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One of the reasons Marriott Bonvoy points are so valuable is the ability to transfer Bonvoy points to over 40 airlines. But unfortunately, that long list of transfer partners just got a little shorter. As Marriott confirmed to AwardWallet, the JetBlue TrueBlue program is no longer a partner for point transfers or Hotel + Air packages as of July 1, 2021.
In addition, Marriott removed the South African Airways' Voyager program from its list of Hotel + Air package partners on July 1, 2021. The struggling Voyager program had already left the list of Bonvoy point transfer partners back on March 1, 2021.
Marriott Bonvoy Transfer Partners Recently Lost
With the loss of JetBlue, the Marriott Bonvoy has now lost five airline transfer partners since April 2020:
- JetBlue TrueBlue — effective July 1, 2021
- South African Airways Voyager — effective March 1, 2021
- Air China PhoenixMiles — effective August 26, 2020
- China Southern Airlines Sky Pearl Club — effective August 26, 2020
- China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles — effective April 10, 2020
It's never great to see a major transfer partner program lose transfer partners. However, none of these losses are significant for U.S.-based travelers. Of these five losses, only JetBlue TrueBlue is a U.S.-based airline, and none of the other airline programs are appealing for U.S.-based travelers. But, as we'll show you below, JetBlue was never a good option for transferring your Bonvoy points anyways.
Even after these losses, you can still transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to 40 airlines. For 17 of these airlines, Marriott Bonvoy is the only major transferrable point partner — from American Airlines AAdvantage® and Alaska Mileage Plan to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank and Korean Air SKYPASS.
Why Marriott Losing JetBlue as a Transfer Partner Doesn't Hurt the Bonvoy Program
Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to almost all airline partners at a 3:1 transfer ratio. But, that wasn't the case for point transfers to TrueBlue. The 6:1 transfer ratio meant you'd need to transfer 6 Bonvoy points to get 1 TrueBlue point.
Based on recent AwardWallet user redemptions, JetBlue TrueBlue points are only worth 1.38¢. Meanwhile, AwardWallet users average 1.00¢ per Bonvoy point for recent Marriott redemptions. That means with a 6:1 transfer ratio, you'd have to give up 6¢ in value toward Marriott hotel stays for just 1.38¢ in value toward JetBlue flights.
Since JetBlue TrueBlue is a fixed-value program, there's no way to get outsized value from TrueBlue points. So, it only made sense to transfer Bonvoy points to TrueBlue to top off your account to have enough points for a particular redemption. But thankfully, JetBlue has plenty of other transfer partners you can still use.
JetBlue's Other Transfer Partners
JetBlue is a transfer partner of most major transferrable points. However, as with Marriott, the transfer rate isn't always the best:
- American Express Membership Rewards (5:4)
- Capital One Venture Miles (4:3)
- Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1)
- Citi ThankYou® Points (1:1 for Citi Prestige® Card and Citi Strata Premier℠ Card cardholders; 5:4 for Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card and Citi Rewards+® Card cardholders)
Anytime you need to find a transfer partner to top off one of your loyalty programs, check out AwardWallet's Transfer Times tool. Just enter the airline or hotel program to filter for the program you need:
Bottom Line
Marriott's impressive list of airline transfer partners has been scaled back over the past year. The JetBlue TrueBlue program is the latest loss. However, none of these recent losses puts a dent in the value of the Marriott Bonvoy program. You can still transfer Bonvoy points to 40 airlines, or redeem points for Marriott hotel stays at an average of 1¢ per point.
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