United Mileage Plus Silver Status For Some Marriott Bonvoy Members Downgraded, Relinking Required

United Airlines Mileage Plus and Marriott Bonvoy have a longstanding partnership that allows  Bonvoy Titanium and Ambassador members to receive United MP Silver, but sometimes, this status lapses and requires members’ attention.

I noticed that my United membership just dropped from Silver to Base member again and that a renewed linking of the accounts was required to update the status again.

You can access the Marriott-United partnership site here and link your accounts.

This has been an ongoing issue for some (not all) members, even if the Marriott status doesn’t change. Some of our readers were hit with surprising consequences at the airport because they didn’t pay attention.

The partnership is ongoing but even though it does, sometimes the status just expires and requires a refresh which is totally the responsibility of the member.

Therefore, it’s recommended that you check your account when the new membership year starts if something happened to it.

Mine was downgraded to United Basic:

You should access the landing page and refresh your linked accounts:

Take Your Benefits Higher

Marriott Bonvoy^® Ambassador Elite and Titanium Elite members are invited to receive enhanced benefits through our preferred partnership with United MileagePlus^®. Sign in below and then link your accounts to get started.

United MileagePlus^® Premier^® Gold members and above are invited to enjoy complimentary
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status. Sign in to your United MileagePlus^® account to link your accounts.

Updating the link is easily done. Sometimes, it takes a while until the status is visible again.

If you rely on this for certain benefits associated with United Silver and don’t pay particular attention to a possible downgrade, then it can end up being an inconvenient or, in the worst case, expensive experience.

Here is a Readers story from last year which cost him dearly:

Reader Email: $500 Luggage & Seat Fee Due To United & Marriott Incompetence

In this case, the reader’s status dropped, and United ended up charging him $500 in baggage fees. Marriott compensated him 16,000 points after contacting customer care.

Whatever the case, you shouldn’t take it for granted that the status will always stick, so always have a look and, if necessary, contact United to correct it or try to re-link the accounts.

Conclusion

It’s the time of the year again when the status link between United Mileage Plus and Marriott Bonvoy expires, having an impact on the PartnerPlus status benefit between the two programs.

Members should have a look if their status is impacted as well. Mine was downgraded to BASIC as I don’t actively pursue United status and only move points there for certain flights that provide value (usually short haul flights in Economy).

Was your account impacted as well?

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