Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
| Sorry, this deal is no longer available. Do you want to be alerted about new deals as they’re published? Click here to subscribe to Frequent Miler's Instant Posts by email. |
Starting tomorrow, Aeroplan will be offering a 35% transfer bonus on miles transferred from Marriott Rewards. That can be a solid deal if you have a good redemption in mind. While I wouldn’t recommend transferring speculatively, we can at least rest easy with transfers to Aeroplan as it now looks like they will continue to be the loyalty program of Air Canada beyond their contract expiration in 2020 since Air Canada has tentatively agreed to buy the program.
The Deal
- Aeroplan will offer a 35% transfer bonus on miles converted from Marriott Rewards between Thursday, September 13th and Tuesday, September 17th, 2018.
- A landing page will not go live until Thursday
Key Terms
- Marriott points normally transfer to miles at a rate of 3:1 (3,000 Marriott points = 1,000 miles), with the transfer bonus you’ll get 3K Marriott = 1,350 miles
- When you transfer 60,000 Marriott points, you get 5,000 extra miles before the bonus. In other words, 60,000 Marriott points = 25,000 miles ordinarily. Add the 35% transfer bonus and 60K Marriott points = 33,750 Aeroplan miles.
- Aeroplan now typically excludes Marriott Travel Packages from earning a transfer bonus
Quick Thoughts
This can be a solid value for Marriott points if you have a good redemption in mind. Aeroplan has a competitive Star Alliance award chart and many routes can be booked without incurring huge fuel surcharges. If you’re willing to put up with fuel surchages, Aeroplan can also be a good way to book Lufthansa First Class. Furthermore, those with infants may find Aeroplan to be a good value since they offer fixed redemption rates for lap infants, topping out at 12,500 miles or $125 for first class redemptions.
That said, keep in mind that Avianca is currently offering both a great sale on miles and a sale on Star Alliance awards on select routes to/from/within Asia (See: LifeMiles award sale: 72K first class Asia->US (combine with sale on miles for cheap biz/first) for more on both). While I’d often say that an Aeroplan transfer with a bonus like this would be an excellent use of Marriott points, it’s worth comparing the cost of buying the miles for a flight with Avianca’s sale if you’re looking to use them for a trip to or from Asia. Furthermore, if you’re interested in booking Marriott’s off-the-charts properties at a reduced rate this year, you may be less interested in transferring to Aeroplan at the moment.
As always, we have added this to our list of Current point transfer bonuses.
H/T: One Mile at a Time
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
