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American Airlines has launched a promotion that gives travelers a 20% bonus on all points transfers from Marriott Rewards to the American Airlines AAdvantage program. In itself that’s not a bad promotion but what makes it even better it that it includes points transfers via Marriott’s “Flight & Hotel” packages.
20% Bonus When You Transfer Points From Marriott To AAdvantage
The headline T&Cs are as follows:
- Transfer points before 11:59 pm Central Time on 14 November 2016
- Members can convert multiple times during the Promotion Period.
- To earn the 20% conversion bonus, member must convert points from the Marriott Rewards® program.
- This offer is non-transferable and non-reversible.
- Bonus miles will be posted by American Airlines to the qualifying AAdvantage® member’s account within 7 business days after the initial conversion activity has been posted by Marriott Rewards®.
- Bonus miles earned in this promotion do not count toward elite status qualification.
Converting Marriott Rewards Points To AAdvantage
If you’re going to transfer less than 200,000 Marriott Rewards points to AAdvantage you’re limited to transferring them in a straight points to miles swap at the following conversion rates (click to enlarge):
But, if you have 200,000+ Marriott Rewards points, you can come out of this promotion a lot better off but using one of Marriott’s “Flights & Hotel” packages.
Here are the Flight & Hotel packages for American Airlines:
Don’t forget to add the 20% bonus to the number of airline miles shown in the screenshot above.
Based on my valuations of Marriott Rewards points and AAdvantage miles you get the best value when you convert 270,000 Marriott Rewards points to a Marriott Category 1-5 Certificate and 144,000 AAdvantage miles (including 20% bonus):
- Marriott Rewards Points valued at $0.006/point
- AAdvantage Miles valued at $0.0125/mile
Remember that on top of the miles you’re getting a 7-night stay at a Marriott Cat 1-5 property as well so, when you convert 270,000 Marriott Rewards points, you’re getting $1,800 worth of AAdvantage miles AND a 7 night hotel stay as well – that’s excellent value.
Based on my valuations you could even throw away the hotel stay and you’d still be ahead by $180 ($1,800 – $1,620).
As an added bonus you can improve the category of the hotel at which you stay by paying the points difference….so you’re not stuck with trying to find a Cat 1-5 hotel that you’re happy to stay at.
Why Travel Packages Are Better Than Straight Points Conversions
Per the points conversion chart (shown earlier) 280,000 Marriott Rewards points converts to 120,000 AAdvantage miles. But, using the travel package I discussed above, 270,000 Marriott Rewards points gets you 144,000 AAdvantage miles AND a hotel stay.
You’re using 10,000 fewer Marriott Rewards points to get more miles and a hotel stay as well.
Should You Convert Starpoints To Take Advantage Of This Promotion?
Primarily this will depend on what you were planning to use your Starpoints for but, assuming you were looking to transfer them to AAdvantage miles anyway this is what the math looks like:
Converting Starpoints to AAdvantage Miles directly
- If you convert Starpoints in multiples of 20,000 1 Starpoint will earn 1.25 AAdvantage miles. Otherwise the ratio is a simple 1:1.
- 80,000 Starpoints will convert to 100,000 AAdvantage Miles
- 90,000 Starpoints will convert to 110,000 AAdvantage Miles
Converting Starpoints to Marriott Rewards to AAdvantage Miles
- Starpoints convert to Marriott Rewards at a ratio of 1 Starpoint to 3 Marriott Rewards points
- 90,000 Starpoints will convert to 270,000 Marriott Rewards points
- 270,000 Marriott Rewards points will convert to 144,000 AAdvantage miles & 7 nights at a Cat 1-5 hotel
In effect 90,000 Starpoints earns 144,000 AAdvantage miles and 7 nights at a Cat 1 – 5 hotel.
If you were considering a Starpoint transfer to AAdvantage then now’s the time to do it…but do it via Marriott Rewards and by using one of the Flight & Hotel packages if you can.
Bottom Line
This is an excellent promotion from American Airlines and one that’s well worth considering if you have a stash of Marriott Rewards points.
I value my Starpoints quite highly (because of the flexibility they give) so I wouldn’t be in a hurry to convert them to AAdvantage miles unless I had a specific use for them in mind and unless I knew that award availability was there and ready for me to book.
