Keep Your Marriott Perks: Buy Back Your 2016 Status With Points

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If you had Marriott Elite status last year, but didn’t earn it for 2017, you can spend points to extend your status an extra year!

Via View From the Wing, Marriott’s yearly offer to buy back your elite status has returned.  Until March 31, 2017, you can use points to keep your elite status in 2017.  But it might not be a good deal for you!

Keep Your Marriott Perks Buy Back Your 2016 Status With Points
Having a Hard Time Giving Up Your Elite Status? Buy It Back With Points!

I’ll help you decide if this is a good deal for your situation.

Enjoying Your Marriott Elite Status?  Buy It Back With Points

Link:   Buy Back Your Marriott Elite Status

Good news for folks who had Marriott elite status last year and want to keep the benefits going!

Until March 31, 2017, you can buy your Marriott elite status for another year with Marriott points.  Depending on the elite status, you’ll pay:

Is It Worth Buying Back Your Status?

The value of this deal depends on your situation.  You can ONLY buy the same status you had in 2016.  So if you were a Silver Elite member, you can NOT buy Platinum Elite Status.  And if you were a Platinum Elite member, you can NOT buy Gold Elite Status.

1.   Silver Elite Status

You can earn Marriott Silver Elite Status just by having the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card.  And Silver Elite Status barely offers more benefits than no status at all.  The only perk is 20% more base points you’ll earn for paid Marriott stays.

It’s NOT worth 7,500 Marriott points.

7,500 Marriott points is enough for a free night at any category 1 hotel.
Keep Your Marriott Perks Buy Back Your 2016 Status With Points
Stay at the TownePlace Suites Salt Lake City Layton, Which Frequently Sells for $100+ Per Night, for 7,500 Marriott Points

7,500 Marriott points are also worth 2,500 Starwood points, more than enough for a weekend night at a Starwood category 1 hotel.

2.   Gold Elite Status

Gold elite status is very worthwhile if you stay frequently at Marriott hotels.  You’ll get:
  • 25% more base points for paid Marriott stays
  • Guaranteed late checkout
  • Room upgrade (based on availability)
  • Lounge access
  • Free breakfast

Keep in mind, you can earn Gold Elite Status for free the first year you have the Chase Ritz-Carlton card.  And if you have The Platinum Card® from American Express, you will receive Starwood Gold Elite Status, which you can match to Marriott Gold Elite Status.

If you don’t want the AMEX Platinum or Chase Ritz-Carlton card, and you’re confident you won’t re-qualify for Gold Elite Status through paid stays, 25,000 Marriott points could be worth it.  As long as you know you’ll still stay at Marriott hotels often to reap the benefits!

With 25,000 Marriott points you can reserve a night at any Marriott hotel category 5 and below.

Keep Your Marriott Perks Buy Back Your 2016 Status With Points
On Many Nights, the JW Marriott Houston Sells for Over $300. But You Can Reserve a Room for Just 25,000 Marriott Points

Or you can transfer 25,000 Marriott points to Starwood and end up with 8,333 Starwood points.  That’s enough for a stay at a category 3 hotel or below.

3.   Platinum Elite Status

You’ll have to spend 40,000 Marriott points to buy back Platinum Elite Status (ouch!).

Platinum Elite Status comes with all the perks of Gold Elite Status, plus an arrival gift (food, amenities, points, etc.), 48-hour room availability guarantee, and United Airlines Premier Silver status.

If these perks are really important to you, it could be worth buying back your status.

But because Platinum Elite Status isn’t miles ahead of Gold Elite Status, I would NOT recommend spending 40,000 points to retain it.

40,000 Marriott points is enough for a stay at any Marriott hotel category 8 or below.  Or you could transfer your points to Starwood for 13,333 Starwood points.

That’s enough for a stay at any Starwood hotel category 5 or below.

Keep Your Marriott Perks Buy Back Your 2016 Status With Points
Stay at the US GRANT, a Luxury Collection Hotel in San Diego for 12,000 Starwood Points
Note:  You can NOT buy back any status you’ve earned by matching your Starwood status to Marriott.  You MUST have earned your status through nights and stays at Marriott hotels.

Bottom Line

Until March 31, 2017, you can keep last year’s Marriott elite status for another year using Marriott points.

Depending on the elite status you had last year, it will cost:

You can ONLY buy the status you enjoyed in 2016.  And you can NOT buy elite status you earned by matching your Starwood elite status to Marriott.

Is buying back elite status with Marriott points worth it to you?

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)

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