Chase Ultimate Rewards has just launched its latest transfer bonus. It’s not the most exciting offer on earth, though perhaps for some people there might be value with it?
In this post:
Chase offering 50% bonus on Marriott Bonvoy transfers
Through Monday, March 31, 2025, you can receive a 50% bonus when you transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy.
This promotion is being offered on Chase’s end (in the United States), and is hard coded into the transfer ratio, meaning you should see the bonus at the time that you make the transfer. You can take advantage of this offer an unlimited number of times. Transfers from Chase to Marriott Bonvoy are generally instant.
It seems that we see a bonus like this at least a few times per year, and we last saw such an offer in late 2024. We’ve seen six similar transfer bonuses in the past couple of years, ranging from a bonus of 40-70%. So the 50% bonus isn’t among the most exciting transfer bonuses that we’ve seen from the program.
Is this transfer bonus worth it?
Every single time there has been a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy, I’ve recommended against it. Why? I value Marriott Bonvoy® points at ~0.7 cents each, while I value Chase Ultimate Rewards points at ~1.7 cents each. So unless you’re getting well over two Marriott Bonvoy® points per Ultimate Rewards point, you’re probably not really maximizing your points.
With a 50% bonus, you’re getting ~1.05 cents of value per Ultimate Rewards point with this offer, at least by my valuation. That’s not how I’d recommend redeeming Ultimate Rewards points, given how much more value you can get with these points.
Just keep in mind that at a minimum, you can redeem Ultimate Rewards points for 1.25-1.5 cents each toward a travel purchase through the Chase Travel Portal. Personally I value World of Hyatt points at more than twice as much as Marriott Bonvoy® points, yet Chase Ultimate Rewards points ordinarily transfer to both currencies at a 1:1 ratio.
Now, in fairness, there are situations where you could get value with this transfer, in terms of the hotel stay being worth more than the value of the points transferred. However, there are probably more efficient ways to acquire those points:
- Marriott Bonvoy often sells points at a discount, and acquiring them that way could be a better value, in my opinion
- Marriott has co-branded credit cards that could be better options for earning Bonvoy points
Keep in mind that nowadays Marriott Bonvoy has dynamic award pricing, so there’s no maximum for the number of points hotels can charge for award stays. Nonetheless there are still good uses of Marriott Bonvoy® points.
Bottom line
Through March 31, 2025, you can receive a 50% bonus when you transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy.
I generally wouldn’t take advantage of this, at least without a specific redemption in mind. Marriott Bonvoy isn’t an efficient Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, and I’d argue that applies even with a 50% bonus. I’d give this offer a “pass,” but I’m sure some will find this to be worthwhile.
What’s your take on this Chase transfer bonus to Marriott?
Hyatt? Definitely!
Given the state of Marrott redemptions at aspirational properties, Chase would have to run a 500% bonus to get my attention.
All readers should take note of well-discussed Marriott program devaluations as well as recently leaked information suggesting yet another devaluation to come.
And yet for those of us where the Bonvoy points don’t keep rolling in from referrals, sponsorships etc, there are limited opportunities to replace dwindling Marriott accounts. Limits on multiple Marriott credit cards (once you have all of them) & small bank credit card spending bonuses make it otherwise hard to rack up huge balances required for many Marriott redemptions, aspirational or otherwise. No wonder Marriott is so proactive with status - you need a...
And yet for those of us where the Bonvoy points don’t keep rolling in from referrals, sponsorships etc, there are limited opportunities to replace dwindling Marriott accounts. Limits on multiple Marriott credit cards (once you have all of them) & small bank credit card spending bonuses make it otherwise hard to rack up huge balances required for many Marriott redemptions, aspirational or otherwise. No wonder Marriott is so proactive with status - you need a ton of points to go along with it!
Chase/Marriott:
… to me it seems, Marriott really prefers Chase over there partner AmEx in recent years?!
In late 2024 there was a (35%) bonus offer for AmEx transfer, but never 70% or 50%.
This really shows how tight Marriott is on such offers, as AmEx also is very limited to how often GOOD transfer offers to Bonvoy is out there, compared to Chase.
AmEx Membership Rewards/Marriott Bonvoy … is NOT...
Chase/Marriott:
… to me it seems, Marriott really prefers Chase over there partner AmEx in recent years?!
In late 2024 there was a (35%) bonus offer for AmEx transfer, but never 70% or 50%.
This really shows how tight Marriott is on such offers, as AmEx also is very limited to how often GOOD transfer offers to Bonvoy is out there, compared to Chase.
AmEx Membership Rewards/Marriott Bonvoy … is NOT really a MUST HAVE thing to be worried about it seems?
Much better transfer value on airline partners!
On one hand it's nice that Chase is offering this option for edge cases, top-offs, and the occasional redemption by people who aren't paying attention (intentionally or unintentionally) to point values. For peons, Hyatt is obviously the only worthy transfer partner. It's puzzling why the other hotel chains are even there. It's like a group of five women where one is a hourglass blonde with a dazzling smile, and the other four are overweight blobs with RBF.