Marriott's website list the following requirements for LT Status:

Lifetime Silver: 250 nights + 1.2 million points
Lifetime Gold: 500 nights + 1.6 million points
Lifetime Platinum: 750 nights + 2 million points

A few things are unclear to me.

1. Regarding points, does that mean you must maintain a balance of 1.2, 1.6, or 2 million points in your account, or you must simply have earned that many points over the duration of your time as a Marriott Rewards member?

2. Do CC signup bonuses (Ex: Premier Visa) count toward the points total? How about points transferred to your account from other reward credit cards, points earned through Megabonuses and/or Shopping Portals?

3. Is there a way to "check your progress" toward LT Elite status in your account?

Thank you for any clarifications you experts can provide!

It's points earned since you joined, not your point balance. It's a good idea to use points whenever you have enough to get something worthwhile, ideally for a travel package.

Yes, yes, and yes. All points count toward lifetime points. All nights count toward lifetime nights.

1. Log in to Marriott.com.
2. Click on "MY ACCOUNT" in the upper right corner.
3. In the box that appears, click on "Account Overview" below your name.
4. On the "My Account" screen, click on "Lifetime Status" below the progress bar.

This new thread will undoubtedly be merged with the existing lifetime status thread.

Horace - thanks so much for your helpful reply. By the end of this year, I'll have enough nights for Lifetime Platinum, but I'll be a bit short on points. Would points transferred from family members into my account (now that MR allows 50,000 points to transfer between two members in a given year) be eligible too?

Mods feel free to merge the threads, as Horace predicts will happen. I apologize for my FT inexperience!

what do you mean merge points?

Yes they would count towards your lifetime status, but they may decrease the family member's lifetime status points.

One good way to get Marriott Rewards points quickly is to buy them. They're sold in increments of 1,000 for $12.50 (USD) per 1,000 points, with a maximum of 50,000 points per year.

https://www.marriott.com/marriott-re.../buy-donate.mi

The price works out to 1.25 cents per point. The rule of thumb is that points are worth around a penny each if you're smart about how and where you use them. If they're used toward a travel package they can be worth more.

The price is not awful (you can break even without too much effort). You can achieve lifetime status more quickly. And if it puts you over the top for a travel package, that's a great bonus.

Transfer, not merge. See this link: https://www.marriott.com/marriott-re.../buy-donate.mi

Thanks for the idea Horace, but will probably just move points over from my parents' accounts (they are both silver and relatively new members) into my account to boost up...50k from each of them is 100k and that should help give me the boost I'll need next year. While you're right about being able to breakeven on buying points, I don't really want to spend that on points right now with no plans to use them...

Fixed it for ya.

Note that I do believe the rule now is you can transfer a maximum of 50K into or out of your account per year. The exception to that is if you need points for a specific award, then you can transfer (or receive) up to the required points to get that award (this also is a once a year benefit too.)

From Marriott's website: "A limit of 50,000 points per year may be transferred into or out of a member�s account. Members who are transferring points in order to satisfy a specific award may exceed the 50,000 limit up to the amount needed to satisfy the reservation."

You can only transfer in 50k a year unless booking a reward (which can be cancelled later and the points returned to your account).

Sorry, I don't understand. If you transfer in 50k, book an award night for, say, 45k at a Cat 9, you can transfer in more than 50k total?

am13, you're a Platinum Premier and on the verge of Lifetime Platinum, and you don't know these basic elements of the program?

Not to be rude, but all of your questions could be easily answered by browsing the Marriott Rewards site and reading the details in the T&C's. Or, barring that, by using the search function here at FT. You'll find that folks here are generally friendly and eager to answer questions, but much more tolerant when you've at least done basic due diligence on your own.

As I understand it, doing a normal transfer, you are limited to 50k in or out of an account. So your plan to transfer 50k from each of your parents will be blocked as your account is limited to 50k inbound. Now should your parents wish to gift you an award costing 100k (whether gifting the full 100k or topping off your account to make 100k), they can call MR to set it up. Reports are should you later cancel that award, the 100k will return to your account. Yes, a subtle difference and could be considered deceptive if done deliberately, not sure if it would fall into fraudulent and risk consequences.

That makes perfect sense given the T&C restrictions of transferring. Not trying to game the system, and far too vested in MR now to risk losing status/points over something silly, so will just play by the rules and delay LP a year or two. Thanks for your helpful response, Roger!