I recently wrote about the ongoing Amex to Marriott transfer bonus promotion which runs until 30 May. The promotion allows American Express cardholders to convert Membership Rewards Points into Marriott Bonvoy Points in the ratio of 1:1 (1 MR = 1 MB Point). If you haven’t had a chance to go through it yet, I recommend you do that now to get an understanding of the way the relationship works.

In that post, I mainly focused on redeeming Marriott points for high-value hotel stays. However, Marriott points are one of the most versatile hotel points currencies and you can also transfer them to 39 different frequent flyer programs.

In this post, I want to talk about how you can convert Marriott points into your favourite airline program and redeem them for long-haul flights in Business and First Class.

Why transfer Points to Marriott to Fly

In Australia, American Express partners with up to 10 airline programs. While the list includes names such as Asia Miles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Emirates, it still leaves out several valuable overseas programs which are not easily accessible for Australians.

It is this gap that Marriott fills-up through its unique partnership with dozens of airline programs across the world.

Which Airline Programs Partner with Marriott Bonvoy

At the time of writing this post, Marriott Bonvoy boasts a humongous 39 frequent flyer programs as transfer partners. Some of the big names in the list are British Airways Executive Club, Alaska Mileage Plan and American Airlines AAdvantage. You can read more on this and check out the full list of partners over here.

Transfers from Marriott to most of these programs are in the ratio of 3:1 (3 Marriott points = 1 Airline point or mile). For every 60,000 points you transfer, Marriott will throw in an additional 5,000 bonus points for majority of the partners. This means that :

• 60,000 Marriott points convert to 25,000 Airline points
• 120,000 Marriott points convert to 50,000 Airline points
• 180,000 Marriott points convert to 75,000 Airline points
• 240,000 Marriott points convert to 100,000 Airline points

You can transfer up to 240,000 Marriott Points per day and earn an extra 20,000 bonus points. For this reason, it is best to transfer points in 60,000 points multiple.

While the 5,000 points bonus is available for most partners, there are some exclusions. This offer does not apply to the following partners:

• American Airlines AAdvantage
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Delta SkyMiles
• Korean Air SKYPASS

I am not too fussed on Delta SkyMiles and Korean Air SKYPASS, but it’s a bit unfortunate that AAdvantage and LifeMiles are not eligible for the bonus points as these two programs offer phenomenal value on partner redemptions.

Extra Bonus Miles for transfers to United

While most airline partners are only eligible for 5,000 bonus points for every 60,000 Marriott points you transfer, Marriott Bonvoy and United Mileage Plus share a much deeper partnership.

This means that for every 60,000 points you transfer to United, you will receive 10,000 bonus United Miles which is 2x as much as the other partners.

Redeem United Miles to fly Polaris Business Class

Personally speaking I do not consider United Mileage Plus to be an exceedingly rewarding program, although it does offer some good value redemption opportunities. But even if you are not keen on the program, it’s good to be aware of the extra bonus miles you can generate through transfers from Marriott.

Transferring Amex Points to Airline Programs via Marriott

Step 1

Transfer Membership Rewards Points to Marriott Bonvoy. Let’s say you transfer exactly 60,000 Points, with the current 50% transfer bonus in play this will give you 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.

Step 2

Transfer 60,000 Marriott Points to your preferred airline partner. Including the 5,000 bonus points, this will net you a total of 25,000 Airline points with most partners.

Redeem Membership Rewards Points to fly Fiji Airways Business Class

If you have an Australia issued Amex card, you can transfer Membership Rewards Points to most airline partners at 2:1 (60,000 MR points = 30,000 Airline Points). So at face value, transferring to airline partners via Marriott does lead to a nominal loss of 5,000 points (for each 60k transfer).

For this reason, you should only ever take the Marriott Bonvoy detour if you want to transfer points to a partner NOT available through Membership Rewards Program.

The 5,000 points loss is largely inconsequential when you consider the range of programs you get access to when you go via Marriott Bonvoy, many of which offer much better redemption rates than Amex’s airline partners in Australia.

Note that transfers to airline partners start at a minimum 3,000 Marriott points and you can transfer up to 240,000 points per day. Transfers are not instant and can take anywhere from a few days to up-to 6 weeks.

Best Value Redemptions

With over 3 dozen airline partners, it is impractical to cover every single redemption sweet-spot. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate redemptions that make most sense for Australia based points and miles enthusiasts.

So in no particular order, here are 3 programs that provide excellent value for your points.

ANA Mileage Club

All Nippon Airways, commonly known as ANA is Japan’s biggest airline with a network spanning over 120 destinations. At present, ANA operate double-daily flights between Sydney & Tokyo (Haneda), with plans to add Perth to it’s network from Oct 29. The Perth flight is scheduled to run 3x weekly to the distant Narita airport.

ANA Mileage Club operates a seasonal zone-based award chart which may be a little difficult to get your head around at first. But don’t let that dissuade you as the program offers irresistible value. For instance, if you can find availability during low season, you could fly Business Class between Sydney and Tokyo RT for 65,000 ANA Miles.

Redeem Membership Rewards Points to fly ANA Business Class

With the current promotion, you can earn 65,000 ANA Miles by transferring just 165,000 Membership Rewards Points via Marriott. To give you an idea of how good a deal this is :

• Qantas charges 164,000 Points for the same trip. At 2:1, this will require you to transfer 328,000 Membership Rewards Points if you go through Qantas.
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer will set you back a 201,000 Miles. That’s a massive 402,000 Membership Rewards Points.

One downside of booking with ANA is that you will be coughing-up nearly AUD 945 in fees, taxes and carrier charges on this route. So that is definitely something to consider before you transfer miles.

Alaska Mileage Plan

I have been writing about Alaska Mileage Plan for more than 4 years, and even after all this time, the program continues to offer unbelievable value to members. The program might seem like an unusual choice as the airline does not operate flights to Australia or anywhere outside of United States. It’s practically a domestic U.S. carrier not too dissimilar to Virgin Australia.

Alaska is part of oneworld alliance and you can redeem Alaska Miles on any alliance partner as well as many other bilateral partners such as Singapore Airlines. Take for example, the incredible redemption possibilities it offers if you want to fly Japan Airlines (JAL) within Asia.

You can fly JAL Business Class anywhere within Asia for a tiny 25,000 Alaska miles. For instance, a few years ago I flew from Delhi to Tokyo, an 8+ hr flight redeeming Alaska Miles.

Redeem 25,000 Alaska Miles to fly JAL Business Class from Delhi to Tokyo

If I wanted, I could have continued onward to Jakarta at no extra mileage cost. This is because both of these sectors are intra-Asia, as you can see below.

All up, that is 16 hours of Business Class flying for a paltry 25,000 Alaska Miles which you can pocket by transferring just 60,000 Amex points with the current promotion. Let that sink-in.

Being a oneworld partner, you could also redeem Alaska Miles on Qantas. For instance, you can fly Qantas Business Class one-way between Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane and Perth for just 20,000 Miles. That is crazy good value when you consider Qantas charges 41,500 points to fly this route.

One other high value Alaska redemption is on flights between Australia & United States. Although availability can be a little difficult to come by (but not impossible) on this route, for just 55,000 Alaska Miles, you could fly Qantas or Fiji Airways in Business Class between Australian East Coast Cities and places such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Fly Fiji Airways Business Class between Australia & U.S. for 55,000 Alaska Miles

If you fly Fiji Airways, you could even have a free stopover in Fiji before continuing to United States, effectively giving you two holidays for the price of one. Who doesn’t love BOGO 😉

American Airlines AAdvantage Program

It’s disappointing that Marriott no longer offers the 5,000 Miles bonus on transfers to American Airlines AAdvantage Program. Even so, the program offers tremendous value on numerous partner redemptions.

Being a member of oneworld alliance, it is particularly valuable if you want to fly Qantas, but also other partners such as Qatar Airways.

Take for instance, the redemption rates on flights between Australia – South East Asia and up to North Asia.

• You can fly Qantas Business Class from any city in Australia to places like Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo or Hong Kong for just 40,000 American Miles. You can also fly Japan Airlines (JAL) Business Class from Sydney and Melbourne to Tokyo for the same price.
• You can fly British Airways First Class between Sydney and Singapore for just 50,000 Miles. As a comparison, you will be forking out 102,600 Qantas points to fly Qantas on this route.

Outside of Australia, AAdvantage offers some of the best connectivity and pricing to fly within Asia. For instance :

• You can fly Qatar Airways Business Class from Bali or Jakarta to Cairo in the Middle East for just 40,000 Miles.

Qatar Airways A-380 Lounge

Enroute in Doha, you will have access to Qatar’s fabulous Al Mourjan Business Class lounge. If you hold Platinum status in Qatar Airways Privilege Club program, which many Australians do due to the status-match promotion Qatar offered few years ago, you could find yourself in the wondrous Al Safwa First Lounge.

Closer to home :

• You can fly Qatar Airways Qsuites between Adelaide and Auckland for 25,000 Miles.

Qatar Airways offers one of the best Business Class experience in the world and this fifth-freedom flight is a fantastic opportunity to experience it without having to fly half-way across the world.

In Conclusion

These are just a few examples of what is possible if you want to cash-in on the 50% transfer bonus Amex is offering to Marriott Bonvoy. With 39 airline partners, the opportunities are truly endless.

Most Australian points and miles collectors are too heavily invested in Qantas and Velocity Frequent Flyer Programs. While that in itself is not a bad thing to do, you miss out on so many great opportunities if you restrict yourself to those 2 programs.

Expand your horizon and cast the net a little further and wider, you will be blown-away with what you may find.

Do you plan to take advantage of the transfer bonus? Leave a comment below.