Image from Marriott’s official WeChat account.

On October 25, 2019, Marriott International announced that it had entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Didi Chuxing in Greater China. Didi Premier will officially become Marriott International’s partner for premium ride-hailing services. Today Marriott’s official WeChat account posted a news item: Ding! It’s official—why aren’t you getting in yet? | Marriott International and Didi Chuxing sign a strategic partnership. Let’s take a look at the cooperation between the two sides on member match, elite member challenges, and points challenges.

About Didi

[The author previously wrote a 101 News Flash (currently displayed on the right side of the desktop version) about Didi Chuxing temporarily stopping international payments with AMEX credit cards.]

Didi Chuxing is currently the most commonly used ride-hailing app in mainland China, and it successfully acquired Uber China in August 2016. Major shareholders behind Didi include Alibaba and Tencent. Didi’s international credit card payment service is powered by the Dutch international payment company Adyen. It previously supported mainstream credit cards such as Visa/Master/Amex/Discover/Diners/JCB, but it temporarily does not support AMEX (though of course you can work around this by switching through WeChat Pay).

As early as August 2019, Didi Chuxing announced that it had formed a strategic partnership with Wanda Hotels & Resorts (note that this is Wanda, not Marriott. Many people once mistakenly thought it was Marriott, but now Didi really has started working with Marriott too). Users can hail Didi rides from within the Wanda Hotels WeChat official account. Wanda Hotels’ concierge departments will also add one-tap ride-hailing service and set up Didi stations. Through Didi’s concierge ride-hailing system, hotel concierges can call vehicles such as Didi Premier or Didi Luxury based on users’ needs. Didi stations can dynamically display real-time travel times from the hotel to places such as airports, train stations, core business districts, and attractions, giving guests a reference before their trip. Now Didi is also cooperating with Marriott in a basically similar way, except Marriott is paired with the luxury-car business—both are “luxury.”

The luxury service involved in this Marriott-Didi partnership is currently available only in China’s first-tier cities and four new first-tier cities, specifically: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xi’an, Chengdu, and Tianjin.

What do the luxury cars look like? The interior offers a first-class-like experience:

Partnership Details

After this partnership is finalized, the two parties will jointly establish a special fund for strategic cooperation across areas such as member co-development, brand partnerships, and service integration. Through programs such as Platinum Commander status matching, the Platinum Challenge, and the points challenge, the two parties will provide members on both sides with a more diverse and more convenient service experience.

Platinum Commander Match to Marriott Platinum Status

Marriott Platinum status is currently a high-value elite status within the Marriott group in terms of benefits, offering perks such as breakfast for two or lounge access, early check-in and late checkout, upgrades, and more. The highest status that credit cards give is only Gold. If you want to become Marriott Platinum, other than earning it the old-fashioned way through stays, you can only get it through a “Platinum Challenge”. What is Platinum Commander? I also spent a long time looking before I found where to access it. The original idea behind Didi’s luxury car business was to make taking a ride feel like flying first class. “Platinum Commander” is a badge level in Didi’s luxury car business, and requires riding 1,000 kilometers in luxury cars.

During the promotion period, high-tier members of Didi Luxury Car can register to become Marriott Bonvoy members, or upgrade an existing Marriott Bonvoy member account, to receive prestigious Platinum experience benefits.

Notably, it allows you to upgrade an existing Marriott account. This is more reasonable than the “Platinum Challenge” from Fliggy and Taobao 88VIP, both of which require registering as a new member.

  • Where to check Commander status: Didi app — tap the profile icon in the upper left — tap the Didi member status under your name — Orange Member — Badges — swipe all the way to the right, and you will see the image below:

Excluding designated driver, bike, and carpooling services, Didi’s ride-hailing business includes Express, Premier, Select, Luxury Car, and Hitch. Luxury Car is currently available only in the eight cities mentioned above. Ordinary budget-conscious riders generally just call Express rides, where any drivable motor vehicle will do. A step up is Select, which uses Class B cars and provides bottled water and tissues in the car. So just how luxurious is Luxury Car? Here is an excerpt from the official description:

It is reported that the first group of chauffeurs received training on October 22 and will begin service in Chengdu first. At the same time, the St. Regis × Didi Luxury Limousine has also launched for the first time. Consumers can enjoy non-alcoholic cocktails in the limousine, and before arriving at the hotel they can contact the butler in advance via QR code to communicate their needs.

So, some cars are not something you can just get into whenever you want — unless, of course, you are very rich. Riding 1,000 kilometers in Luxury Cars will also cost quite a bit of cash. As for exactly how much, I am not sure.

Platinum Challenge

As long as you complete the relevant Didi Luxury Car tasks within the specified time, you may have the opportunity to receive eligibility for a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum challenge!

After receiving challenge eligibility, you likewise need to complete the relevant Didi Luxury Car tasks within the specified time, and then you can get a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum membership card.


The promotion details and terms have not yet been released.

First complete the Didi Luxe tasks to obtain the challenge qualification, then complete the challenge. I previously introduced the official Marriott Platinum Elite challenge, as well as the Marriott Platinum Elite challenge promotions through Taobao 88VIP and Fliggy F3, in the article on Fliggy membership and the Singles’ Day hotel deals. Will this challenge become a new fast-track way to obtain Marriott Platinum status? I just hope Didi and Marriott do not copy IHG and China Southern.

Points Challenge

New users of Didi Luxe can enjoy the following exclusive points benefit: depart from select Marriott International hotels and complete your first Didi Luxe ride to earn Marriott Bonvoy points!

Likewise, the promotion details and terms have not been released yet. Could it be the crowd-pleasing “1,000 Marriott points”?

Getting In?

The details for all of the current promotions have not come out yet. For the general public, trying to brute-force the “Luxe Commander” task would probably burn a hole straight through your wallet. Hopefully the Platinum challenge will not be too difficult. Stay tuned!