How to transfer Marriott points to airlines: Your guide to becoming an instant expert

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One big superpower of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program is its ability to transfer points to a long list of airline partners. No other points program has even half as many airline transfer partners as Marriott.

You can earn Marriott points with Marriott Bonvoy credit cards such as:

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card

These points can be transferred to airlines for award flights on 40+ partners — or redeemed for Marriott stays. This makes Marriott cards some of the best hotel credit cards and a solid alternative to the best airline credit cards.

I’ll show you how to use Marriott transfer partners.

How to use Marriott transfer partners

You can transfer your Marriott points to 40+ airline partners, including perennial favorites like American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and ANA. Transferring to airlines can be one of the best ways to use Marriott points.

Here’s the full list of partners:

Transfer ratios are 3:1 (with three exceptions)

Transfer ratios are mostly 3:1. That may sound like a ripoff, but it’s not. Most hotel points that transfer to airlines offer dramatically worse transfer ratios.

For every 3,000 Marriott points you transfer, you’ll get 1,000 miles or points with nearly every airline. The exceptions are:

• Air New Zealand — 200:1
• JetBlue — 6:1
• United Airlines — 10% bonus on every transfer, for a 3:1.1 transfer rate

Other than these, the ratios are wonderfully simple for other partners.

Transfer rules to airlines

You must transfer at least 3,000 Marriott points at a time. That will get you 1,000 miles with nearly every airline program on the list. The most you can transfer per day is 240,000 Marriott points (which transfers to 100,000 miles or points with most airlines).

Transfer bonus

When you transfer 60,000 Marriott points, you’ll get a bonus 15,000 Marriott points added to your transfer. So you’ll get 20,000 miles for airlines with a 3:1 transfer ratio, plus an additional 5,000 bonus airline miles (from the 15,000-point bonus of Marriott points).

In other words, for every airline on the list except Air New Zealand and JetBlue, you’ll get 5,000 more miles on top of the 20,000 miles you’d ordinarily earn. For this reason, I recommend transferring your points in 60,000-point increments.

You can transfer a specific number of points

As long as you transfer at least 3,000 Marriott points, you can pick any specific number over that for your transfer amount. That means if you need exactly 1,112 miles for an award flight, for example, you could transfer 3,336 Marriott points. This is great — no orphaned miles hanging around.

How to transfer Marriott points to airline partners

Speaking of examples, let’s look at how to transfer your Marriott points to airlines.

Step 1. Log into your Marriott account

After you’ve logged into your Marriott account, hover over “About Marriott Bonvoy” at the top, then click “Redeem Points.”

Step 2. Find the correct section

Then you’ll see a section to “Redeem Points.” Hover over it and you’ll see “Travel,” click there.

Near the bottom, there’s a box that says, “Transfer Points to Miles.”

That’s the one you want, so click through.

Step 3. Click the button, baby

You’re almost there. Click “Transfer Points” to start the short process (or click here).

Step 4. Enter all the details

On this page you’ll add everything relevant to your transfer: What type of miles you want and how many.

You’ll see a drop-down menu with the list of airline partners. Select the one you want.

Then enter how many points you want to transfer. The number of miles you’ll receive updates automatically as you put in the number of points.

Notice how I’m able to receive exactly 1,112 Alaska Airlines miles in the image above.

Step 5. Make the transfer

One more button to click, “Convert.”

After that, you’re finished.

But keep in mind, there’s no going back after you click that button. Transfers are irreversible. So double-check every detail to make sure it goes through smoothly.

How long does it take Marriott points to transfer?

Marriott says:

“Please allow approximately 6 weeks for miles to be posted to your account or contact your local Member Supportto inquire about express service (may be subject to a fee).”

In our experience, transfers usually happen much faster than six weeks. I’ve heard most partner transfers are done in six days or less. But Marriott is covering their bases and adding a lot of extra time.

We called to ask about their “express service” fees and wow, they are all over the place. We asked how much it would cost to transfer 60,000 Marriott points to Alaska Airlines and got a quote for “one to two weeks” for $15. The agent asked if we wanted it sooner and what our Marriott status was (Gold elite) because those are factors too. I asked how much it would cost for the fastest transfer with the highest elite status, but did not get a clear answer. I would not rely on this “express service” in any way.

The agent did tell me, however, that you must transfer at least 10,000 Marriott points with express service and most fees are stable once you transfer at least 30,000 Marriott points. But the fee varies by airline, how soon you want to transfer and what elite status you hold.

If you’re interested, you can call Marriott at 801-468-4000 to ask about an express transfer. But be warned: It’s messy. We were on hold for 45 minutes to ask one simple question.

All this is to say, if you want to transfer your points to miles, allow plenty of time.

How to transfer Marriott points between accounts

Unfortunately, you can’t seamlessly transfer points back and forth between members via the Marriott website. You’ll have to contact Marriott member support at 801-468-4000, and request the transfer. The call only takes a minute or two — it’s not a time suck like many other requests that may have spurred you to contact Marriott. However, there are a few quirks to the points program that can undermine the call.

The member transferring the points has to call Marriott

If you’re the one receiving the points, you can’t call Marriott and initiate the transfer. The member giving the points must be on the call. In other words, if you’re asking a friend or family member for points, you can’t handle it yourself.

That said, last time I called to initiate a transfer Marriott asked for no credentials other than my membership number and the number of the recipient. They asked if I was the account holder, I said yes, and they straightaway initiated the transfer. A little unsettling.

Accounts must be open 60 days before transfer (allegedly)

This one is a little tricky. According to Marriott:

You can share your Points with any Marriott Bonvoy Member as long as both accounts are in good standing and each has been open for at least 60 days.

I have found this to be an empty rule. My wife successfully transferred points to me within three weeks of creating her account. However, because this 60-day rule is in the terms, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you call Marriott to transfer points and the agent won’t transfer for this reason, hang up and call again. It’s clearly not a hard rule.

Transfer times fluctuate

In my experience, points transfers have taken as little as a few minutes, and as much as three hours to transfer. The points should shift the same day.

Each member can only share and receive 100,000 points per calendar year from a single account

I know that’s a confusing headline, so listen up.

If you’re receiving points: You can only receive 100,000 points per calendar year from each friend and family member’s account. So if your travel buddy has 150,000 points, they can only transfer 100,000 points to you this year.

If you’re sending points: You can share a maximum of 100,000 points per calendar year, full stop.

This may not seem like a big deal because you and your travel buddy can simply make two separate reservations with your points instead of transferring all points to one account. But remember, Marriott has a policy that gives you the fifth night free on award stays of five or more nights. If you’re staying at a swanky five-star resort, you may want all the points for a four-night stay in one account to save 85,000 points if you’re looking at a property that falls in the Marriott award chart’s category eight.

You can receive up to 500,000 points per year

Each member can receive up to 500,000 points per year, full stop. If you’ve got six generous friends who want to send you 100,000 points each, one of them is out of luck. You can send the sixth friend my way.

Unique Marriott transfer partners

Because Marriott has so many airline partners there are some unique ways to use Marriott points. For example, it is the only major transferrable points program that partners with American Airlines. So you can use Marriott points to top off your American Airlines account, but you can earn American Airlines miles easily. So you’re better off using one of these unique transfer partners that have valuable, but difficult to earn miles.

Alaska Airlines

Earning Alaska Airlines miles isn’t the easiest. The airline offers a couple travel credit card options, but that’s it. Alaska Airlines isn’t yet part of one of the major airline alliances (though they intend to join oneworld), but it still has enough great partners to give you plenty of options for redeeming Alaska Airlines miles.

For starters, Alaska Airlines allows free stopovers on one-way award flights, this is a great way to get to visit an extra city for no extra miles. And these miles are exceptionally valuable for booking business-class awards to Asia. Here are business-class award prices with a few partners, since Alaska has a different award chart for each partner:

• Cathay Pacific – 50,000 miles one-way
• Japan Airlines – 60,000 miles one-way
• American Airlines – 60,000 miles one-way

You can take advantage of these low prices and even include a stopover in Hong Kong or Tokyo on your way to/from another city in Asia.

Asiana

Asiana is a Korean Star Alliance partner airline with a generous award chart and is a good option for business and first-class partner flights from the U.S. to Europe.

You can fly one-way to Europe in business class for only 40,000 miles or in first-class for only 50,000 miles. Those are incredibly low prices, but there is a catch. Depending on which partner you’re booking with the taxes and fees can be high. Even so, paying 50,000 miles and $500+ for a first-class Lufthansa flight is still a good deal.

How to earn Marriott points

There are four cards (you can currently apply for) that directly earn Marriott points.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless has a bonus of three free nights (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first three months from account opening. The card also earns 6 points per dollar at participating Marriott hotels and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.

Every year you keep this card you’ll get a free night award (valid at hotels that cost up to 35,000 points). The card comes with Silver Marriott status and you can earn Gold status if you spend $35,000+ in a cardmember year. You’ll also get 15 elite night credits each year.

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card’s annual fee is $95.

Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card

When you open the Marriott Bonvoy business card, you’ll earn a welcome bonus of 100,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after you use your new card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening. Offer ends 5/18/22. You’ll also earn 6 points per dollar at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, 4 points per dollar at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, U.S. shipping purchases, and wireless phone service from U.S. carriers and 2 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

Every year you renew the card you’ll get a free night award (valid at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program costing up to 35,000 points) and you can earn another free night after spending $60,000+ on your card in a calendar year.

Plus, the card comes with silver Marriott status and 15 elite night credits every year. Uniquely, these nights stack on top of the 15 elite nights you’ll get by having a Marriott personal credit card. That means you can get up to 30 elite nights just by holding one personal and one small business Marriott card!

The Marriott Bonvoy Business card’s annual fee is $125 (see rates & fees).

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex card comes with 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you use your new card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first three months. This card earns 6 Marriott points per dollar at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, 3 Marriott points per dollar at U.S. restaurants and flights booked directly with airlines and 2 Marriott points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

Every cardmember year you’ll get up to $300 in statement credits at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program (including room charges), Gold elite status (25% bonus points on paid stays, guaranteed late check-out, room upgrades when available) and Platinum elite status (Welcome gift of either points, breakfast, or an amenity depending on the hotel, lounge access where available, room upgrade, including suites when available)

One of the best benefits of the Bonvoy Brilliant card is the annual free night you’ll get after renewing your card, which is valid at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program costing up 50,000 points per night (certain hotels have resort fees). This card also comes with Priority Pass airport lounge access (enrollment required) and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit (worth up to $100).

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant annual fee is $450 (see rates & fees), but if you make the most of the benefits, it can be worth it, especially if you stay often at Marriott hotels.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card

The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold card has an intro offer of 30,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. This is the only no-annual-fee Marriott credit card, but it has a handful of benefits.

Each year you keep the card you’ll get 15 elite night credits and Silver Marriott status. With this card you’ll earn 3 points per dollar at participating Marriott hotels, 2 points per dollar on travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on everything else.

Bottom line

You can transfer your Marriott points to 40+ airline partners.

The process is fairly straightforward. Marriott offers favorable transfer ratios and a fantastic bonus when you transfer in increments of 60,000 Marriott points to partners with 3:1 ratio, which is nearly all of them. Only Air New Zealand and JetBlue have worse ratios (200:1 and 6:1, respectively). And United Airlines transfers earn a 10% bonus on every transfer.

You must transfer at least 3,000 Marriott points at time and there’s a cap of 240,000 Marriott points per day (which generally transfers to 100,000 airline miles). All transfers are final once complete.

Keep in mind, Marriott says points transfers can take up to six weeks, although most folks report receiving their miles in under a week.

What do you think of Marriott points transfers to airline miles?

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex Card, click here.

Lead image courtesy of Philip Pilosian/Shutterstock