Over the last few months, a number of hotel programs announced their status support programs for 2021. Marriott was not one of that list. At least until now.
Marriott Bonvoy has just posted some details of their approach to status in 2021 on one of their Facebook pages, and there’s a few things coming up.
Gift of Elite Night Credits
Last year, Marriott Bonvoy gifted its members 50% of the Elite Night Credits (ENC) required for their current status level. This year, they will be doing the same. At this point in time, they expect the ENC to de deposited into members’ accounts sometime during February.
The number of ENC you will receive will be based on your 2020 status and will mean that you will only need half of the nights you normally require to retain status.
Last year, the number of ENC that were gifted to members was
| Elite status tier | Annual tier requirements |
50% elite night credits (ENC) deposit |
|---|---|---|
| Ambassador Elite | 100 Qualifying Nights AND US$20,000 stay spend |
50 Elite Night Credits |
| Titanium Elite | 75 Qualifying Nights | 38 Elite Night Credits |
| Platinum Elite | 50 Qualifying Nights | 25 Elite Night Credits |
| Gold Elite | 25 Qualifying Nights | 13 Elite Night Credits |
| Silver Elite | 10 Qualifying Nights | 5 Elite Night Credits |
| Member | Not Applicable | Not Applicable |
Also, note that the spending requirement for Ambassador Elite has been reduced to $US14,000 for this year.
We would expect this to remain the same for the current year. If anything changes, we will update this table with that information.
Double Nights Promotion
While receiving half of your Eligible Nights helps to retain your current status, it still leaves you with a number of nights to stay. It is also less useful if you are trying to go up a level.
To help out, Marriott will be running a “Better Two-gether” promotion between 16 February and 27 April. This promotion will offer double nights and double points on stays of two nights or more.
We will bring further information on this promotion when it is made available.
Thoughts
It is good to see these initiatives from Marriott Bonvoy. It is fairly clear already that travel is going to remain limited for many during 2021. These offers will help members retain, or even increase, their status levels in the Marriott program.