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Got Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite hotel status? You get United Airlines status for free

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If you have gained Titanium Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy over the last year or so, perhaps boosted by the 15 free elite nights that the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card offers, you may not know that you can claim elite status with United Airlines.

The United Airlines and Marriott Bonvoy partnership is called RewardsPlus and you can find all the details here.

United Airlines Marriott Bonvoy partnership

For Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite members, it offers:

  • free United MileagePlus Premier Silver status, valid across Star Alliance
  • the ability to move United MileagePlus miles into Marriott Bonvoy at 1:1, which is a handy way of dealing with any occasional Star Alliance flights you may have

Here is a summary of how RewardsPlus works.

RewardsPlus benefits for Marriott Bonvoy elite members:

If you are a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium or Ambassador Elite member (which is the situation Head for Points readers are more likely to be in, as I doubt we have many United Airlines elites here) you can receive Premier Silver status with United.

Don’t get too excited about this. In Star Alliance, Silver status usually only gets you lounge access with the airline which issues your card, and United doesn’t even let you do this.  You cannot use this card to get, say, lounge access when flying Lufthansa or SWISS.

United Premier Silver does get you upgraded to United’s Economy Plus at check-in if there are spare seats. However, this would need to be a flight with very few Gold or above members on it, as they would have priority over you.  You also get a free 32kg checked bag and will earn seven miles per $1 spent when flying United.

Here is the most useful benefit to my eyes.  Being Premier Silver allows you to transfer your MileagePlus miles into Marriott Bonvoy at 1:1, up to 50,000 miles per calendar year.  This could come in VERY handy if you have the odd Star Alliance flight but do not actively collect with any Star Alliance airline.

Marriott Bonvoy United Airlines RewardsPlus

RewardsPlus benefits for United Airlines elite members:

RewardsPlus also works the other way.

If you have United MileagePlus Premier Gold status or higher, you can leverage it into Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status.

Bonvoy Gold Elite gives you free high speed wifi, 2pm late check-out (not guaranteed) and 25% bonus Marriott Bonvoy base points. It’s not hugely exciting but better than nothing.

As I noted above, the most useful benefit is that United Premier Silver or higher members are able to transfer up to 50,000 United MileagePlus miles per year into Marriott Bonvoy points at a 1:1 ratio.

Conclusion

For UK-based Head for Points readers, the most likely scenario is that you will have Marriott Bonvoy Titanium or Ambassador Elite status and can get United MileagePlus Premier Silver status.

Even if you never fly with United, this will allow you to credit occasional Star Alliance flights to MileagePlus and, instead of being stuck with a few useless miles, transfer them to Marriott Bonvoy at 1:1.

You can find out more, and sign up for RewardsPlus if your Marriott or United status is high enough, on this special website.

PS. You can learn how to earn United MileagePlus miles from UK credit cards in this article.


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

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (December 2024)

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 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

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (6)

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

  • DW says:

    Thank you Rob for the reminder – just sent a bunch of United points over to Marriott

  • Rizz says:

    “ In Star Alliance, Silver status usually only gets you lounge access with the airline which issues your card, and United doesn’t even let you do this.”

    It’s really just the Lufthansa group. No lounge access for silvers in other *A programs.

  • PeterV says:

    Do we know whether the match is a once in a lifetime one? Or can you rematch every year?

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

    United Silver is more useful than this article wiuld suggest.
    – Premier Access (Business) Check in with United
    – Business check in with Lufthansa Group airlines
    – Business check in with Air Canada
    – Premier Access security with United
    – Priority boarding in Group 2 with United
    – Priority boarding with Air Canada
    – Select preferred seats at time of reservation
    – Greater award seat availability unlocked in economy much like BA’s Gold benefit

    Added to the free bag benefit and it makes short northeastern US trips very cost effective when redeeming points.

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

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