Marriott Rewards Gold Status: The Benefits And How To Get It

This is the third post in a series about the different status levels in the Marriott Rewards loyalty scheme:

• Member
• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum

The second highest level of Marriott’s loyalty scheme is Gold status. If you’re able to earn this status, it has the potential to provide you with some very valuable benefits. There are also several methods you can use to earn – or obtain – Gold status, so you’re not restricted to only one method.

Here’s our guide explaining all the benefits of Marriott Rewards Gold status and how to get it.

Important Note: You’ll only receive these benefits when you book a hotel stay directly with Marriott, either on their website, mobile app or by phone. If you book a stay using an OTA (Online Travel Agency) like Expedia, you’re not eligible to receive any of these benefits.

Marriott Rewards Gold Status Benefits

1) 25% Bonus Points

Silver members get a 20% bonus, so Gold earns you slightly more bonus points. As you earn 10 base points per dollar at most of Marriott’s brands, this bonus means you’ll earn an additional 2.5 points per dollar spent.

2) Complimentary Upgrade

You’re eligible for a room upgrade when checking in, although this is subject to availability. If you’ve booked more than one room (e.g. when traveling with family or friends), you’ll only get an upgrade on your own room.

3) Guaranteed Lounge Access And/Or Breakfast

This is one of the best perks that comes with Marriott Rewards Gold status. If you’re staying at a JW Marriott, Renaissance, Autograph Collection, Marriott or Delta hotel (but not resorts), you’ll be given access to the Executive Lounge, even if you haven’t paid for a room with lounge access.

Lounge access includes complimentary continental breakfast, as well as drinks and snacks during the day for you and one guest. If the hotel doesn’t have a lounge, you’ll get free continental breakfast for two in the main restaurant.

There are a handful of hotels that don’t offer breakfast, so those offer 1,000 Marriott Rewards points instead.

4) 4pm Late Checkout

This is guaranteed at all of Marriott’s brands with the exception of Marriott Vacation Club. It’s also subject to availability at resort and convention hotels.

5) Complimentary Enhanced Internet Access

All members of Marriott Rewards get free internet access, but members with Gold status and higher receive enhanced internet access.

6) Guaranteed Room Type

In the US and Canada, Marriott guarantee that you’ll always receive the type of bed that you’d reserved. In the rest of the world, the room type is subject to availability rather than being a guarantee.

7) SPG Gold Status

As a result of Marriott’s takeover of Starwood Hotels, the Marriott and SPG loyalty schemes are offering reciprocal status. Marriott Rewards Gold status is therefore matched to SPG Gold status – you just have to link your accounts here.

The above benefits are in addition to all the benefits people with Silver status receive:

1. Collect points or miles
2. Pay discounted rates
3. Free internet (superseded by enhanced internet)
4. Fifth night free on reward stays
5. Reward nights count towards elite status
6. No blackout dates
7. Earn points for booking meetings or events
8. 20% bonus points (superseded by 25% bonus points)
9. Late checkout (superseded by 4pm late checkout)
10. Ultimate reservation guarantee
11. Elite member-only deals
12. Marriott gift shop discount
13. Weekend discount
14. SPG Preferred Plus status (superseded by SPG Gold status)

How To Get Marriott Rewards Gold Status

So those are all the benefits you receive with Gold status, but how do you get it? Here are the different ways you can earn or obtain Gold status with Marriott Rewards:

1) Stay 50 Nights In A Calendar Year

If you stay 50 qualifying nights (paid or reward nights), you’ll earn Gold status.

2) Stay 35 Nights And Have One Credit Card

If you have the personal or business Marriott credit card, one of the benefits is 15 qualifying nights credited to your Marriott Rewards account each year. That means you only have to stay 35 qualifying nights in addition to that.

3) Stay 20 Nights And Have Two Credit Cards

If you have both the personal and business credit cards, you’ll receive a total of 30 qualifying nights, leaving you with only 20 nights to earn.

4) SPG Gold Status

We mentioned earlier on that if you’re a Gold member with Marriott, that matches to Gold status with SPG. As that matching is reciprocal, if you’re a Gold member with SPG then you can match that to your Marriott account.

Check out this post to see all the different ways you can earn SPG Gold status.

5) American Express Platinum Credit Card

One of the benefits of the Platinum credit card from American Express is SPG Gold status which you can then match to earn the same status with Marriott.

6) Spend $50,000 On The Marriott Business Credit Card

Marriott’s credit card for business offers Gold status when spending $50,000 on the card in an account year. This isn’t a great option though, as that spend could earn you significantly more rewards when used towards signup bonuses on several other cards.

7) Gold Challenge

Marriott frequently offer an opportunity to earn Gold status for a fewer number of nights (or a certain amount of stays) during a reduced period of time. To see if you’re eligible to apply for this challenge, contact Customer Support by either completing their online form or giving them a call on 1-800-721-7033.

8) United Premier Gold Status Or Higher

If you have Premier Gold status or higher with United’s MileagePlus frequent flyer scheme, you can match that to Marriott Rewards Gold status.

9) Buy Back Status

For members that earned Gold status by staying 50 qualifying nights, Marriott offer the opportunity to buy back their status for 25,000 points.

10) FoundersCard

Some benefits of FoundersCard seem to chop and change throughout the year, so there’s no guarantee that this’ll be an option all the time. At the time of writing this post though, FoundersCard is offering three months of Gold status, with the opportunity to maintain that status by having six separate stays at Marriott Brands within those three months.

11) Ritz-Carlton Gold Status

Marriott and Ritz-Carlton are linked, so if you have Gold status with Ritz-Carlton, that’ll be matched when staying at all of Marriott’s brands.

12) Book 5 Meetings Or Events

When booking a meeting or event at one of their hotels, Marriott offer 10 qualifying nights as one of the benefits. Book five meetings and you have the 50 qualifying nights necessary to become a Gold member.

Next in the series, we’ll explore all the benefits of Marriott Rewards Platinum status and how to get it.

Question

Are you aware of any other ways to earn Gold Status with Marriott Rewards? If you do, please share them in the comments below.