Using Marriott Points for Airline Tickets (2018)

Credit Card Reference, Introduction to 'Transferable' Reward Points

While it is a hotel program, Marriott / SPG has very attractive transfer rates to dozens of different frequent flyer programs, and therefore can be used like the big three transferable credit card point programs (Chase’s Ultimate Rewards, Amex’s Membership Rewards, and Citi’s ThankYou Rewards).

Marriott / SPG partners with (by far) the most airline partners and provides a 25% bonus when you transfer blocks of points. You can often get more value by transferring your Marriott points to use for frequent flyer tickets, than you would be using them for free hotel rooms.

However, it is significantly harder to earn Marriott points, than it is to earn Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, and ThankYou Rewards points.

The other potential drawback of the program is that transfers to frequent flyer programs can take a couple of days, and sometimes much longer. This delay can cause you to miss the opportunity to book available award space, and in the worst cases, strand your points in an airline program you no longer want to take advantage of.

Jump to

Airline transfer partners
Transfers basics
Marriott / SPG credit cards
Point transfers and expiration

Most airline transfers take a few days. However, some transfers can take much longer. This makes it difficult to take advantage of limited award availability, when compared to programs like Ultimate Rewards, where transfer happen instantly. By the time the points make it to the partner, the award space may no longer be available. Your miles can become stranded with the partner program, because you can’t transfer the points back to Marriott. You can try to put a "hold" on your tickets, but this isn't always possible.

Airlines occasionally offers promotions where you can temporarily get extra miles from your Marriott points (beyond the normal 25,000 miles for 60,000 points bonus). Take Advantage of Transfer Bonuses to Get More Value from Your Reward Points.

Star Alliance
{United}

SkyTeam
{Delta)

Oneworld
(American)

Other

Air Canada

Singapore Airlines (Kris Flyer)

ANA (Japan)

Asiana

Avianca (Columbia)

Lufthansa (Miles and More)

Air China

Thai Airways

Aegean

Air New Zealand (65:1)

United (2:1)

Delta

Air France / KLM (Flying Blue)

Korean Air

Alitalia

China Eastern

Saudia

Aeromexico

American

British Airways

Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles)

Japan Airlines (JAL)

Iberia

LATAM (South American)

Virgin Atlantic

Qatar Airways

Alaska

Hawaiian

Emirates

Etihad

Virgin Australia

GOL (2:1)

Hainan Airlines (China)

Jet Airways (India)

Transfers basics

You'll get 1 mile for every 3 points, with a 25% transfer bonus for blocks of 60,000 points. This is the same conversion rate as the old SPG program (as each SPG point transferred into 3 Marriott points), and is a better conversion rate than the old Marriott program.
With Marriott's Hotel + Air packages you can get a discounted 7-night hotel certificate, along with your miles. You have up to a year to use your certificate—you don't have to make the hotel reservation when you transfer your points. Under the old Marriott program these packages were incredibly lucrative. Now, they are only interesting if you can get good value from the certificate. Getting Cheap Airline Miles, Along with Your Room, Using a Marriott Hotel + Air Package.
You probably don't want to put your spending on a Marriott or SPG credit card to earn transferable points. Base earning rates are 2x Marriott points per dollar. Even if you can take full advantage of 25% transfer bonus, you'll need to spend $30,000 to earn 25,000 miles (.833 miles per dollar). With the Ultimate Rewards combo or the Amex Everyday Preferred card, you can earn 1.5 Ultimate Rewards or Membership Reward points per dollar. You'd only need spend $16,667 to earn 25,000 miles. And you'll have many more opportunities to earn even higher reward rates on bonus category spending.
On the other hand, you can transfer your Marriott points to many more frequent flyer programs. If you need to accumulate miles in a program that isn't associated with the various credit card programs, Marriott may be your only option. However, even then, you might be better off earning cash back with another card and simply purchasing the airline miles or Marriott points you need. For example, if you can earn 2.5% cash back or value the points you earn from other credit card at 2.5 cents per dollar, buying airline miles at up to 3 cent per dollar is a better deal than earning 2 Marriott points per dollar.

Starwood credit cards

You can freely transfer points between Starwood and Marriott. Any Marriott points in the table below are converted into their SPG values.

As of now, the SPG cards earn 1x SPG point (3x Marriott points), the new Marriott card earns 2x Marriott points, and the Marriott Business card earns 1x Marriott points, on non-bonus-category spending. Starting in August, the SPG cards will switch to the equivalent of 2x Marriott points (and we expect the Marriott Business card to do the same).

Card	Typical Signup Bonus	Bonus Categories	Effective Annual Fee
Old SPG Card	25-30,000	-	$95
Marriott Business	25-30,000	-	$95
Marriott Boundless	33,333		$95
Marriott Premier Business	26,667	2/3x travel and restaurants 2/3x office supply and telecom	$99

The SPG cards are issued by Amex, and you can only earn the signup bonus once per lifetime. The Marriott cards are from Chase, and you can only earn the signup bonuses once every two years. However, the personal version of the Marriott card is affected by the Chase 5/24 rule. There is a good chance that you won’t have “room” for it, as you prioritize getting other cards.

None of these cards earn particular good rates for your credit card spending.

Point transfers and expiration

You can freely transfer SPG points to other people living at the same address. You won’t lose your Starwood or Marriott points when you cancel your credit card. However, like most other hotel and airline points, you can lose them after a period of inactivity.