Has Your Marriott Lifetime Status Now Posted Correctly?

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Marriott London Canary Wharf

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I think it’s fair to say that Marriott’s integration of Starwood and its Preferred Guest loyalty program has been less than smooth sailing since the two officially became one back in August 2018.

Thousands of Starwood members points failed to show correctly online, Starwood stays and nights from 2018 weren’t reflected correctly in members’ accounts, historic Starwood stays and nights weren’t recorded correctly in members’ accounts, Marriott’s elite choice benefits were not selectable for weeks and Lifetime status wasn’t being displayed correctly in members’ account either.

All in all the IT integration was one issue followed by another.

Well, while a lot of these issues are still ongoing there may be one issue that Marriott has finally got to grips with – Lifetime status.

A Brief Recent History of Marriott and Starwood Lifetime Status

Starwood Lifetime Status

a purple square with white textTo earn SPG Lifetime Gold status:

  • At least 5 years of elite status with Starwood (years do not have to be concurrent and status can be from any source) and
  • 250 eligible nights

To earn SPG Lifetime Platinum status:

  • At least 10 years of earned SPG Platinum status (years do not have to be concurrent) and
  • 500 eligible nights

Marriott Lifetime Status

Marriott Rewards Changes

To earn Marriott Rewards Lifetime Silver status:

  • 250 nights at Marriott properties worldwide and
  • 1,200,000 Marriott Rewards points earned (from any source)

To earn Marriott Rewards Lifetime Gold status:

  • 500 nights at Marriott properties worldwide and
  • 1,600,000 Marriott Rewards points earned (from any source)

To earn Marriott Rewards Lifetime Platinum status:

  • 750 nights at Marriott properties worldwide and
  • 2,000,000 Marriott Rewards points earned (from any source)

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What Happened When The Loyalty Programs Combined?

When Marriott announced the merger of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest it also announced a few changes to status levels and the lifetime status program.

  • A new 75-night Platinum Premier Elite tier was created
  • Marriott Rewards members could continue to earn Lifetime Status under the existing Marriott Rewards rules through 31 December 2018.
  • SPG members could continue to earn Lifetime Status under the existing SPG rules through 31 December 2018.
  • Members holding Marriott Lifetime Platinum status as at 31 December 2018 would be granted Lifetime Platinum Premier status from 2019
  • Members holding Starwood Lifetime Platinum status as at 31 December 2018 would be granted Lifetime Platinum Premier status from 2019*
  • From 1 January 2019 Marriott Lifetime status would be earned based on the number of night stayed and the number of years elite status has been held.

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  • From 1 January 2019 it would no longer be possible to earn Lifetime Platinum Premier (75-night) status.

*This wasn’t the case until Starwood members protested and Marriott gave way

Since we were told that Lifetime Platinum Premier Elite status was not going to be an option after 2018 (it was a one time thing) it became important for those of us who were close (or close-ish) to top-tier lifetime status to make an extra effort to get over the line before 2018 was out.

For my part I had the number of nights needed for Marriott Lifetime Platinum Status in the bag for quite a few months but I didn’t earn the final points needed to cross the 2,000,000 barrier until July 2018.

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At first Marriott indicated that everyone earning Lifetime Status before 18 August 2018 would see their status displayed correctly (Platinum Premier Elite) but, when 18 August came and went and Marriott still hadn’t updated my account (or anyone else’s account), Marriott said that everyone wold see the correct lifetime status displayed from 1 January 2019.

1 January came and went and still the Lifetime Status notations were incorrect in members’ accounts and, as the first three weeks of the year went by, I was beginning to wonder if Marriott was actually going to honor its pledge to award Lifetime Platinum Premier status after all.

Well, the waiting ended for a lot of us over the weekend as, after a Marriott systems update, the correct Lifetime status finally shows in members’ online accounts:

a screenshot of a website

I’m not exactly sure what time this happened (I think the update started on Friday night) but, if you’ve been waiting to see if Marriott corrects your Lifetime status, I suggest checking your online account asap to see if all is well.

If you’re still in the midst of a battle with Marriott over missing nights and stays it’s possible that your Lifetime Status will still be incorrect (my sympathies) but there’s also a chance that Marriott’s update fixed other issues too so you may be in the clear.

For my part I’m relieved to see my Marriott Lifetime status correctly reflected in my account but I’d be interested to know if everyone else is ok too or if there are still some long-suffering SPG members whose accounts bear no resemblance to reality – let me know in the comments.

14 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks, mine is showing Platinum Premier Elite correctly. I crossed the 750 night threshold on December 31, 2018 so was a bit nervous.

  2. I now see my Lifetime Platinum Premier Elite status on my account.

    I have earned the status with a lifetime of loyalty. My lifetime statistics are
    Nights: 1110
    Years as Silver, Gold or Platinum: 29
    Years as Gold or Platinum: 22
    Years as Platinum: 20

  3. As I understand it the Platinum Premier Elite level and the similar named Lifetime Platinum Premier Elite
    will be renamed:
    Titanium
    and
    Lifetime Titanium

    Of course, as an Ambassador level for three years now with SPG – after the August 2018 merger – my Ambassador name and contact info has ceased to show up on the both the apps and website !

      • Yup. Actually never had a problem with historic night/stays:
        Now shows correct Lifetime Status – Lifetime Platinum Premier Elite

        Always showed:
        1,525 Nights
        17 Years Platinum

  4. You said:

    Members holding Starwood Lifetime Platinum status as at 31 December 2018 would be granted Lifetime Platinum Premier status from 2019*
    *This wasn’t the case until Starwood members protested and Marriott gave way

    Are you sure about this ? My father-in-law is legacy SPG Lifetime Platinum and as of today his profile still shows Lifetime Platinum Elite.

    • Yes, I’m sure. Lifetime SPG Platinum members who had 750 or more nights by December 31, 2018 are entitled to Marriott Lifetime Platinum Premier status.

  5. My lifetime tracker has disappeared and my lifetime status no longer shows. As of April 29, 2019. Had been there previously.

  6. My years of SPG platinum status should have incremented from 9 to 10 at the end of 2018 but it still has not. I had 525 nights so should have qualified for lifetime platinum under grandfather. Months of calls and emails to service, ambassador, and cases etc have gone unanswered. What can I do??

    • You’ve been well and truly Bonvoyed by the sounds of things. Have you tried the Marriott Bonvoy Twitter team? Sometimes embarrassing them in public yields results.

Comments are closed.