The Amex Membership Rewards program frequently offers transfer bonuses. The program has just launched its latest transfer bonus — while I wouldn’t say it’s particularly compelling, it’s at least worth being aware of.
In this post:
Marriott Bonvoy transfer bonus from Amex
Through Tuesday, December 31, 2024, the Amex Membership Rewards program in the United States is offering a 35% bonus on points transfers to Marriott Bonvoy.
The transfer ratio is usually 1:1, so through this promotion you can transfer points at a 1,000:1,350 ratio. This bonus is hardcoded into the transfer ratio, so you can take advantage of the bonus as often as you’d like. Transfers from Amex to Marriott are generally instant.
For what it’s worth, we last saw a transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy around the same time last year, and it was for 20%, rather than 35%, so at least this offer is better.
Should you transfer Amex points to Marriott with a 35% bonus?
While a 35% bonus might sound exciting, not all points currencies are created equal. Personally I value Marriott Bonvoy points at ~0.7 cents each, give or take. There are certainly ways to get outsized value from the points, but that’s my valuation.
By my valuation, you’re still getting under one cent of value per Membership Rewards point, even with this transfer bonus. That’s quite a ways from my valuation of Membership Rewards points, which is 1.7 cents per point.
Other people will likely have wildly different valuations of Marriott points than I do, and if that’s the case, this bonus could be worth it. That’s especially true when you consider there’s no great way to earn Marriott points through everyday credit card spending anymore. I tend to value points conservatively, and of course there are always ways to get outsized value with the right redemption in mind.
Other ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points
The good news is that there are other ways to earn Bonvoy points, besides using transferable points currencies. The following credit cards can all help you earn Bonvoy points:
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (review)
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card (review)
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (review)
Marriott often also sells Bonvoy points at a discount, which could be a good opportunity as well.
Bottom line
In general, I think transfer bonuses are the way to maximize the value you can get from transferable points. However, that’s usually only true for currencies where even transferring points at a 1:1 ratio could make sense.
In the case of Amex Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy, I find that you lose more than half of the value of your points by making a transfer under normal circumstances. Even with a 35% bonus, I wouldn’t consider this to be much of a deal at all.
Of course, some people may have specific situations where this could make sense, and in that case, it could be worth at least topping off an account.
Does anyone plan on taking advantage of this Amex transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy?
This is not as good as the recent Hilton bonus offer. OMT's $.017/point valuation for AMEX points is essentially only if you want to fly international business class with a non-US airline. I have plenty of miles from the big 3 to fly with, probably for the rest of my life. I would love to see an in depth discussion of how to use AMEX points for maximum value other than for international business class flights.
Marriott is selling points for $0.62 to 0.7 c/p (need to buy 300k points or more to get the lower price) via PingAn bank in China, which is historically low price. Feels like another round of devaluation is approaching.