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How holding a 1-hour 1-person meeting at Marriott can get you elite status

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I have always struggled to get excited about Marriott Rewards.  It is probably truer to say that I have struggled to get excited about Marriott hotel brands (although, ironically, I will be in one tonight) and therefore the rewards programme has never done much for me.

I must admit that people who have Marriott elite status are generally positive about it, especially about the delivery of elite benefits.

Of course, that shouldn’t be surprising.  Marriott status is VERY difficult to earn – Platinum requires 75 nights or, slightly easier, 30 stays.

The Marriott Rewards elite levels are:

Silver – requires 10 nights.  Benefit is a 20% bonus on base points.

Gold – requires 50 nights.  Benefits are 25% bonus on base points, free internet access, room upgrade and lounge access.

Platinum – requires 30 stays or 75 nights.  Benefits are 50% bonus on base points, free internet access, room upgrade, lounge access and a welcome gift.

There is an interesting quirk to the Marriott Rewards programme which I have never focussed on before but is worth knowing about.

If you book any sort of meeting or event at a Marriott group hotel, you earn 10 nights towards elite status qualification.   The Marriott website confirms it here.

You also earn Marriott Rewards points for your spend at the rate of 3 points per US$1 equivalent.

What would your local Marriott charge to hire a tiny meeting room for an hour?  A lot less than the cost of staying 10 nights to earn 10 elite night credits, that’s for sure.

This is a global promotion.  If you are in a low cost country in Asia, booking a meeting room for an hour in a Marriott property would be very cheap indeed.

You would only need to book eight meetings (on separate days) to earn Platinum status from scratch.  You would have Silver status after booking just one meeting.

This is obviously at the more extreme end of things you might do to earn or retain hotel status.  If you have a suitable Marriott property near you, however, it shouldn’t be too difficult to organise.

With only four months left in 2016, if you were getting close to Gold or Platinum status but doubt you will make it then this may be an option worth considering.

You can find further details on the meetings and events page of the Marriott website here.

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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2025)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

Category

Marriott Bonvoy

Comments (20)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • James A says:
    28 Aug28 August 08:12

    Also you get 10 nights credit for taking out their credit card

  • Bob Pape says:
    28 Aug28 August 09:00

    Marriott doesn’t have a stay alternative. So Plat is 75 nights. As mentioned by James A above the UK Marriott Credit Card gives 10 nights annually but no new applications are being accepted.
    I can vouch for the meeting getting 10 nights credit and have held 3 or 4 1-to-1 meetings at Marriotts over the past decade, each costing £50-£100 and have always got the nights credit. It’s a cheap way to maintain Gold (where the meat of Marriott lies) if you’re falling a few nights short.

  • Oliver says:
    28 Aug28 August 09:40

    If I go through the pain of these meetings to get platinum or gold, which hotel chains are lie likely to status match ? I would like Hilton and IHG diamond/platinum

    • Rob says:
      28 Aug28 August 10:14

      IHG doesn’t usually match and IHG will give you Platinum with the £99 credit card. Hilton would give you a Diamond challenge (3 months of Diamond plus a requirement to do x nights in those 3 months to keep it) on the back of that.

      Note also that Virgin miles transfers to IHG count towards status so you can get Spire by moving over 75,000 Virgin miles.

      • Alex W says:
        28 Aug28 August 10:29

        When is the optimum time to do the virgin to IHG transfer, to get the status for longest?

        • Rob says:
          28 Aug28 August 10:57

          January 1st. You would get Spire for all of 2017 and all of 2018.

        • Genghis says:
          28 Aug28 August 10:57

          Ive researched this myself recently. If doing the full 75k from Virgin, at the start of the year (ie Jan 17) so status is valid until end of next calendar year (ie Dec 18). I did it recently however as I wasn’t doing the full 75k from Virgin and didn’t want to lose qualifying points already accumulated this year.

          • Rob says:
            28 Aug28 August 11:58

            Agreed. If you have, say, 50,000 elite points already it makes more sense to move 25,000 Virgin over in 2016 – rather than move 75,000 Virgin in 2017 and get the extra year.

            Remember that you get 25,000 bonus IHG points for reaching Spire so you are effectively getting a good transfer rate from Virgin.

          • AndyS says:
            28 Aug28 August 17:30

            Don’t suppose you can move ihg points back to virgin afterwards?

          • Rob says:
            28 Aug28 August 20:43

            Yes you can but only at 5:1.

            At most extreme, you move 75k to IHG and then, with the Spire 25k bonus, move 100k back for 20k Virgin.

            Massive value loss:

            75k Virgin = £750
            75k IHG plus 25k bonus = £500
            20k Virgin = £200, based on my valuations

  • Fenny says:
    28 Aug28 August 11:41

    If I booked a meeting room, what’s the chance of being able to use the pool after my meeting?

  • S879 says:
    28 Aug28 August 20:33

    I got IHG platinum via virgin transfer which is valid till dec 2017. If in December 2017 I transfer more virgin miles and become Spire, will my status only be valid till dec 2018? If I wait till 1st jan 2018 to transfer, my platinum status would have expired. Am I understanding this right?

    • Rob says:
      28 Aug28 August 20:38

      Correct. You either s transfer a small amount now to get Spire to 12/17 or 75k in Jan to get it to 12/18.

  • Mahomed says:
    29 Aug29 August 21:32

    Since its only 4 months left of the year . based on the above comments If I focus on 2017 and book a few 1 on 1 meetings in 2017 and make the balance by stays my status will be too 12/ 2018 . is that correct ?

    • Rob says:
      29 Aug29 August 22:18

      Yes, you get status for the current year (which would be 2017) and all of the following year.

  • MAHOMED says:
    2 Sep2 September 22:28

    Hi Raffles
    thank you for your reply. Currently in south africa you cannot get any elite nights / points for meetings. can you suggest a few places for me / countries that are not very expensive so that i can plan ahead and maybe see if a friend can assist in booking it for me .

    • Rob says:
      2 Sep2 September 23:12

      I get a feeling that Asia, specifically Thailand, China etc, would be your best bet – although if you are only booking a one hour room for an ‘interview’ I doubt it costs much even in the UK outside London.

  • Rob says:
    3 Sep3 September 11:11

    Rules may vary by country but there is no need to book rooms in general. The paragraph above discussed miles and not stay credit anyway.

    • Talay says:
      3 Sep3 September 13:41

      I think the problem will be to get them to book it as an event and book it formally so it does accrue benefits.

      The online reservation / price system simply doesn’t work as the hotels don’t get the messages.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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