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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℠ 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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