Marriott Bonvoy is the largest hotel group in the world and has hotels at practically every corner of the globe. Whether you’re flying into a big city, stopping in the middle of a road trip, or going on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, you’re bound to find a Marriott Bonvoy hotel at your destination!
Thus, elite status with the world’s largest hotel group can be a game-changer and help elevate your next stay away from home with multiple benefits and perks. As with any loyalty program, there are multiple levels of Marriott Bonvoy Elite status, and determining the level of status you want to achieve is part of the process of learning about how you can achieve status.
Let’s dive into everything you need to know about Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status to see if it’s the right choice for you to pursue!
What is Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite Status?
The world’s largest hotel group coincidently has the world’s largest loyalty program with close to 200 million members. As expected, several levels of elite status can be earned as a Marriott Bonvoy member. Their loyalty program spans 6 levels of elite status: Member, Silver Elite, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and the top-tier Ambassador Elite.
Being the second highest level of status in the program, Marriott Titanium Elite status brings many perks and elite benefits that will elevate every stay at a Marriott Bonvoy Hotel.
Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite Status Benefits
Since Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status is the penultimate level in the loyalty program, you can expect a respectable amount of valuable benefits to come with it.
The most valuable perks that Titanium Elite members will receive include:
- 4:00 PM late checkout
- Complimentary room upgrades upon availability
- Lounge access (where available)
- Complimentary breakfast
- 75% bonus points on stays at Marriott Bonvoy hotels
- 48-hour guaranteed reservation
- If you book before 3:00 PM, 48 hours before your stay, you will be guaranteed a room.
- United Airlines MileagePlus Premier Silver Status
- Priority room upgrades over Marriott Bonvoy members of lower status (e.g., Platinum Elite)
It is important to note that 4:00 PM late checkout, room upgrades, lounge access, and complimentary breakfast are all included with Platinum Elite status, which is one tier lower. This means that for many Marriott Bonvoy members, the goal of Platinum Elite status might be good enough.
Perhaps the most unique perk of Titanium Elite status is that it comes with complimentary airline elite status with United Airlines. While it is only Silver status, which is the entry-level of the MileagePlus program, it is still quite valuable as it comes with free checked bags and complimentary seat upgrades (when available) when flying on United! It’s not every day that you get two elite statues for the price of one!
Annual Choice Benefits
Annual choice benefits are milestone rewards for hitting a certain amount of elite qualifying nights within a calendar year. On your way to Titanium Elite status, you will hit the 50 and 75 elite qualifying night milestones.
This means that you will have a choice to make once you cross the respective threshold. The available options are outlined in the table below.
| Annual Choice Benefits for Earning 50 Elite Qualifying Nights | Annual Choice Benefits for Earning 75 Elite Qualifying Nights |
|---|---|
| 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards | One free night award (worth up to 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) |
| $1000 USD off a Marriott branded bed | 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards |
| Gift Silver Elite status to a friend or family member | $1000 USD off a Marriott branded bed |
| 5 elite qualifying night credits | Give Gold Elite status to a friend or family member |
| $100 USD charity donation | 5 elite qualifying night credits |
| $100 USD charity donation |
Out of the above options, the 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards or one free night award worth up to 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points are the only Annual Choice Benefits worth your time.
Nightly Upgrade Awards
Nightly Upgrade Awards (NUAs), previously known as Suite Night Awards, can be applied to individual nights of your reservation to upgrade from a standard room to a premium suite. That means on a 5-night reservation, you would use up all of your NUAs.
New in 2024 is that you can use your NUAs with some of Marriott Bonvoy’s most luxurious brands, such as The Ritz Carlton!
Note that NUAs are not confirmed immediately. Instead, they are confirmed 3 days before your stay. As upgrades are dependent on availability, this may mean that you won’t get your upgrade if all premium rooms and suites are booked. Regardless, we think NUAs provide great value and are a great choice for your Annual Choice Benefit upon reaching 50 elite qualifying nights.
Free Night Award
The free night award is the best option for when you reach 75 elite qualifying nights within a calendar year.
The free night award can redeemed for a one-night stay of up to 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and can be topped up with an additional 15,000 points if available. There are several great hotels in North America to redeem a Marriott Free Night Certificate, so value can easily be extracted from this perk.
We value Marriott Bonvoy points at ~0.8 cents per point, making the Free Night Award worth around $320.
How to Earn Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite Status
There are mainly two ways to work towards earning Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status: stay at Marriott Bonvoy hotels or hold co-branded Marriott Bonvoy credit cards. In fact, the best way to earn status is to combine both strategies!
Stay 75 Nights at Marriott Hotels in a Calendar Year
Earning 75 elite qualifying nights is the magic number when it comes to acquiring Titanium Elite status. The most straightforward way to get to this number is by actually staying 75 nights, within a calendar year, at Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
Elite qualifying nights are earned on all stays at Marriott Bonvoy hotels purchased through cash rates or redeemed using Marriott Bonvoy points or free night awards (e.g. earned via credit card benefits). There may also be promotions from time to time that offer double elite qualifying nights on your stay, so keep an eye on the “Promotions” section of your Marriott Bonvoy account.
Hold Marriott Bonvoy Co-branded Credit Cards
We get it – staying 75 nights a year in a hotel is not feasible for most people out there. Personally, I couldn’t imagine 20% of the year in a hotel. Thankfully, we don’t have to earn all 75 elite nights by staying in a hotel! Marriott Bonvoy’s co-branded credit cards earn elite nights every year as a benefit for simply holding the card!
In the Canadian market, the most you can earn is 15 elite nights annually by either holding the American Express Marriott Bonvoy card or the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business credit card. The elite qualifying nights earned as a benefit on these credit cards do not stack – in other words, even if you hold both cards, the most you can get is 15 elite qualifying nights per calendar year.
The American Express Marriott Bonvoy card earns Bonvoy points and offers cardholders benefits including an annual free night and 15 qualifying nights towards elite status.
Check out our American Express Marriott Bonvoy card review for more details.
80,000 Marriott Bonvoy
$3,000
$600+
$120
Yes
May 6, 2024
If you have access to the US credit card market as a Canadian, you’ll have an easier time earning elite nights through credit cards. That is because elite nights from both personal and business credit cards stack in the United States!
At a minimum, if you hold both a personal and business Marriott Bonvoy credit card in the United States, you will earn at least 30 elite qualifying nights annually (and up to a potential 40 nights annually depending on the card combination) via these cards:
| Personal US Credit Cards | Business US Credit Cards |
|---|---|
| Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold card (US) 15 elite qualifying nights | American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business card (US) 15 elite qualifying nights |
| Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card (US) 15 elite qualifying nights | |
| American Express Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card (US) 15 elite qualifying nights | |
| American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card (US) 25 elite qualifying nights |
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card
Yes, you read that correctly above – the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card earns 25 elite nights per year which puts cardholders on a significant fast track toward the 75 nights needed for Titanium Elite status.
The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card (US) offers cardholders complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status, an annual $300 restaurant credit, an annual free night, 25 elite qualifying night credits annually, and Priority Pass Select membership.
Check out our American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card (US) review for more details.
185,000 Marriott Bonvoy
$6,000
$1,015+
$650
No
May 1, 2024
While the Bonvoy Brilliant also grants automatic Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status as a benefit, it is important to note that it only grants status and does not award the 50 elite qualifying nights that would have been needed to earn the status.
In other words, even if you have Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status as a perk of this card, you still need to earn the full 75 elite nights to earn Titanium Elite status. Check out our article on how to quickly earn Marriott Bonvoy elite nights towards status for clever strategies that combine stays, credit cards, and spending!
Is Chasing Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite Status Worth It?
Ultimately, the question of “Is it worth it?” depends on your individual travel habits. With all of the perks and benefits that come with Titanium Elite status, we think it is worth it if:
- You almost exclusively stay at Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
- You are very close to earning 75 elite nights through stays and credit cards.
The 75% extra Marriott Bonvoy points on stays, late check out, lounge access, complimentary breakfast, and room upgrades are all extremely valuable if you are a Marriott Bonvoy loyalist. Additionally, United MileagePlus Silver Status is a cherry on top granting you two statuses for the price of one! Some of these perks come with Platinum Elite status, so ensure you compare benefits before deciding what level of status is best for your needs.
If you are very close to 75 elite qualifying nights, consider a “mattress run” by booking the remaining nights, with cash or points, at a cheap Marriott Bonvoy hotel near you to reach the Titanium Elite milestone.
Additionally, the Annual Choice Benefits that you will receive along the way to reaching Titanium Elite status provide excellent value. The guaranteed upgrades with the Nightly Upgrade Awards (when approved by the hotel) and the free night award have tremendous upside and substantial value.
However, we realize that 75 elite nights are not an easy task to complete and for many of us, it frankly isn’t worth it. Instead, consider adding the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card to your wallet if you are looking to get elite status with Marriott Bonvoy. The card grants you automatic Platinum Elite status without the hassle of earning elite nights.
Frankly, the benefits and perks between Platinum Elite and Titanium Elite are so similar that this is the option we feel most people should take. Platinum Elite members get many of the best benefits of Marriott Bonvoy, and thus, it is worth settling for this lesser status level as opposed to unnecessarily grinding for 75 nights.
Conclusion
Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status comes with the perks and benefits you would expect to get with the second-highest level in the loyalty program. For Marriott Bonvoy loyalists, it is definitely worth chasing particularly if you are already close to reaching the required elite qualifying nights.
However, for those of us who can’t reach the lofty 75 nights needed to reach Titanium Elite, the smarter choice would be to get the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card for automatic Platinum Elite status for comparable benefits. Either way, holding Marriott Elite status will definitely improve your next stay!
Frequently Asked Questions
You will receive status for the remainder of the year that you earned it, the rest of the following year, and up to the end of February the year after. For example, if I earned Titanium Elite status in June 2023, I will receive status for the remainder of 2023, the entirety of 2024, and up to the end of February 2025.
If you do not re-achieve Titanium Elite by expiration, you will be downgraded to Platinum Elite for the rest of the calendar year and up to February of the following year. For example, if I do not requalify for Titanium Elite status by February 2025, I will be downgraded to Platinum Elite for the rest of 2025, through to February 2026, when it will expire.
No, Titanium Elite cannot be earned through Marriott Bonvoy lifetime status. The highest level of lifetime status you can achieve is Platinum Elite. Check out our guide on Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Status to learn more about how you can reach it!
Marriott Bonvoy members will need to stay for 75 nights or earn 75 elite qualifying nights through other means to earn Marriott Titanium Elite status.
Quentin Tsang
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