A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a question about splitting a long-term stay so that both members could get status with Marriott Bonvoy.
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Here’s the question from the reader:
I was just reading through some of your articles and didn’t find the answer I was looking for.
I was wondering if you know how to navigate a long term stay so 2 people can split the elite night credits at a Marriott property. I keep getting different answers from Marriott.
The stay is 86 nights starting in 2 weeks. We want to both have Titanium for the year from this stay. The reservation is in my name only right now mostly on points with all of the points having been transferred to my account.
Two members cannot get elite night credit for the same nights if they have only one room booked.
However, they can split the reservation so that one member gets Titanium status from this stay and another member gets credit for 16 nights.
Stay 1: 50 nights (Member 1)
Stay 2: 16 nights (Member 2)
Stay 3: 20 nights (Member 1) – Stay would qualify for Platinum benefits (upgrade, lounge access & breakfast, and late check-out)
This assumes that neither member has Marriott-affiliated credit cards that would give them 15 to 30 annual elite qualifying nights.
After 50 nights, Member 1 can choose the Annual Choice Benefit of 5 nights (there are other choices too – assuming that this option exists in 2022). Member 1 will then be Titanium (75 nights) after the stay 3 posts.
Member 2 in this scenario would end up with 16 elite qualifying nights.
A better option would be for Member 1 to get Platinum status from this stay ( 50 nights + 5 nights from the Annual Choice Benefit), and then Member 2 could reach 36 elite qualifying nights (only 14 short of getting Platinum).
Problem:
The issue that the reader will also face is that if this is an award stay, the nights will be credited to the member account from which the award was redeemed. Therefore, they need to have part of the stay redeemed from the other person’s account if they want to earn any of the nights toward status.
Conclusion
If neither member has status with Marriott Bonvoy, breaking the stay after one has reached 50 nights would make sense because they would then qualify for Platinum benefits once the stay has been posted.
You cannot get Titanium status on 86 nights for two accounts unless members have Marriott affiliated credit card(s) OR if Marriott decides to adjust elite qualifying requirements for 2022 like what Hilton has already done.
