How to earn Marriott elite status through credit cards

Elite status in your favorite hotel loyalty program can make your stays more comfortable, convenient and rewarding with perks like bonus points, room upgrades, free breakfast, late checkout and more.

You may know that you can receive elite hotel status by holding the right cobranded credit card. Enroll in complimentary Marriott Bonvoy status as a perk of the following cards (terms apply):

You can also upgrade to Marriott Gold Elite status by spending $35,000 on purchases each calendar year on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.

Related: Marriott elite status: What it is and how to earn it

Some cards also provide a certain number of elite night credits each year you hold the card, which can help you move up to a higher status.

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As a reminder, you need to earn the following number of elite nights for status in the Marriott Bonvoy program:

• Silver Elite: 10 elite night credits per calendar year
• Gold Elite: 25 elite night credits per calendar year
• Platinum Elite: 50 elite night credits per calendar year
• Titanium Elite: 75 elite night credits per calendar year
• Ambassador Elite: 100 elite night credits per calendar year and at least $23,000 in qualified spending per calendar year

You will receive five elite night credits per calendar year on the Bonvoy Bold and 15 on the Bonvoy Boundless, Bonvoy Bevy and Bonvoy Business. Meanwhile, the Bonvoy Brilliant card offers an impressive 25 elite nights.

One elite night credit is also added to your account for every $5,000 you spend with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.

You may not know that you can stack the complimentary elite nights if you hold more than one of these cards. Bonvoy does adopt a rule that you can only stack the nights from one personal card and one business card, so the magic formula to maximize your elite nights is to hold both the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card to receive a total of 40 Bonvoy elite nights each calendar year.

You would already receive complimentary Platinum Elite status from the Bonvoy Brilliant card plus 40 elite night credits toward the 75 needed to achieve Titanium Elite.

Stacking these offers also counts toward your lifetime status goals and is a great shortcut toward earning elite status even if you aren’t staying at Marriott properties regularly.