, the out-of-pocket expense can be as low as $150. For this extra $55 (compared to the regular cards), you'll get a 50,000 point certificate (rather than a 35,000 point certificate), automatic Gold status (instead of Silver), a Priority Pass membership (with a 2 person guest policy), a TSA credit, and a non-compelling earning rate on airfare and US Restaurant spending. You'll also have the opportunity to earn Platinum status through $75,000 of annual credit card spending.
Ritz Carlton Credit Card Guide	The Ritz Carlton Credit Card is no longer available for new signups, but had a potentially compelling list of benefits.

For most people, the annual free night certificate are more valuable than these card's annual fees.

The Marriott and Ritz Carlton cards earn higher rewards for spending at Marriott than a general-purpose reward card, but not as much as one of the cards that earns the best reward rates on travel spending. 6 Marriott points is worth about 4.2 cents per dollar. Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.

None of these cards are worthwhile to use for other purchases.

Get Free Breakfast or Club Floor Access with the Right Credit Card

Get Free Hotel Nights with Credit Card Certificates

Award Nights 101: Using Your Hotel Points

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