American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card offers complimentary Marriott Platinum Elite status each year without spending or staying multiple nights. However, if you cannot justify the card’s high annual fee and benefits, you may consider closing or downgrading it. The question is whether you will lose your Marriott Platinum Elite status if you cancel or downgrade the Brilliant card.
I put this to the test, and here’s the data point that I am sharing with you.
Amex Term on Canceling Marriott Brilliant Card and Complimentary Platinum Status Benefit
First, let’s review the official American Express policy regarding the Marriott Platinum Elite status benefit on the Marriott Brilliant Card:
You will receive complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status with your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card. This complimentary Platinum Elite status benefit is only available to the Basic Card Member. If your Card is cancelled for any reason, your complimentary Platinum Elite status provided with the Card will be cancelled.
American Express
While the Amex term only calls for canceling the card, downgrading the card will mean the same thing. In other words, if you no longer have the Brilliant card, you will lose the complimentary Marriott Platinum Elite status. However, in practice and based on my experience, the Platinum status is not canceled immediately. More below.
Do You Lose Your Marriott Platinum Status After Canceling or Downgrading Amex Marriott Brilliant Card?
I have been enjoying the Marriott Platinum Elite status and have been taking full advantage of that benefit alone throughout the year of traveling. However, the card’s annual fee is too high for two people in my household to hold the same card for the same benefits when we are generally traveling together. Therefore, I decided to downgrade one American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card to a much lower $95 annual fee American Express Marriott Bonvoy Card. Fast forward a few months later, the Marriott Bovoy account is still Platinum Elite despite the fact that the account holder is no longer a Brilliant cardholder.
Therefore, if you cancel or downgrade your American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, you will continue to keep your Marriott Platinum Elite status until the next re-qualifying year, which is the end of February next calendar year. As a result, timing is very important in determining how long you get to keep the Marriott Platinum Elite status after you no longer have the Brilliant card.
For example, if you cancel the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card in July 2024, your Marriott Platinum Elite status will still be good until the end of February 2025. Therefore, you can enjoy the Marriott Platinum Elite benefits from July until the end of 2024, plus two additional months in 2025.
Conclusion
American Express has a written policy that if you are no longer a card member of the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, your complimentary Marriott Platinum Elite status is also canceled. However, in practice, depending on when you close or downgrade the Brilliant card, you can still keep the Marriott Platinum Elite status until the next status’s re-qualifying year.
