Marriott reportedly sending downgrade emails to elites

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

If you have Marriott elite status and think you may not keep it next year, you may want to check your email. That's because Marriott is reportedly sending status holders emails stating that they may not qualify for elite status for next year, according to One Mile At a Time.

However, some elites are being given a "soft landing," including TPG himself Brian Kelly. That's when travelers have reached top- or mid-tier elite status but don’t requalify for the following year. Instead of dropping their elite status altogether, they are simply bumped down to a lower tier.

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If you currently hold (or plan to earn) elite status in Marriott’s program, you can expect a number of perks across the various brands that fall under the Marriott umbrella. But what happens if you fall short (or think you might) of reaching status? Now is the time to figure out whether you will get (or keep) status for next year.

If you're aiming to requalify for a higher tier status, then you may want to consider a mattress run. For the uninitiated, a mattress run is when you stay in a hotel solely to earn points or elite night/stay credits. These hotel stays are the hotel equivalent of mileage runs that travelers do to maintain airline elite status.

While Gold status requires 25 nights, there are also a number of credit cards that either include this status or allow you to earn it, so if you have one of these cards you'll at least keep complimentary status:

1. The Platinum Card® from American Express provides automatic Gold Elite status (enrollment required).
2. The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card provides automatic Gold Elite status.
3. The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card (no longer open to new applicants) provides automatic Gold Elite status.
4. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card comes with Silver Elite status and allows you to earn Gold Elite status when you spend $35,000 on purchases each account year.
5. The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card provides Silver Elite status and allows you to earn Gold Elite status when you spend $35,000 on purchases each account year.
6. The Marriott Premier Plus Business Credit Card (no longer accepting applications) allows you to earn Gold Elite status when you spend $35,000 on purchases each account year.

Related: Which Marriott Bonvoy credit card is right for you?

If you're aiming to get or requalify for a higher elite status such as Platinum Elite, that requires 50 nights. You also have a few ways to earn this status through credit cards by spending $75,000 in a year on the now-discontinued Ritz-Carlton Rewards Card or by spending $75,000 in a calendar year on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card. Titanium Elite status is typically earned after 75 nights while Ambassador Elite requires 100 elite-qualifying nights and $20,000 in qualifying spend.