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Marriott Bonvoy and Qatar Airways announced that you can now convert points between both programs. While Qatar has long been a Marriott transfer partner, you can now transfer your Avios from Qatar Airways Privilege Club to Marriott Bonvoy. By extension, this also means you can funnel your Avios from British Airways, Iberia, and Finnair over to Marriott Bonvoy — via Qatar.
Here's how this new transfer opportunity works — and if you should take advantage of it.
Overview of Qatar Airways-Marriott Two-Way Point Conversions
You can transfer points between programs under the following conditions:
- Avios are converted to Marriott Bonvoy points at a ratio of 2:1.
- The minimum transfer is 1,000 Avios.
- Once you link your Marriott and Qatar accounts and perform a conversion, future conversions can only be done to the same account.
- You unlink your accounts up to twice per year.
- You can convert a maximum of 500,000 Avios per year.
Related: How To Transfer Avios Between British Airways, Qatar, Finnair, and Iberia.
Marriott two-way conversion partners
The addition of Qatar Airways brings the total number of Marriott two-way airline partners to eight. Currently, you can transfer points and miles between Marriott and the following programs as follows:
- Air Canada Aeroplan at a ratio of 1:1.
- ANA Mileage Club at a ratio of 1:1.
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at a ratio of 2:1.
- Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian miles at a ratio of 2:1.
- JAL Mileage Bank Miles at a ratio of 4:3.
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club at a ratio of 2:1.
- Singapore KrisFlyer Miles at a ratio of 2:1.
- United MileagePlus at a ratio of 1:1.
Should You Convert Qatar Airways Avios to Marriott Bonvoy Points?
Now for the fundamental question: Should you convert Avios to Marriott points, and is it possible to unlock value by doing so?
Working out the average value of Avios can be tricky because you can transfer Avios between multiple airline programs. That said, if you want to get the best value in terms of cents per Avios, one of your best options is to redeem them for premium cabin award flights.
On average, Avios are worth approximately 3¢ when redeemed this way. But even if you value Avios at 1¢ apiece, Avios to Marriott transfers don't really make much sense.
And this is largely because of what Marriott points are worth. Based on recent redemptions, AwardWallet users have leveraged their Bonvoy points for 0.94¢ each. A 2:1 transfer ratio means you're effectively exchanging no less than 2¢ of value (and typically much, much more) for 0.94¢ of value.
In other words, we don't recommend this. It only makes sense if you can redeem your Marriott points for extremely high value and you don't have a better way of topping off your Bonvoy account. But in all likelihood, you're better off earning Marriott points via a credit card signup bonus or staying at Marriott properties rather than parting ways with your more valuable Avios.
Related: The 5 Best Uses of Qatar Airways Avios on Partner Airlines
Our Take
Although this new function is of limited value, we're still glad to see it. It's welcome news anytime you have more options and functionality to use your points and miles. While the exchange rate is poor, at least you have the option to take advantage of this new transfer facility if it works well for you.
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