It was a day before April 1st, so I was shocked to read that people suddenly saw an increase in their Marriott stays for 2020. This was no April Fool’s Joke.
In 2018 we used the night credits from Marriott and SPG credit cards to reach Platinum status for 2019. That status just went away this year; in fact we just made our last trip as platinum members to San Francisco in January (doesn’t that feel like so long ago?).
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Marriott has decided to change its stance on earning status by having Bonvoy co-brand credit cards from AMEX or Chase.
The 2020 rules were that you could only earn a total of 15 nights credit towards status by having a credit card. According to this post from Frequent Miler, you can now earn 15 nights from a personal card and 15 nights from a business card.
I can confirm this is what’s happening because when I logged into Sharon’s account, her number of nights from credit cards had increased to 30.
We already have 8 other nights from our stays this year, which only puts us 12 nights from Platinum for 2020. Honestly, I don’t think we’re going to reach it. I can’t see much travel for the next few months. Our big trip at the end of the year is to Japan and I don’t think I’d want to spend our trip staying in Marriott properties just to reach status for 2021.
While this was a pleasant surprise for me, I can’t help but think about all of the people who were #Bonvoyed by this change.
If you previously had a personal and business card, the loss of getting 15-night credits for each card reduced their value. The only reason to keep both cards was the free night, and even I can see where it’s possible to have too many capped free nights. It would be reasonable to dump one of the cards because the benefits overlapped. How would you feel if you canceled your card last year and now Marriott is offering 15-night credits to those who kept their cards?
If you’re thinking of signing up for the cards now to get the benefit, AMEX will not let you sign up for the business card if you’ve had it before because of their once in a lifetime rule. Chase personal cards are subject to their 5/24 rule, so no luck there either.
We lucked out and didn’t cancel our Marriott Bonvoy Business card from Chase so we received the extra 15 night credits. It’s a shame we’re not going to get to take advantage of the benefits to get to Platinum but we’re locked into Gold status for 2021.
I feel for all of you that canceled a business or personal Marriott Bonvoy co-brand card from AMEX or Chase in 2019 and got #Bonvoyed out of 15-night credits.
#stayhealthy #stayathome #washyourhands
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
2 comments
Reverse Bonvoyed? You usually have to pay extra for that.
You can get the Amex Marriott Business again if you had it and canceled, you just can’t earn the welcome offer again.