Easy Marriott Platinum for £112 via Taobao and Fliggy

Edit: my content seems to have been picked up by various US bloggers and it’s gone viral. Here are my two cents:

• Some are using buzzwords like $25 in their blog title which is a clickbait – if you understand the rules it clearly costs substantially more unless you are a heavy Taobao customer
• It is by all means a legitimate promotion, and if you think Marriott is undermining their program – ask them to cancel their US credit cards which has been selling Platinum status outright for a few hundred dollars for years

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Marriott Bonvoy has a great footprint worldwide and their elite status recognition is generally pretty good, making it one of the most popular hotel programs out there.

To start enjoying these meaningful benefits you usually need to be Platinum or above, which requires 50 hotel nights in a calendar year. It can be accelerated if you work for one of the eligible companies or hold a co-branded credit card.

There are actually other routes available, lesser-known but equally efficient, if not more. And like many other tips that I’ve covered in this blog, it is intended for the Chinese market but everyone should be able to participate with some caveats.

淘宝 Taobao

淘宝 Taobao is one of China’s oldest and largest e-commerce platforms (think Amazon and eBay), owned by Alibaba. They have this special paid membership program, 88 VIP, which costs 888 CNY (~£93) a year.

(Just search 88 VIP in the Taobao app.)

It might sound strange but Taobao has partnership with many hotel programs as well. As an 88 VIP member, one of the benefits is:

• Marriott Gold status, and
• Marriott Platinum challenge, requiring 8 paid nights in 120 days

It is probably one of the biggest selling point of 88 VIP. The status challenge is more generous compared to the other opportunities out there (i.e. 15 nights in 90 days), and it works for both new and existing Marriott members.

The problem is, I don’t think Taobao’s website or app has made much effort towards internationalisation. I couldn’t change the app’s language to start with, and I’m not sure if you can create an account without a Chinese mobile number.

飞猪 Fliggy

If you’ve read our All Plus China posts the name Fliggy should sound familiar. Also a subsidiary of Alibaba, Fliggy focuses more on the travel segment but their business area does overlap with Taobao.

They have a different membership structure, but it comes with comparable travel perks. If you are on the F4 tier or above, you can:

• Apply for Marriott Platinum trial of 120 days, and
• Complete 8 paid nights during this period to maintain the status

The advantage is that you’ll start enjoying Platinum benefits (free breakfast and lounge access etc) as soon as you start the challenge. The downside however, is that you must create a new Marriott Bonvoy account via Fliggy to take part, although you may be able to merge your accounts later via Marriott’s contact centre.

To become Fliggy F4 you usually have to collect enough status points through purchases first. There is however an ongoing fast track promotion:

• Must be Taobao 88 VIP to participate
• Option 1: spend 5000 CNY by October 8, or
• Option 2: pay 188 CNY by September 15
• Get Fliggy F4 right away

To view the offer page and sign up, copy 18￥ CZ028 cpjx4LqEvuO￥ https://m.tb.cn/h.hyAXCUZ and open the Fliggy app.

In theory you could do the following:

• Create a Taobao account and purchase 88 VIP for 888 CNY
• Create a Fliggy account and link your Taobao account
• Open the offer page and pay 188 CNY for F4 upgrade
• Create a Marriott account with Fliggy and activate the challenge
• Enjoy Marriott Platinum status and make sure you stay 8 paid nights within the next 120 days

Give it a swirl if you are interested. Remember that both Taobao and Fliggy are Alibaba companies, so I recommend creating an Alipay account first which you may be able to use as a single sign-on method.