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Reader Steve passes along a great deal for people with lots of Marriott points.
Until October 31, 2014, you can get a 20% bonus when you transfer Marriott points to American Airlines miles.
This includes Marriott-points-to-miles transfers and transfers of Marriott points to hotel and air packages.
- What are hotel and air packages?
- Why are hotel and air packages often a better deal than just transferring to miles?
- What airline transfer partner of Marriott points is always 10-20% better than other options?
Marriott points can be transferred to airline miles of most major airlines.
Marriott and United launched a partnership last year. In recognition of that, you get a 20% discount on the number of Marriott points needed to transfer to the same number of United miles.
A better deal than just transferring to airline miles is making a transfer to a hotel and air package. You get a certain number of miles plus a certain number of nights in different tiers of hotels.
The more points you can transfer the better because after the base package of 7 nights plus 50,000 miles, every points transfers to one additional miles. Airlines miles are way more valuable than Marriott points, so on the margin, this is a fantastic deal.
In recognition of the United partnership, you get 10% more United miles than other types of miles for the same number of Marriott points when getting a hotel and air package.
With the 20% bonus on American Airlines miles this month on Marriott transfers, you still get more United miles than American Airlines on direct points-to-miles transfers. But you get more American Airlines miles as part of the better-value hotel and air packages.
I don’t have any Marriott points at the moment, but I often run across people with hundreds of thousands. If they planned to do redeem the points for a hotel and air package, now is the perfect time to redeem and select American Airlines miles.
Just have a plan to use those American Airlines miles in the next 3-6 months before when I anticipate we’ll see a devaluation from a combined American Airlines/US Airways award chart.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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