You don’t even get free breakfast with gold elite status, not the best value. More on reddit.com

Your email address for your Marriott account has to match that for your Amex account. It may take a couple of days for you to see the change in status on Marriott. You can book on Marriott and pay with any card besides Amex. More on reddit.com

Correct, you cannot double dip on hotel points. Hotels have a clause in their terms that only direct bookings qualify for point earnings or elite status benefits. Bookings via third parties like AmexTravel (which is just Expedia on the back end) do not count toward anything. You can have the hotel add your Bonvoy number at check in and get points for room charges only, but the room rate and taxes are not going to earn points. It is also up to each individual hotel whether they want to honor any elite benefits or not. But this is not guaranteed, as per the clause above about third party bookings. Most of us around here always recommend booking direct and cutting out the middle man for these reasons. There are times to use portals (Amex FHR/THC), but otherwise for the most part they should be avoided if you want hotel earnings of elite benefits. Per the Bonvoy terms ( https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/terms/default.mi ): ii. A “Qualifying Stay” is a credit pursuant to these Program Rules that counts toward earning Elite Night Credit. Except as otherwise noted in Section 4.2, Members will only earn credit for each Qualifying Night (i) which is part of a Stay at a Qualifying Rate (as described in 2.1.e.), for the guest room the Member personally pays for and stays in, and not for any additional guest rooms, or (ii) for the guest room direct billed to the company who has arranged payment for the Member’s stay that is not associated with a convention or group meeting. Members do not receive Elite Night Credit on stays at Non-Qualifying Rates (see 2.1.f.). … 2.1.f. Non-Qualifying Rates. A “Non-Qualifying Rate” is a rate a Member pays for a Stay in a guest room at a Participating Property which does not qualify to earn Points or Miles, as well as membership tier benefits. Non-Qualifying Rates are those booked using the following methods: i. The guest room was booked through a tour operator, online travel channel or other third-party channel including, without limitation, expedia.com, hotwire.com, priceline.com, orbitz.com, booking.com, travelocity.com; or More on reddit.com

This perk is not even in the top 10 best reasons to get the plat. It’s fine but these statuses aren’t going to get you game changer upgrades or perks. The best use case is gold with Hilton for free breakfast/ dining credit. The mixed feedback is correct. sometimes yes sometimes no- it’s not guaranteed but not uncommon either. Book with whatever card you want. It does not. You start from 0. There are marriot cards that give you “elite nights” up to 25 a year. Can stack with business card for up to 40 (?). Hilton aspire automatically gives Hilton diamond (highest status) More on reddit.com