You Can Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points with a 60% Bonus through June 30, 2020–is it worth it? Generally we haven't been too impressed with the Marriott Bonvoy program or Marriott hotels in general, for awhile, but recall that Marriott points are one third the value of the old Starwood Starpoints, and can still transfer to a number of different airline frequent flyer programs.
While few people want to get on a flight right now, given the coronavirus pandemic, once it makes more sense to travel again, it's certainly better to be able to fly business class or first class with frequent flyer miles and points, to have more personal space and fewer people in the cabin, assuming you're not able to fly private. And that's where Marriott points can come in handy, since they have more airline transfer partners than AMEX Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards do.
Here's the offer:
- Buy at least 2000 Marriott points to earn 60% bonus points
- A Marriott Bonvoy member may buy a maximum of 100,000 points during the promotional period, although only 50,000 points (plus 30,000 bonus points) may be bought in a single transaction
- Must be an existing Marriott Bonvoy member (at least 30 days prior to purchasing points, if there has been qualifying activity) to purchase
- No refund on points purchases
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What is a Marriott Bonvoy Point Worth?
With the 60% bonus, you're buying points for 0.78 cents per point. If you still think in terms of SPG Starpoints, as we do, that's equivalent to buying Starpoints at 2.34 cents per point. Plus, recall that when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to frequent flyer miles (the ratio is typically 3:1; this is because Starpoints, which transferred 1:1 to most airline programs, were tripled when converted to Marriott points). So taking into account the 5000 bonus points for 60K points transfers, and the 60% bonus, it's akin to buying miles at 1.9 cents each, which is a good deal for many airline currencies, although probably not a rate that most people will want to load up speculatively at.
Still, if you have some otherwise “orphaned” miles in a program that you'd like to use, transferring some Marriott points can be a good solution. Just double check that these orphaned miles won't expire before you get a chance to use them, since frequent flyer programs have different rules for miles expiration.
As an example, JAL Mileage Bank can be a good way to redeem for roundtrip Emirates awards, and is also a great way to get early access to JAL First Class and JAL Business Class awards, since Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Awards are Bookable 360 Days in Advance, a month before they're available to American AAdvantage and Alaska Mileage Plan members.
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Marriott Bonvoy Transfer Partners
All ratios below are 3 Marriott Bonvoy points = 1 airline frequent flyer mile. We've left out Air New Zealand Airpoints, which has a silly 200:1 ratio. We've also highlighted what we consider the best airline frequent flyer programs in bold font.
Note that transfers are generally NOT instant and can take a few days.
Aegean Miles+Bonus
Aeroflot Bonus
Aeromexico ClubPremier
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air China PhoenixMiles
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Alitalia MilleMiglia
American Airlines AAdvantage
ANA Mileage Club
Asiana Airlines Asiana Club
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways Executive Club
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles
China Southern Airlines Sky Pearl Club
Copa Airlines ConnectMiles
Delta SkyMiles
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
FRONTIER Miles
Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
Iberia Plus
Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank
JetBlue TrueBlue
Korean Air SKYPASS
LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
SAA Voyager
Saudia Alfursan
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Rapid Rewards
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer
Do you plan to buy Marriott Bonvoy Points in order to transfer out to airline partners?
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