Marriott Bonvoy points are transferable to a huge selection of airline partners. In most cases the transfer ratio is 3 Marriott rewards points to 1 airline mile. However, with most programs, if you transfer 60,000 points, you’ll get 25,000 miles instead of 20,000. That makes the transfer ratio 3 to 1.25. Additionally, when you transfer 60,000 points to United Airlines miles, you get a 10K bonus. 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points convert into 30,000 United miles (a 2 to 1 transfer ratio).
–> Link to Marriott’s point transfer page.
Below you’ll find a complete list of Marriott transfer partners as well as quick tips for best uses.
Tips
Transfer in 60K increments, up to 240K per day: When transferring points to airline programs, you’ll usually get the most value by transferring multiples of 60,000 points. When you transfer 60,000 points, Marriott automatically kicks in an additional 5,000 miles with most airline programs. For example, 60,000 points transferred to Alaska Airlines becomes 20,000 + 5,000 = 25,000 Alaska miles. By transferring in this way, you get a 3 to 1.25 transfer ratio to airline programs. With United, the bonus is better: 60,000 points transfer to 30,000 United miles. You are limited to 240K points in transfers per day (which typically equals 100K miles), so if you want to transfer more you should spread out your transfers over multiple days.
Exceptions to the 60K rule: Marriott no longer offers bonus points for transferring 60,000 points to the following airlines: American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, Delta SkyMiles and Korean Air SKYPASS. For each of these, the transfer ratio is fixed simply at 3 to 1 (3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to 1,000 airline miles).
Don’t transfer yet: Don’t transfer points until high value awards are available and you are ready to book them. Transfers are one-way only. Marriott Bonvoy points are valuable for their flexibility and for hotel stays. Once you transfer, you are locked into a single program that may or may not have awards available.
Don’t forget that rewards points can be valuable when used directly: Marriott offers many ways to use rewards points: Free night awards, Cash & Points awards, 5th night free awards, experiences, etc.
Use rewards points to exactly top off an account: Most other transferable points programs require transfers in 1,000 point chunks. This can make it difficult to exactly top off an account when you need an odd number of miles. Marriott lets you transfer exact mile amounts over 1,000. For example, if you need 1,001 airline miles, you can get exactly that by transferring 3,003 points.
Watch for hotel to airline transfer bonuses: Airlines occasionally offer bonuses when you transfer points from hotel programs. Since Marriott is a hotel program it often qualifies. Be careful, though: some promotions specifically call out Marriott transfers as being ineligible.
Current Transfer Bonuses
If there are any current transfer bonuses from Marriott, details will appear here:
| Transfer Bonus Details | End Date |
Best Marriott Airline Transfer Partners
The following airline transfer partners represent the best potential value in my opinion:
| Rewards Program | Best Uses | Marriott Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Redeem for Star Alliance flights and/or flights with Air Canada partners (such as Etihad). No fuel surcharges; $39 CAD award booking fee; 5,000 points to add stopover on one-way award. See: Air Canada Aeroplan: Everything you need to know. | 60K to 25K (4 to 5 days) |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. | 60K to 25K (1 to 3 days) |
| Alaska MileagePlan | Alaska Airlines has several great partners and offers terrific award prices for some of them (especially for flights to Asia or the South Pacific). Unlike most other programs, Alaska allows stop-overs one one-way awards. This makes it possible to stretch award value much further. | 60K to 25K (~2 days) |
| American AAdvantage | Best for AA's web special awards or for partner awards such as Cathay Pacific business class, Qatar business class, Etihad first class, etc. AA no longer charges change or cancellation fees on awards. | 3K to 1K (~2 days) |
| ANA Mileage Club | Redeem for Star Alliance flights. Multiple stopovers allowed. ANA offers many great sweet-spot awards, including flying around the world in business class for as few as 115K miles! See also: ANA - a terrific Membership Rewards gem. | 60K to 25K (4 to 7 days) |
| Asiana | Redeem only 50K miles for one-way first class Star Alliance awards between US and Europe! Beware very high fuel surcharges when flying airlines such as Lufthansa. | 60K to 25K (~1 day) |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Avianca LifeMiles can be great for Star Alliance awards. They offer reasonable award prices and no fuel surcharges on awards. They also offer shorthaul awards within the US (for flying United, for example) for as few as 7,500 miles one-way. Best of all, their mixed-cabin pricing can lead to fantastic first-class award prices. See this post for details. | 3K to 1K (~1 day) |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | Cathay Pacific has a decent distance based award chart, but they no longer allow stopovers longer than 24 hours. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles can be a good option for booking American Airlines flights with a distance based award chart, especially if other OneWorld Alliance miles aren't available. For long distance flights, it is possible to reduce the cost of a premium cabin award by adding on a lower cabin segment. See this post for details. | 60K to 25K (~1 day) |
| JAL (Japan Airlines) Mileage Bank | JAL has a distance based partner award chart. Depending upon the length of the flights, this can lead to great award prices on partners such as Emirates and Korean Air. | 60K to 25K (~2 days) |
| Korean Airlines | Korean Air is known for having top notch business and first class on their international flights. Historically, first class awards were wide open for awards. Korean is also a fantastic program for booking certain partner awards. For example, it is possible to book Delta flights from the US mainland to Hawaii for only 25,000 points round trip in coach or 45,000 points in first class. | 3K to 1K (~1 day) |
| United MileagePlus | United offers free award changes and free cancelations. Like Avianca and Aeroplan, United never charges fuel surcharges for awards. Unfortunately, United charges many more miles for international first class awards. Good uses of miles include United's Excursionist Perk awards and (sometimes) dynamically priced United economy awards. | 60K to 30K (2 to 5 days) |
Useful Marriott Airline Transfer Partners
The following airline transfer partners can offer great value under certain circumstances:
| Rewards Program | Best Uses | Marriott Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|
| British Airways Avios | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. | 60K to 25K (~10 hours) |
| Delta SkyMiles | Delta no longer charges change or cancellation fees on awards originating in North America. Flash award sales and flights to/from locations other than the U.S. or Canada can offer great value. See: Best uses for Delta miles. | 3K to 1K (1 to 2 days) |
| Emirates Skywards | The best use of Emirates miles has been to fly Emirates itself. Unfortunately fuel surcharges can be steep. See: Emirates Sweet Spot Awards - First class from 30K miles round trip. | 60K to 25K (~3 days) |
| Etihad Guest | Etihad offers a distance based award chart for flying Etihad and another for its partners. Points may offer good value for expensive but short-distance flights. | 60K to 25K (3 to 5 days) |
| Iberia Avios | Iberia offers very low award prices on their own flights and a very reasonable 25 Euro cancellation fee. Partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well, but these are usually nonrefundable. Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Qatar. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. | 60K to 25K (~1 to 2 days) |
| JetBlue | JetBlue points offer the most value when cheap ticket prices are available and when award taxes are high relative to the overall cost of the ticket (more details can be found here). The JetBlue Plus Card and the JetBlue Business Card offer a 10% rebate on awards, so you can get more value by holding one of these cards. | 60K to 12.5K (Unknown) |
| LATAM Pass | LATAM Pass points can be useful for flying LATAM member airlines: prices aren't bad for short or nonstop routes. Unfortunately, partner awards are often priced unreasonably high. | 60K to 25K (~1 day) |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | Best use is probably for flights on El Al with no fuel surcharges. Also useful for short AA flights. Qantas offers distance based award charts similar to Cathay Pacific. Both are OneWorld Alliance members. I recommend comparing award prices across both programs before transferring to either. Qantas offers round the world business class awards for only 280,000 points (but with many restrictions) | 60K to 25K (~2 days) |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Use to book Singapore Airlines First Class awards (generally reserved for their own members), Alaska Airlines economy awards, or for Star Alliance awards (including United Airlines). | 60K to 25K (~1 day) |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | Award flights are fully refundable. Point values vary due to certain taxes not being charged on awards, but tend to average around 1.5 cents per point. | 60K to 25K (1 to 2 days) |
| Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles | Miles & Smiles offers a number of awesome sweet-spot awards including 7.5K one-way anywhere within the US, even to Hawaii. Many awards cannot be booked online but can be booked via phone or email. See: Turkish Miles & Smiles Complete Guide and Turkish business class sweet spots from the US. | 60K to 25K (~1 day) |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | Virgin Atlantic offers a few great sweet spot awards including US to Europe on Delta One business class for 50K points one-way. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). | 60K to 25K (1 to 2 days) |
Additional Marriott Airline Transfer Partners
| Rewards Program | Best Uses | Marriott Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|
| Aegean Miles + Bonus | 60K to 25K (~1 day) | |
| Aer Lingus Avios | Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Aer Lingus (Avios.com) rather than British Airways, Qatar, or Iberia. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. | 60K to 25K (Unknown) |
| Aeroflot Bonus | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| AeroMexico ClubPremier | AeroMexico is a SkyTeam partner. Club Premier points can be used to book flights on AeroMexico, SkyTeam alliance members (such as Delta or Korean Air), or on select partner airlines. Unfortunately many have reported that awards are extremely difficult to book through AeroMexico so we do not recommend transferring points to this program. If you want to fly AeroMexico, look to transfer points to another SkyTeam partner (such as Air France) and then book AeroMexico with that program. | 60K to 25K (2 to 4 days) |
| Air China Phoenix Miles | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| Air New Zealand Air Points | 60K to 307 (1 to 2 days) | |
| China Eastern Airlines | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| China Southern Airlines’ Sky Pearl Club | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | 60K to 25K (~3 days) | |
| Frontier Miles | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| Hainan Airlines | I’m not aware of any great uses for Hainan miles | 60K to 25K (12 hours to 1 day) |
| Hawaiian Miles | Hawaiian Airlines’ award prices tend to be quite high, but there are some not-terrible uses: fly to neighboring islands for 7.5K miles, fly first class round-trip from Hawaii to South Pacific islands for as few as 95K miles, fly first class round-trip from Hawaii to Australia for as few as 130K miles, or use miles to upgrade paid flights. | 60K to 25K (1 to 2 days) |
| Jet Airways Inter Miles | JetAirways JetPrivilege miles are useful only for a few very specific cases such as certain flights to Hawaii for as low as 15K (30K business) one-way, or to the Caribbean or Central America for as low as 10K (20K business) one-way. Details can be found here. | 60K to 25K (~7 days) |
| Multiplus | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| Saudia Airlines | 60K to 25K (~5 days) | |
| South African Airways Voyager | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| TAP Air Portugal | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus | I'm not aware of any good uses for these miles | 60K to 25K (~4 days) |
| Vueling Club | 60K to 25K (Unknown) | |
| Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer | 60K to 25K (Unknown) |
Indirect Transfer Partners
In some cases it is possible to transfer to an airline or hotel program in order to then transfer from that program to another program. In most cases this is a bad deal, but it’s cool to think about the possibilities.
| Rewards Program | Marriott Indirect Transfer |
|---|---|
| Hilton | 120K to 75K via Virgin Atlantic |
| IHG | 120K to 50K via Virgin Atlantic |
| Wyndham | 60K to 12.5K via Hawaiian (60K to 25K) then Caesar's Total Rewards (2 to 1) |
See Also
- Amex Transfer Partners
- Capital One Transfer Partners
- Chase Transfer Partners
- Citi Transfer Partners
- Marriott Transfer Partners (this page)
- Transfer Partner Master List
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considering a flight from ORD to SYD. within next 30 days.
is it possible to transfer ULTIMATE REWARDS or STARWOOD points to Air Canada to obtain Business Class flights? if yes, what’s the best way to do this?
I did check on UAL flights but it appears scarce.
Reply
Are you looking to fly Aeroplan or to use Aeroplan miles to book some other carrier? If the former, you should be able to book Aeroplan flights with United miles (which you can get from Ultimate Rewards through a 1 to 1 transfer). If you really want Aeroplan miles you can transfer from SPG: 20K points becomes 25K Aeroplan miles
@Greg Chart says Aeroplan only with Air Canada until 2020. Please note that this has changed with the PURCHASE of Aeroplan by Air Canada. Please correct that note.
Fixed
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How do I transfe 30,000 SPG points to my daughter? Alternatively can I transfer them to her airlines reward account?
If you both have the same home address listed on your accounts then you can move your points to her account: https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/redeem/allOptions.html#otherGiveStarpoints?terms=true
You’re not supposed to be able to transfer to her airline account, but it might work anyway. Better to do the first option if you can.
Excellent work !
Thanks and regards, from Portugal 🙂
Doesn’t Asiana offer the lowest number of points for Lufthansa first class? Europe to NA for 50k (40k SPG points with the bonus) one way.
Thanks for the reminder! I moved Asiana up to the Best section
No problem! What are typical fuel surcharges between Europe and NA?
It varies wildly from one airline to another and depends upon the route too
Excellent resource… thanks!
Don’t forget transfer bonuses that come around time to time from airline programs that can be stacked with this. Like the current 35% Aeroplan bonus. 90k SPG points becomes 162,000 Aeroplan miles plus the 7 night certificate with Marriott nights and flights.
Thanks for the heads up. These bonuses would be great to mention in this post somewhere. Maybe a “current bonus” section or a link to another page where transfer bonuses are updated.
Are you certain airline bonuses stack with Nights & Flights offers?
Yes.