Introduction to Marriott

Marriott International was founded in Washington in 1957. It began as a small beer shop and restaurant, and is now headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. Since acquiring Starwood last year, it has grown to more than 5,700 hotels and resorts, 30 hotel brands, and over 100 million members, making it the world’s largest international hotel group.

Marriott’s membership program (frequent traveler program) is called Marriott Rewards.

Member Registration

When it comes to Marriott member registration, there is really a big deal to be had here (you must register through a specific link), and it also seems to be one of the few hotel memberships that offers a referral program.

Stay Two, Get One Free:

During the promotion period (from the day you register until the end of that month, plus 120 days), complete 2 paid stays and you’ll receive one free night certificate for Cat 1~5. Of course, this new-member offer can be stacked with the current Q4 MegaBonus Stay Two, Get One Free promotion, effectively turning it into Stay Two, Get Two Free.

DoubleMiles:

You need to set your stay so that you do not earn Marriott points, but instead earn airline miles. The miles earned from stays within 90 days will be doubled. However, depending on the brand, stays and other spending can earn 5~10 pts/dollar in Marriott points, while miles are only 1~2 miles/dollar, so even doubled, it’s basically not worth much. No need to say more.

Refer:

For the first 5 stays after referring a friend, both sides can each receive 2,000 Marriott points per stay, for a total of 10,000 points. You can refer up to 5 friends per year, which means you can receive up to 50,000 points per year (that’s what the terms say, though our dp seems to suggest there is no such cap).

If you want to support us, feel free to use our referral link to register:

If you want to refer someone else, you can send a referral here:

Stacking Registration Offers

The best way to maximize value is to register an account through a referral link, then call customer service and ask them to manually add the Stay Two, Get One Free new-member promotion, so that you can get an extra 10,000 points for your first 5 stays and also receive one free night certificate for Cat 1~5:

I just joined Marriott, but I failed to enroll the promotion “stay twice, get one free” for the new members, would you be kind to manually help me enroll this?

Usually, more accommodating customer service agents will agree after hearing that, saying they can’t add it directly but they’ve left a note on your account, and you can come back to them after completing 2 stays. After you complete the stays, contact customer service and say:

I have completed two stays, can you be pleased to award me the free night certificate?

Membership Tiers

Marriott Rewards has 5 membership tiers: Member, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Titanium.

*As you can see from the table above, the benefits of Marriott Gold and Platinum are actually not all that different. It’s basically just the little welcome gift at check-in, usually snacks or extra points. And when it comes to room upgrades, whether you’re Gold or Platinum, hotels are often quite willing to upgrade you several categories. However, Marriott Platinum can be matched to SPG Platinum, and SPG only gives breakfast to Platinum members.

**As Marriott’s luxury brand — The Ritz-Carlton — lounge access and breakfast are not included in the membership benefits, and room upgrades are also very clearly restricted from being upgraded to suites and executive rooms.

Fast Track to Elite Status

Gold

  • AMEX Platinum credit card includes SPG Gold membership = Marriott Gold membership
  • AMEX SPG credit card: spending 30,000 per calendar year can directly upgrade you to SPG Gold membership = Marriott Gold membership
  • Chase Ritz-Carlton credit card: cardholders receive Ritz-Carlton Gold in the first year, then after spending 10,000 each year, receive Ritz Gold membership (= Marriott Gold)
  • Status match: Marriott’s old friend UA has a status-matching promotion. Gold members and above can directly match to Marriott Gold membership. UA also has a status challenge promotion, and if you’re lucky, you might be able to get 90 days of Gold membership. Matching link
  • SPG Platinum members with 50 nights can gift Gold status to another member
  • Fliggy F2 members can upgrade to Gold after 2 stays, and F3 members can directly match to Gold membership.

Platinum

Marriott’s Platinum challenge: within 3 months after applying for the challenge (if the challenge period does not start at the beginning of the month, it usually also includes the remaining days of that month), complete 9 stays and you can upgrade to Platinum membership.

Marriott’s policy is that you can only apply for a challenge once within 365 days, and earning F2 status through Fliggy itself is already a kind of challenge, so you cannot apply for the Platinum challenge again.

However, Marriott’s membership system has a downgrade grace period. After Platinum status expires, the member will only be downgraded to Gold status, and at that time, if you want to become Platinum again, you can still apply for the Platinum challenge, no matter how you originally got your Platinum status. Since Marriott has canceled buy back, this is actually a pretty good option. Of course, given the difference between Marriott Gold and Platinum benefits, if you happen to be a loyal Marriott fan, it may be better to wait until Gold is about to expire before applying for the Platinum challenge.

Hidden Member Benefits

As the saying goes: “If you’re not family, you don’t share the same nest.” Marriott Platinum members can also directly match to UA and Star Alliance Silver status.

SPG Platinum members can enjoy certain premium benefits from Emirates (priority check-in, priority boarding, and complimentary e-gate access)

SPG Platinum members can enjoy certain premium benefits from Delta (Priority Check-In, Priority Boarding, Unlimited Complimentary Upgrades, and first checked bag free)

SPG Platinum members can enjoy certain premium benefits from China Eastern (priority check-in and boarding, priority baggage handling, extra free baggage allowance and access to designated airport business-class lounges)