The Marriott credit card was our very first “travel” credit card and to this day, one of our favorites!  We now hold both the Marriott Bonvoy Visa and Marriott American Express.  We continue to take full advantage of our Titanium status every year.  Free nights, suite upgrades, free breakfast, club level, etc., yes please!  However, Titanium status is not always easy for us to hit each year.  Of course, actually staying the night at Marriott properties earn you elite nights, but there are shortcuts to earning more nights WITHOUT actually staying on the hotel’s property.  We have found the sweet spot status is Platinum Elite, so we’ll focus on achieving that status for you.

First let’s look at Marriott’s Elite Status Overview…

#1 Sign up for a Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card.

Probably the easiest 15 free elite nights out there.  Yes, you will receive 15 free elite nights toward your Platinum status each year, just by having the credit card.

#2 Birthday Elite Credit.

Update your birthday within your Marriott account and opt-in to promotional mailings.  We receive 1 free night on our birthdays.  If you don’t receive the offer via email on your birthday, make sure to contact Marriott customer service to have your birthday night manually added to your account.

#3 Book award nights.

Marriott hotel rooms can be booked for as little as 5,000 points/night with your 5th night free.  We were short 20 nights for Titanium status this year.  So, we booked 2-5 night stays at the least expensive Marriotts in our area.  How did we do this?  Booked a Courtyard Marriott 5 nights for 30,000 points. We did this twice in November.  The only rule to this…you have to physically check into the hotel, so you’ll want to make sure your “fake” hotel stay is local.  You can check out using your Marriott app on your phone.  This is a really easy way to gain 10 elite nights toward your elite status.

#4 Credit Card Referrals.

Once you are a Marriott Bonvoy card holder, you can refer friends to also sign up for the credit card, earning you 20,000 Marriott points per referral.  This program is called “Refer a Friend“.  Use those reward points toward “fake” hotel stays mentioned above, or for actual hotel stays.

 #5 Host a Meeting.

If you host a meeting at a Marriott property, you can earn up to 10 Elite nights.  We enjoyed this trick too this year for our extra 10 elite nights.   Once per year, you can book a meeting at a participating property for as little as $100/hr (plus taxes and potential fees).  We didn’t actually “hold” a meeting, we just booked one.  We booked a meeting room for one hour for ourselves.  You can book and negotiate online, but calling the individual property and working with the manager is easy too.  You’ll want to have the manager agree to the 10 nights in writing. https://www.marriott.com/meeting-event-hotels/meeting-planning.mi

Now if you actually book a big meeting with rooms, etc. there are additional perks for you.

Where will you travel next?  Book a 1:1 consultation with Tiffany and she can coach you the easiest ways to earning free vacations. Book with her here.