Marriott Lifetime Elite Status Easier to Earn

Marriott will be changing the requirements for earning a lifetime of elite perks.

On its Marriott Rewards Insiders blog, the company has released details of its new criteria for earning lifetime elite status in the Marriott Rewards program.

Lifetime status will continue to be awarded on the basis of a combination of points and nights earned by travelers during their memberships.

What will not change is the number of points required to earn lifetime status. That remains as follows:

• Silver Elite: 1.2 million points
• Gold Elite: 1.6 million points
• Platinum Elite: 2 million points

The new number-of-nights hurdles, however, will be considerably lowered, as follows:

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• Silver Elite: reduced from 600 to 250 nights
• Gold Elite: reduced from 800 to 500 nights
• Platinum Elite: reduced from 1,000 to 750 nights

Lastly, the current requirement that Rewards members participate in the program for at least 12 years before being eligible for lifetime status will be dropped altogether.

The new rules will take effect on January 1, 2013.

Full details, according to Marriott’s blogger, will be posted online at MarriottRewards.com/Lifetime, but that page hasn’t yet been activated.

With the overall trend toward programs tightening up, most travelers are just grateful to have the status quo maintained. The rare change for the better, like Marriott’s, is cause for celebration.

This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.