Marriott and United Team Up With RewardsPlus and How to Get United Silver Status

Marriott and United have recently launched a new joint program called RewardsPlus. The main exciting benefits of the new partnership involve status matches for elite members in the respective programs until January 31, 2014:

• Marriott Rewards Platinum members will receive a status match to United MileagePlus Premier Silver status.
• United MileagePlus Premier Gold members and higher will receive a status match to Marriott Rewards Gold status.

In addition, those that link their Marriott Rewards and United MileagePlus accounts will receive a slightly enhanced ability to transfer points between the two accounts. The last benefit is not particularly exciting since neither offers a good transfer ratio. Nevertheless, it does give additional options to top off your account when you’re close to an award. 

Marriott Rewards Gold Status

I already matched my United 1K status to Marriott Gold and will be receiving the Marriott Gold status benefits for my Marriott stays.

Marriott Rewards Gold Status benefits include the following:

• 25% Bonus on Marriott Rewards Points earned during your stay.
• Priority Late Checkout.
• Free internet access.
• Room upgrades based on availability.
• Lounge access and free breakfast.

The status will only last until January 31, 2014. Natalya actually signed up for the Marriott Rewards Platinum Status Challenge, which makes her a a Marriott Rewards Platinum member for 4 months. Given that Platinum status is so easy to get for a four month period, this development is not hugely exciting.

To register for the status match, visit the United Airlines Registration Page.

United MileagePlus Premier Silver Status

The more exciting development is the ability to match to United MileagePlus Silver Status from Marriott Rewards Platinum. Although the Premier Silver status isn’t a big improvement over the privileges that come with holding the United MileagePlus Explorer card, it’s something that United doesn’t already give away for free (even for a few months). United does have its own status challenge, but you have to match from an existing program. 

United Premier Silver Status Benefits include the following. Since I’ve been a United/Continental flyer ever since I can remember, I have a much better sense of how valuable the United benefits are.

• Access to economy plus seating with one companion (I see these as a very nice benefits for a few extra inches of legroom and seats closer to the front, including exit row seats).
• Complimentary premier upgrades on some North American flights (at Silver level, this is quite unlikely to actually come through).
• 25% Premier bonus award miles on United, Copa and select partner carriers.
• Priority check-in, security, boarding, baggage handling (I do like the faster security lines and an earlier shot at the overhead space!)
• Reduced close-in award booking fee ($50), award change fee ($50) and award cancellation fee ($125). 

To register for the status match from Marriott Platinum, go to the Marriott Rewards Registration Page.

How to Get Free United Mileage Plus Premier Silver Status

When we first heard the news, we realized Natalya can further leverage her temporary Marriott Rewards Platinum Status challenge for more benefits! Natalya is in the middle of her Marriott Rewards Platinum Status Challenge, which lasts until the end of September. If she completes 9 stays by then, it will last until January 2015. She already completed four stays to get her two free nights with the Marriott Rewards Megabonus Promotion. We went to her account, matched for the United Premier Silver status and the next day, she was United Silver! 

The steps to get free United Silver Status:

1. Make sure you are signed up for a Marriott Rewards account and a United MileagePlus account. It’s best if you use the same email address for both since the program for the status match works well by looking up existing account associated with a particular email address.
2. Sign up for the Marriott Rewards Platinum Challenge or the Marriott Rewards Gold Challenge. This can be done just by calling and the details for doing this are in this post. Granting the challenge is a bit of a luck-of-the-draw. They may not extend it if you haven’t had any stays with Marriott. It may help to book a few (cancelable) stays into the future and explain you do have quite a few upcoming stays to make your case, but I haven’t tried this and not everyone will be comfortable with this.
3. Go to the Marriott Rewards Registration Page for the match.

Converting between Marriott Rewards points and United MileagePlus miles

Those that link their Marriott Rewards and United MileagePlus accounts get some enhanced conversion options betweenthe two programs:

• Convert Marriott Rewards points to MileagePlus miles at a 20% discount. The transfer ratio for Marriott Rewards points to United miles is not that great to begin with, but nice that you do get that additional option to top off when you’re close to an award.
• Convert United MileagePlus miles into Marriott Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio, up to 50,000 miles per year.  In general, United miles are worth far more than Marriott Rewards points. I often get a value of at least 2 cents each for each United mile I redeem (more when I use them for business class flights) and I rarely come across ways to redeem Marriott Rewards that give me more than 1 cent per point. However, this can be useful if you have enough United miles and you need to top off your account for an award stay. 
  

Other posts you may like:

• Hotel Promotions July 2013: Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG Rewards Club
• Natalya’s Marriott Rewards Platinum Status Challenge and the Megabonus Promotion
• Natalya’s Stay at Hyatt Regency Monterey and The Hyatt Diamond Treatment

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