Get a 25% Bonus When You Convert Marriott Points to United Miles
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Update: The text below has been updated to reflect a cap of 25,000 bonus miles in Marriott's terms and conditions.
Through March 31, 2016, you can earn a 25% bonus when you transfer Marriott Rewards points to United MileagePlus — this is on top of the regular 20% bonus you'll receive when converting Marriott points into United miles, as part of the duo's RewardsPlus partnership. This bonus is especially valuable when paired with Marriott's Hotel + Air packages, including the recently discovered 5-night option, though when "purchasing" a package you'll receive a 10% base bonus, rather than the usual 20%.
To maximize this promo, you'll want to redeem 235,000 Marriott Rewards points for a 5-night stay at a Category 1-5 property plus 132,000 United miles. With an additional 25% bonus (capped at 25k miles), you'll walk away with 155,000 United miles plus five nights in a Marriott hotel or resort — that's enough for two one-way United BusinessFirst awards to Europe, and nearly enough for three!
That means for 235,000 Marriott points, you'll have enough to fly you and a companion to Europe in business class and book a five-night stay at many Marriott properties, including a few options in cities like Paris, Rome or Tbilisi. While that may sound like a lot of Marriott points, you can earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first three months with the Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card.
Assuming you're able to find PointSavers availability for a Category 5 hotel, you'd normally need to redeem 80,000 points for a five-night award stay (100,000 points with regular availability). That means with this redemption, you'd be adding 155,000 points to get 155,000 United miles, which is a no-brainer considering TPG's valuation of Marriott points (0.7 cents each) and United miles (1.5 cents each). If you're short on Marriott points, it may even make sense to transfer Ultimate Rewards points, earned with a card like Chase Sapphire Preferred, which currently comes along with its own bonus of 50,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months.
H/T: One Mile at a Time
Will you be transferring Marriott points to United?
TPG featured card
at Capital One's secure site
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| 5X miles | Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel |
| 2X miles | Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day |
Pros
- Stellar welcome offer of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Plus, a $250 Capital One Travel credit to use in your first cardholder year upon account opening.
- You'll earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, which means you won't have to worry about memorizing bonus categories
- Rewards are versatile and can be redeemed for a statement credit or transferred to Capital One’s transfer partners
Cons
- Highest bonus-earning categories only on travel booked via Capital One Travel
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app