30% transfer bonus from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy until April 30

American Express’ bonus for transferring Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy has returned!

MARCH 5 UPDATE: American Express has let RWRDS Canada know this is an official transfer bonus and it is available until April 30, 2024.

The 30% Transfer Bonus

Earlier today (March 4) I decided to try it out myself and made a small 1,000 point transfer from American Express Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy. The standard conversion ratio is 1 MR point to 1.20 Marriott Bonvoy points, which means I would receive 1,200 Bonvoy points for my 1,000 Membership Rewards points:

Not too long after I completed the transfer I logged in to my Marriott Bonvoy account and sure enough there were the 1,200 points plus 30% extra for a total of 1,560 points:

Which cards can I convert from?

All cards that earn Membership Rewards points are eligible for this offer and those cards are as follows:

The regular conversion ratio is 1 Membership Rewards Point = 1.2 Marriott Bonvoy points but with the bonus that is now 1.56 Marriott Bonvoy points.

This is a transfer bonus that many American Express cardmembers anxiously await so they can convert their points as it represents a decent value proposition. We usually value Marriott Rewards points around 1 cent each (in C$) so in effect you are receiving 1.56 cents per Membership Rewards point.

Value in the conversion to Marriott

You have to consider the points multipliers that you receive on the various Amex cards. For example, if all your Membership Rewards points were earned on the American Express Cobalt Card from the 5x eats and drinks category, you are in fact earning 7.8 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent or a 7.8% return with this bonus! That’s a very good return and something to consider given the fact that you can pull even more value out of Marriott Bonvoy than 1 cent per point. Sometimes we’re talking two to three times that and even more!

If you look at examples from our Everyday Value Series article Marriott Bonvoy provides great value for everyday hotel stays in Canada there are redemptions with a value of over 3 cents per point. If we go back to 5 points per dollar earning converted at 1 to 1.2 plus the 30% bonus you are looking at a return of over 23%. That’s value!

Considerations

Remember in the numbers above we are only taking into account 5 points per dollar spending. Once you bring in non Eats and Drinks spend and/or the lower earn rates the other American Express cards provide your overall value will drop but not to a point where these bonuses should be ignored. It really depends on how, when and where you as an individual want to be rewarded.

You also want to consider that Membership Rewards points can be transferred directly to airlines like Air Canada, Air France KLM and British Airways which can provide even more value per point if redeemed for business class or first class tickets. Actually, let me correct myself here, even on economy class tickets now as Air France KLM’s 20,000 mile redemption rates often provide at least 1.8 cents per Membership Rewards point if not more.

Another consideration is the ability to convert Marriott Bonvoy points to over 40 different airline loyalty programs – much more than the seven currently available through Membership Rewards. If you happen to need ANA Mileage Club miles, Emirates Skywards Miles, JAL Mileage Bank Miles, Turkish Miles&Smiles miles and so forth – Marriott Bonvoy is your primary route to getting more of those miles outside of actually flying with those airlines and this bonus helps out in receiving more miles in those programs.

Wrapping it up

Ultimately you have to look at the big picture of when, where, how and who you think you might travel with in the future. I’ve
said for the better part of nearly 23 years of doing this that for some Canadians, hotel programs can make way more sense for a family than a frequent flyer program. Think about it – how much money would you have to spend to get four business class tickets versus how much money you need to spend to get one luxurious hotel room? The latter in many cases will take a lot less and with a bonus like this available it makes the reaching that goal even easier. Then ask yourself this question that I have also posed for many years: do you want 7-10 hours of luxury or 7 days of luxury? I know which I’d pick. Granted some of us our lucky in that we can potentially do both for our families but for most Canadians it will be one or the other.

On the flip side, if you are single traveller or perhaps even two travellers it is a more of grey area as to where to park your points and which bonuses to take advantage of. Do you convert your Membership Rewards points to Marriott right now for this bonus or do you think you can get better value using your points for flights? These are all questions you need to ask yourself before you convert.

Offer terms & Conditions:

Membership Rewards point transfers must be made in increments of 100 points with a minimum transfer requirement of 1,000 points for each transfer. At the regular redemption rate, 5 Membership Rewards points = 6 Marriott Bonvoy points. From 12:00:01 am ET on March 1, 2024 until 11:59:59 pm ET on April 30, 2024, when you transfer Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy points, you will receive 30% bonus Marriott Bonvoy points on the total number of Membership Rewards points transferred. For example, if you transfer 1,000 Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy points, you will be credited a total of 1,560 Marriott Bonvoy points by Marriott. At the regular redemption rate, transfers are normally immediate, but please allow up to 48 hours for the transfer to be completed. Please allow up to eight (8) weeks after April 30, 2024, for the 30% bonus points to be credited to your account. You must be enrolled in Marriott Bonvoy in order to participate in this offer; visit marriott.com/loyalty.mi to enrol. Once you have transferred Membership Rewards points, they become subject to the terms and conditions of the Marriott Bonvoy program and cannot be transferred back to your Membership Rewards program account. See Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions for details: marriott.com/loyalty/terms/default.mi. This offer is non-transferable and may not be combined with other offers. Marriott Bonvoy bonus points do not count toward Elite tier qualification. American Express is not responsible for fulfillment of the Marriott Bonvoy bonus points offer