Which Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are best? Podcast listener “FlyerDad” asked us this question recently, writing:
Marriott points are truly the most valuable airline currency given the number of programs they transfer to. But I have never heard you guys discuss who their most valuable transfer partners are, as you do for all the other transferable currencies. Would you consider a podcast on the “forgotten” but most valuable transferable reward points in the game?
Watch here:
Or listen here (or click “Follow” on the player below to select your preferred podcast app instead):
Which Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are best?
We’ve been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Now, we’ve turned the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in every Sunday at 5pm for our Question of the Week podcast. And if you have your own question you’d like to submit, you can send it to mailbag@frequentmiler.com.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Regarding comments: Comments posted at the bottom of Frequent Miler pages and posts are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Semi unrelated, but I just noticed that bilt is running a promotion- transfer 20k points to bonvoy get an extra 5 K. You can see it if you go to transfer partners on the the app. Still a bad deal- but interesting.
If you’re transferring Marriott points to airlines or other partners, at what are just incredibly sad 3:1 rates, oof, that’s an act of desperation, even for those who regularly have gotten Bonvoy’d. Like, you are a true glutton for punishment, if that’s your strategy, sir or madam. I say, good day!
Say what you will about the “terrible” transfer rates from Marriott, but airline transfers are my favorite use of Bonvoy points.
Most of the time the room category I want to book isn’t available to book on points, so being able to turn something I can’t easily use (Bonvoy points) into a currency where I can book exactly what I want (airline miles) is a huge benefit.
People are excited to book hotels through Chase for 8x points or CapitalOne for 10x points, but it comes with more compromises on not getting EQNs, possibly not getting benefits, and possibly having pricing limitations. When coupled with an Autograph Journey and Bonvoy Platinum status I’m booking direct, I can book promo rates, and I’m netting a combined 11.25x (5x from WF Journey, 6.25x from Bonvoy at 2.4:1) FlyingBlue miles as long as I transfer in batches of 60k.
Yeah the points could have more “value” at Marriott, but I can’t get a deal on something I don’t want.
If you have no current path for earning Alaska Atmos but have great success using them would it be terrible to transfer Amex to Marriott to Alaska?
You would be losing almost 60% of Amex points value. You would have to transfer 60,000 Amex points to Marriott (if no bonus is offered by Amex) to get 25,000 Atmos points. If your redemption value is high enough it may be worth a look. Transferring Amex points to a One World partner might be a better option if Alaska has award availability.
Amex MR to Bonvoy is almost always a poor value.
If you assume the minimum value of MR is 1 cent each because you can reliably convert them to cash at that rate (even if you have to be creatively indecisive/have a change of plans). When you transfer from Marriott with the 5k bonus the effective transfer rate is 2.4:1. (60k -> 25k). That means you’re effectively buying Atmos points for 2.4c each.
Alaska puts their miles on sale several times a year, and at the time of this comment there is a sale from July 30th – August 20th to buy Atmos points for as low as 1.88c each.
If you go to Alaska’s website and buy the points directly, $595 would get you 32,300 Atmos points right now.
Even if you want to use the points at Marriott properties for stays, direct transfers rarely work out to be a good deal. Marriott puts their points on sale multiples times per year for 0.89c or less, so if you cashed out 60k MR that would actually buy you over 67,000 Bonvoy points. Buying the points would also earn more credit card rewards, so it wides the gap even further.