Marriott Bonvoy has the ability to transfer points over to a large number of airline programs, but should you do it?

Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to airline loyalty programs

Not many people talk about Marriott Bonvoy as a safe harbor for airline miles these days. Back in the day, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) had the transferrable points currency. Back then, you could transfer points to airline partners (as little as 1 point if you had the right elite status) to a whole host of partner programs. Most points transferred at a 1:1 rate, but SPG had the kicker of an extra 5,000 points if you transfer 20,000 at one time.

At that time, there weren’t many options for transferrable points currencies, so SPG led the way a bit, especially with the bonus. People would actively spend on the credit card to get a pseudo 1.25x rate at any partner airline, often better than what you could get from the airline’s own card. In fact, for some, the lure of SPG points wasn’t to stay in hotels but rather to use exclusively on flights.

When Marriott bought SPG, Marriott maintained the transfer partners SPG had and respected the transfer ratios. SPG points became Marriott points at a 1:3 ratio, and the rate to airline partners similarly changed to 3:1 rate. However, the difference now is that Marriott credit cards typically only earn 2 points per dollar spent as everyday spend, down from 1 SPG point per dollar spent.

Which airline loyalty programs can you transfer to?

Marriott Bonvoy boasts an impressive list of 38 airline transfer programs on its site. However, some of them belong to Avios, which is easily interchangeable between airlines that use that currency.

On top of the transfer rate listed, you can also get a bonus with certain airlines for transferring enough at one time. For each 60,000 Marriott points, you’ll earn the following bonuses transferred:

• United MileagePlus transfers will get a 10,000 bonus
• Air New Zealand AirPoint transfers will get a 75 bonus
• All other programs except to Delta, American, and Avianca will get a 5,000 bonus

The extra bonus for United is because United and Marriott are close partners (due in part because of their relationship with Chase).

Rules you need to know for transferring points

There are a few baseline rules you need to know before you transfer your Marriott points.

• The first and last name must match between your Marriott account and the airline loyalty program.
• A minimum of 3,000 points applies per transaction.
• The most that can be transferred in a single day is 240,000 Marriott points (excluding transfer bonuses). This implies the max airline miles you’ll receive for most programs can be 100,000 miles in a single transaction.
  • Exceptions for the max airline miles: United = 120,000, American/Avianca/Delta = 80,000, and Air New Zealand = 300
• Per the terms and conditions, miles will be posted to the airline loyalty program within 1 week.
• The bonus only applies if you transfer 60,000 Marriott points in a single transaction

Marriott was once known for lengthy transfer times to airline loyalty programs that would extend for weeks. However, when we’ve used it more recently, it did seem like the process completed more quickly.

Is it worth it to transfer Marriott points to airline programs?

Let’s quantify things a bit. We value Marriott points at 0.9 cents each. For simplicity, assume you can buy as many Marriott Bonvoy points as you want at the rate of 0.9 cents each. You’d then be ‘converting ‘buying’ airline miles at the following rates (for those that transfer 3:1):

• For quantities less than 60,000 Marriott points, this is akin to buying miles at a value of 2.7 cents each
  • This rate is true for American/Avianca/Delta regardless of transfer volume as these airlines do not have a transfer bonus
• When transferring 60,000 Marriott points,
  • This is akin to buying most airline miles at a value of 2.16 cents each
  • United Mileage Plus miles, due to its larger transfer bonus, is akin to buying at a value of 1.8 cents each

At face value, this isn’t the cheapest rate to purchase miles. You can flat out purchase miles at a cheaper price for Avianca Lifemiles and American AAdvantage during sales. And given how low-value Delta SkyMiles have become, we wouldn’t consider acquiring them at that poor rate.

Would you purchase United miles at 1.8 cents each? Possibly, if there were a near-term high-value use for the miles and you need to top off your account. However, whether you should do it through Marriott, Chase Ultimate Rewards, or Bilt Rewards is based on your own valuation of each program. If you only value Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.5 cents each, you’ll want to transfer through Chase instead.

What about the rest of the loyalty programs? It depends.

“Hidden” sweet spot: fly to Greenland inexpensively on United with Aegean miles

An overlooked redemption is right in front of our faces with the Aegean Miles+Bonus program. No major bank program transfers to Aegean, which is why it doesn’t get much attention. But, you can fly from Newark, New Jersey (EWR) to Nuuk, Greenland (GOH) at the rate of 15,000 Aegean miles one-way in economy, or 25,000 miles in business. For award chart purposes, Greenland is considered North America, so you’re paying the intra-North America rate.

If you’re converting in from Marriott, that’s the equivalent of 65,000 Marriott points for a roundtrip in economy, or an even 60,000 Marriott points one-way in business. Of course, finding business class award space bookable by partners is tough these days with United. So we would instead suggest focusing on economy award space. In economy, you’re looking at a cash price that typically exceeds $1,100 for the roundtrip flight. You’d be getting an equivalent 1.7 cents per Marriott point on this redemption in economy.

We normally don’t praise economy cabin award redemptions, but this one meets our criteria.

Points alchemy is possible

Marriott Bonvoy is a transfer partner of Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards. All three banks transfer points to Marriott at a 1:1 rate standardly. If you need JAL miles and only have Amex Membership Rewards points, the good news is that it’s possible to convert Membership Rewards points first to Marriott, then convert Marriott points to JAL miles.

Sadly, the standard rate for doing so is rather inefficient. In this example, it would take you 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards points to convert to 25,000 JAL miles.

There are times where there is a transfer bonus from any given bank program over to Marriott Bonvoy. If you transfer during one of these promotions, such as a 30% bonus seen with Amex, it could make the alchemy method less inefficient. At a 30% bonus, 47,000 Membership Rewards points becomes 61,100 Marriott points. We still aren’t too optimistic about losing value from our Membership Rewards points, but in a pinch, this can help fill in the gaps in your other loyalty accounts.

Believe it or not, Marriott Bonvoy has the broadest reach of airline partners of any other hotel or bank program out there. Some of these airlines are only obtainable via transfers from Marriott. We haven’t yet analyzed the nuances of each of these other programs.

This provides a sturdy floor for your Marriott points

We’ve seen devaluations in the Marriott Bonvoy program. Devaluations stink but one thing that remains constant (so far) is the ability to cash out your points towards flights. If you ever feel like Marriott points just aren’t worth the squeeze anymore, take the airline route and transfer them out. Surely, with as many partner airlines that Marriott has, you can find some use for the points.

Hopefully Marriott continues to make this a viable alternative to using points in their hotels. It would seem like so far it is surviving. We’d love to continue to have an escape hatch for their points when the next devaluation hits.

Have you transferred Marriott points to airlines?

Suggested reading:

• Marriott Bonvoy Expands Points Top Off to 25K, But…
• Everything You Need to Know About Marriott Lifetime Elite Status
• The Value of a Marriott Bonvoy Elite Night