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How to get free hotel elite status from UK credit cards

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This article looks at the different ways you can get elite status with hotel chains via UK credit cards.

If you are just getting started with miles and points, you have probably realised by now that your travel life could be improved if you had airline or hotel elite status.

get free hotel elite status from UK credit cards

There is no easy route to airline status

If you want fast-track airline status, you’re out of luck.  There are no credit cards or other schemes which offer instant airline status.

Your best option if you want British Airways Silver status, which gets you lounge access and free seat selection at the time of booking, is to book yourself a Qatar Airways business class flight to Asia in their next sale.

If you start your trip in mainland Europe, and if prices continue to drift back to pre-pandemic levels, you should be able to pick up a return flight to Asia for £1,750 or so in a Qatar Airways sale.  You will earn 560 tier points for this (140 x 4 legs) which is just 40 short of the 600 tier points needed for British Airways Executive Club Silver status – although you still need to fly four BA segments to be promoted.  You get a great holiday out of it and you get to try the best business class product out there.

Free hotel status is a lot easier to get

Hotel elite status is a lot easier to get.  It can also be more beneficial.  After all, if you are flying in Business Class or First Class anyway then status doesn’t get you much on top. British Airways gives Silver and Gold members free seat selection, and a Gold can access better lounges, but that’s about it.

Hotel status can get you an upgrade to a room you would never consider booking for cash.  It can also be valuable – getting free breakfast for two for seven nights can represent a chunky saving.

How can you get free hotel elite status from UK credit cards?

Not all hotel statuses are equal.  The benefits vary but, importantly, so does the willingness of chains to deliver them.  In general, I value a benefit which is ‘guaranteed’ substantially higher than a benefit which is ‘subject to availability’ – especially as ‘subject to availability’ tends to mean ‘if we feel like it’ rather than ‘if it is physically possible’.

Let’s have a look at the two UK credit cards which offer hotel elite status:

How to get free hotel elite status from UK credit cards

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Bonus: 20,000 points

Read our full review

Other information:

  • 15 elite night credits per year to help you towards higher status
  • Free night, up to 25,000 points, when you spend £25,000 per year.
  • Upgrade to Gold Elite status when you spend £15,000 in a card year
  • Annual fee: £95

Representative 54.8% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £95 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 31.0% APR variable.

See if you qualify for the 20,000 points sign-up bonus: +

You will receive 20,000 points as a sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous 24 months, have held any other personal American Express card.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s American Express account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held a Business American Express card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the 15 elite night credits per year, the free night (up to 25,000 points) for spending £25,000 and Gold Elite status for spending £15,000.

Learn more about the card benefits +

You will receive 15 elite night credits per year in Marriott Bonvoy.  The first batch will arrive within 60 days on applying and then in Spring in each subsequent year.

15 elite nights will automatically get you Silver Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy and put you nearer to Gold Elite and higher tiers.

If you spend £15,000 per card year, you will be upgraded to Gold Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy.

If you spend £25,000 per card year, you will receive a free night voucher, valid at any hotel where reward nights cost up to 25,000 points.

You need a minimum personal income of £20,000 to apply for the card.

Marriott Bonvoy covers AC Hotels, Aloft, Autograph, Courtyard, Delta Hotels, Design Hotels, Edition, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, Marriott, Renaissance, St Regis, Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, The Ritz-Carlton, W and Westin.

Marriott Bonvoy gives you 15 elite status nights each year when you hold the American Express card.  This is enough to give you Silver Elite status and also puts you nearer to Gold Elite.

The benefits of Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite are not huge.  You can see the different Marriott tier levels here.

The key benefits of Silver Elite status, which usually requires 10 nights in a calendar year, are:

  • 10% bonus on base points earned
  • ‘Priority’ for late check-out requests

…. and that’s it, at least in terms of stuff you will find genuinely useful.  It isn’t a lot but it should stop you getting the room overlooking the bins.

If you spend £15,000 per year on the card you will be upgraded to Gold Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy.  You can see the full list of Marriott Bonvoy Gold benefits here.

The 2pm late check-out is ‘based on availability’ so not guaranteed. The only other benefits offered will be an ‘enhanced’ room (in the category you booked) and 25% bonus points.

If you are looking for Marriott Bonvoy Gold status, you should remember that you can also get Marriott Gold for free with American Express Platinum just for holding the card.

The sweet spot with Marriott Bonvoy is Platinum Elite status. This gets you ugprades, free executive lounge access, free breakfast at most brands and guaranteed 4pm late check-out. You normally need 50 nights per year to get Platinum Elite, but the 15 elite night credits you receive via the credit card take this down to 35 nights. This is achievable for most business travellers.

You can apply for the card here.

How to get free hotel elite status from UK credit cards

The Platinum Card from American Express

The Platinum Card from American Express

Bonus: 40,000 points

Read our full review

Other information:

  • Two Priority Pass cards, each allowing two people into 1,400 airport lounges
  • Elite status in four major hotel loyalty programmes
  • Comprehensive travel insurance
  • £300 per year of restaurant credit
  • £100 per year to spend at Harvey Nichols
  • Annual fee: £650

Representative 704.6% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £650 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 31.0% APR variable.

See if you qualify for the 40,000 points sign-up bonus +

You will receive 40,000 American Express Membership Rewards points as a sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card if you spend £6,000 within three months of signing up.

Membership Rewards points are hugely flexible.  You can transfer them into Avios, Virgin Flying Club or other airlines (at 1:1) or into various hotels schemes, into Club Eurostar or use them for shopping vouchers.

This is the ONLY personal American Express card where you still qualify for the bonus if you already hold a British Airways American Express card.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous 24 months, have held any other personal American Express card which earns Membership Rewards points.  This includes The Platinum Card and Preferred Rewards Gold.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s American Express account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held any other American Express card, including the British Airways, Marriott and Nectar cards.

For clarity, you can still apply for The Platinum Card even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the long list of other benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with an unrivalled list of benefits for the keen traveller.

Your personal travel patterns will determine which of these is the most valuable.  The key benefits are:

Full comprehensive travel insurance for you, your family and the family of your supplementary cardholder, subject to enrolment

Two Priority Pass cards, each of which allows the holder and a guest unlimited free access to 1,400 airport lounges

Elite status in four major hotel loyalty schemes: Marriott Bonvoy (Gold), Hilton Honors (Gold), Radisson Rewards (Premium), MeliaRewards (Gold)

Access to Eurostar lounges, irrespective of travel class

£150 per year to spend in over 160 UK restaurants

£150 per year to spend in over 1,200 international restaurants

£100 per year to spend at Harvey Nichols, instore or online (no minimum spend required)

£300 per year of dining credit – £150 to be spent at 150+ UK restaurants and £150 to be spent at 1,200+ restaurants outside the UK

You need a minimum personal income of £35,000 to apply for the card.

This is a more complex card.

The Platinum Card comes with a £650 annual fee.  Because you can get a generous 40,000 Membership Rewards points sign-up bonus (converts into 40,000 Avios or 40,000 Virgin Flying Club miles amongst other things) it may be worth giving the card a try to see if it works for you.

Note that, if you later cancel your Platinum card and get a fee refund, you will retain the hotel status cards until they naturally expire at the end of the year.  The definition of ‘year’ varies by programme – all Hilton status cards run until March, for example.

Our comprehensive Amex Platinum review covers the full list of card benefits.  I just want to focus here on the hotel status cards offered:

  • Marriot Bonvoy (Sheraton, Renaissance, Moxy, Westin, W etc) hotels Gold Elite status
  • Hilton Honors (Hilton, Conrad, DoubleTree, Waldorf Astoria, Hampton) Gold status

We have looked at the benefits of Marriott Bonvoy Gold status already.  This is what the other Amex Platinum hotel cards get you:

Hilton Honors Gold offers you:

  • free breakfast (this is the best perk of any card on the list, although in the USA this is currently replaced with a fixed value food and beverage credit)
  • an upgrade to a ‘preferred’ room (may be a better view rather than a bigger room)
  • 80% bonus points
  • no resort fees on reward nights
  • late check-out if available

The inclusion of free breakfast as a Hilton Gold benefit makes it, for most people, the most attractive mid-tier hotel status. You can see the benefits list on the Hilton website here.

MeliaRewards Gold offers the following benefits:

  • 30% bonus points
  • free breakfast for a companion (so basically 2-4-1)
  • free wi-fi
  • 3 x 20% off vouchers for room bookings
  • 4pm late check-out at city hotels, 2pm at resorts

Late check-out IS guaranteed as long as the hotel is not 100% full.  You will also receive free wi-fi.  There is no upgrade benefit. You can see the benefits list on the Melia website here.

Radisson Rewards Premium status will get you:

  • 10% off food and drink
  • one category room upgrade “when available”
  • 27 points per $1 vs 8 points per $1 for a base level member
  • early check-in and late check-out “on request”
  • access to ‘Discount Booster’ – extra savings if you agree to receive fewer points for your stays

Nothing is guaranteed – there is no free breakfast.  However, in my experience, you can do well as a Radisson Rewards Premium member.  Whilst Premium is not technically their top tier, hotels take it more seriously than they take, say, Hilton Honors Gold. You can see the benefits list on the Radisson website here.

You can apply for the card here.

Got a small business?

If you have your own small business, you can get the same hotel benefits with the American Express Business Platinum card.

American Express Business Platinum

Bonus: 40,000 Membership Rewards points

Read our full review

Other information:

  • Get £200 per year to spend at Amex Travel
  • Two Priority Pass cards, each allowing two people into 1,400 airport lounges
  • Elite status in four major hotel loyalty programmes
  • Get £150 per year to spend at Dell
  • Get £300 per year to spend at job ads site Indeed
  • Comprehensive travel insurance
  • Annual fee: £650

This is a charge card, not a credit card. You must clear your balance in full each month.  Annual fee £650.

See if you qualify for the 40,000 points bonus +

You will receive 40,000 American Express Membership Rewards points as a sign-up bonus on the American Express Business Platinum card if you spend £6,000 within 90 days.

Membership Rewards points are hugely flexible.  You can transfer them into Avios, Virgin Flying Club or other airlines (at 1:1) or into various hotels schemes, into Club Eurostar or use them for shopping vouchers.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous 13 months, have held any other American Express card which earns Membership Rewards points.  This includes Business or personal Gold, Business or personal Platinum and the personal American Express Rewards credit card.

You are OK if you had a complimentary card on someone else’s American Express account.

You are OK if the only American Express card you have had in the previous 13 months was a British Airways, Marriott Bonvoy, Nectar, Platinum Cashback or Harrods American Express card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the American Express Business Platinum card even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from all of the other card features including the £200 of annual Amex Travel credit.

Learn more about the card benefits +

American Express Business Platinum comes with an unrivalled list of benefits for the keen traveller.

Your personal travel patterns will determine which of these is the most valuable.  The key benefits are:

£200 of Amex Travel credit per membership year

Full comprehensive travel insurance for you, your family and the family of up to five complimentary cardholders, subject to enrolment

Two Priority Pass cards, each of which allows the holder and a guest unlimited free access to 1,400 airport lounges

Elite status in four major hotel loyalty schemes: Marriott Bonvoy (Gold), Hilton Honors (Gold), Radisson Rewards (Premium), MeliaRewards (Gold)

You need a minimum personal income of £35,000 to apply for the card.

£150 of Dell statement credit per year – you receive £75 credit on Dell purchases betweeen January and June and £75 credit on purchases between July and December

Digital subscription to The Times and The Sunday Times, worth over £300

Conclusion

It is very easy to add a couple of hotel elite status cards to your wallet purely by applying for the right payment cards and, where necessary, putting a certain level of spend through them.

For bigger spenders, especially heavy travellers, American Express Platinum is well worth a look. The generous sign-up bonus on offer (40,000 Amex points is worth 40,000 Avios or other airline miles when transferred), airport lounge access via Priority Pass and the free hotel status cards mean that you don’t have much to lose by giving it a try.


Want to earn more points from credit cards? – January 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card

2% cashback on all your business spend for 3 months (1% thereafter) and no annual fee Read our full review

Comments (30)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • DMW says:

    Do the 15 nights from Amex Plat stack on top of the status you get from the Amex Marriott credit card? Ie is it worth holding both?

    • Rob says:

      No. You don’t get nights with Platinum, you just get given Gold. It doesn’t help getting towards a higher level. This Marriott Amex is totally different – because you get 15 nights it means Plat just requires 35 nights, and the 15 even count for lifetime status.

  • Simon Bradford says:

    Interested in this part: If you start your trip in mainland Europe, and if prices continue to drift back to pre-pandemic levels, you should be able to pick up a return flight to Asia for £1,750 or so in a Qatar Airways sale. You will earn 560 tier points for this (140 x 4 legs)

    So where would you start and why? And how would you get there?

    • Rob says:

      I understand flights to Europe are available from the UK.

      Best starting points come and go – Sofia was attractive recently.

      • Malcolm says:

        Think the point here Simon is that Qatar will offer cheaper flights from mainland Europe than U.K. – perhaps because of APD. So you get a sale flight from Paris (for example) for £1,750 to Bangkok. 4 segments – 1 x to Doha, 1 x to Bangkok. Then the same return.

        You’ve just got to get to Paris. Pretty easy (and cheap) from most major U.K. cities. Treat it as part of your holiday. Always a risk of cancellations / delays so perhaps arrive the day before.

      • LittleNick says:

        Yep I did this route recently booked back in Jan, and it was further discounted by coming back to a different location in Europe, ie Open-jaw. But note that the seat for Sofia leg in an A320 was not a full recline but my leg from Budapest still in an A320 had full recline, so even the seat amongst the A320’s vary. Whether that was just luck I don’t know or because DOH-SOF is shorter than BUD they allocate not as great a aircraft I guess?

    • AJA says:

      The issue I have with Rob’s suggestion is that you have to add on the cost of getting to and from the starting point elsewhere in Europe plus potentially include the cost of a hotel.

      You could use Avios to get there if there are reward seats on the dates you are looking at.

      Or you could just pay to fly on BA to the starting point and look at it as the UK to other European city flights counting towards the 4 eligible flights required.

      The trouble is I have yet to find a starting point elsewhere in Europe that works out substantially cheaper when compared to just flying directly from the UK.

      Plus there is the risk that those “cheap” Qatar flights are in their Business Lite category that does not include lounge access unless ironically you already have access via your FF status.

      An alternative is to fly Finnair via Helsinki starting from the UK. The LHR-HEL sector gives you 80TP each way (as does MAN – HEL) and then a long haul flight from HEL gives you 140TP each way. So you earn 440TP. Then two European trips in business class to a 40TP destination gives you the extra 160TP you require for Silver. Finnair is struggling financially though so not sure whether they still do the cheap Asia fares. I paid £1700 in Feb 2019 which was great.

      A quick search on Google flights shows availability next Jan from MAN to BKK via HEL for £2137 – the caveat being that it might also be one of their Business Lite fares that also does not include lounge access. You do though get the benefit of EC261 protection in both directions.

    • WaynedP says:

      I’ve flown East or South with Qatar twice in last two years, once return from DUB and once open jaw out from OSL return from MXP.

      Considerable cost savings vs flying via DOH from LHR.

      As Rob says, cheapest non-LON departure points come and go, but pre Covid Scandinavia often gave good value incl CPH.

      If you’re crediting your 560 Tier Points to BAEC it makes sense to get to your chosen non-LON departure point on BA to work towards racking up the required 4 flights on BA metal to achieve Silver status in BAEC.

      LCY-DUB and return worked well for me on one of my trips as opposed to LHR.

      One thing to be aware of is that flying this way prevents flying on one single PNR meaning that neither BA nor Qatar are liable to re-book you on a later flight for free if any of your connections with the other fails. So it’s wise to build in sufficient time between connecting flights in case something goes wrong with one flight.

      It works alright if you can afford to view non-LON locations as part of the holiday, perhaps overnighting there, but not if you’re in a particular hurry to get to your final destination.

      • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

        I feel similar to AJA on whether the cost and added connection risk is worthwhile for marginal savings. For significant savings, I’d do it. Like Wayne I’d choose DUB though as it gives so many options for getting back to the UK, including Sail Rail if need be. I’m in an unusual position in that I get free accommodation and free airport transfers (whatever the time) from family 20 mins from DUB. So I feel I get to rather cheat at the ex-EU game.

  • Doctorbee says:

    Melia Gold also grants you an upgrade voucher (or additional 20% off voucher) on your birthday and is valid for one year. The upgrade voucher works 50% of the time as it dependent on room availability in the next category.

    In my experience with Melia Gold, I have been upgraded 4 out of 5 times even if not a benefit and has stacked with the upgrade voucher on one occasion resulting in a triple upgrade to an executive suite!

  • Alan says:

    Perhaps worth adding a caveat re pro-rata Amex refunds disappearing soon?

    Re Radisson – agree they can be more generous, the LHR one (which TBH isn’t the best but a quick bus ride from T3 so was handy) gave me free breakfast recently as a Radisson Rewards Premium member.

  • JDB says:

    The thing with these supposed benefits (and the ‘member’ rate) given with hotel status cards is that they are very widely offered and bettered, particularly at the upper end, through various travel agent programmes or indeed to the general public by contacting a hotel’s own reservations team directly. The local reservations people have far more discretion with rates, to guarantee upgrades, offer benefits etc. but also to ascertain what constitutes a genuine upgrade rather than a totally nominal one.

    When, as highlighted in another article today, one sees Marriott Bonvoy has 180m members and IHG 100m it isn’t entirely surprising that they can’t really do much to look their members and they know they have you on their treadmill in the same way as BA is more likely to upgrade a lower tier/no status pax than a Gold.

    Breakfast is the most interesting ‘free’ element in that virtually every hotel used to offer it free to everyone, then they tried offering it for a bit extra, then a lot extra and suddenly they make it ‘free’ again as a lure for supposedly loyal guests.

  • Panda Mick says:

    What I’d give for a Hilton card….. Those extra 15 nights or so towards status…!

  • astra19 says:

    I’m having trouble getting Melia Gold added to my account from Amex. I’ve held the card for two months and I’m still stuck at Silver.

  • Ash says:

    Nothing from IHG for Amex platinum?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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