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American Express cardmembers can currently get a 40% bonus when transferring Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy. Typically, points transfer from Amex to Marriott at a 1:1 rate. That means you'll get 1.4 Marriott points for every 1 Amex point after the 40% bonus. As you'll see below, that's not the best deal, but this offer may still be worth taking advantage of.
Amex-Marriott Transfer Bonus Offer Terms
- Get 1,400 Marriott Bonvoy points per 1,000 Amex Membership Reward points transferred
- Offer valid until October 31, 2020
- Transfers must be made in increments of 1,000 Membership Rewards points
- Amex notes that transfers may take 5 days. However, AwardWallet points transfer tracking shows that a 1-day transfer time is typical.
- This transfer bonus only appears when users log in. So, it's possible that this transfer bonus is targeted.
Note that you will need to reenter your Marriott Bonvoy membership number into Amex if you have not transferred Membership Rewards points to Marriott since January 1, 2015.
Is This Marriott Transfer Bonus Worth It?
This Marriott transfer bonus doesn't provide a compelling opportunity for many travelers. Marriott Bonvoy points are generally worth around 0.8 cents each. So, even after the transfer bonus, you're only getting 1.12 cents in value per Membership Rewards point. There are a lot of other uses for Membership Rewards points that provide a higher value.
However, transferring points can make sense depending on your situation. If you have an immediate need for Marriott points—or are using your Marriott points for very high value—it can make sense to take advantage of this promotion.
Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points Through Credit Card Bonuses
Don't forget, you can currently earn 100,000 bonus Marriott points when signing up for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. That's in addition to all the other perks that come with the card, like an anniversary free night award. Or, you can earn 50,000 bonus points when signing up for the $0 annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card.
Our Take
It was interesting to see that the U.K. Amex website (where I'm currently located) gives a base transfer rate of 1 Membership Reward point to 1.5 Marriot Bonvoy point in increments of 400. Even with the 40% bonus, the U.S. offer with the bonus still isn't as good. However, it's still far better than the 1:1 ratio usually offered.
I just had a good friend spend a couple of weeks in the Maldives—which is one of the few countries accepting American citizens during the pandemic. If you wanted to follow suit and take a much-needed vacation, you can use your Marriott Bonvoy points at one of five Marriott properties in the Maldives:
You'll need to transfer at least 36,000 Membership Rewards points (before the transfer bonus) per night to book the least-expensive property. That may not sound bad. However, hotel rates have cratered due to the pandemic. So, you'll want to do the math to see if it makes more sense to book with cash or use points through AmexTravel instead.
Will you utilize this Marriott transfer bonus?
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
This would be worthwhile if travel out of the country was made easier. The 2 week quarantine rule here in Canada makes it rather unworthwhile to leave the country.
Although I consider Marriott points to be flexible points, I don’t see myself transferring truly flexible points to Marriott unless I had a very specific redemption…like an overwater bungalow. But that is still a dream for now.
Hope i can get MR in China, but seems i can’t apply AE card , This is a good promo.
is 40% the highest bonus amount, or does amex sometimes provide an even higher bonus?
We looked back and found that there hasn’t been a Marriott transfer bonus (as far as we could find) since Marriott was added as a Membership Rewards transfer partner (https://awardwallet.com/blog/amex-membership-rewards-transfers-to-marriott-rewards/)
All of us have too many things to keep track of. If it wasn’t for AwardWallet, my airline miles would have expired. AwardWallet notified me in an email that I had airline miles that were going to expire soon if I didn’t take action. I have used AwardsWallet for years, and unlike other web sites, it does not inundate me with irrelevant emails. I have recommended it to my entire family.
I saw this! I was looking through the deals yesterday on my Amex card and saw this. I will have to make sure I always look at the deals before transferring anything from MR just in case there are bonuses. To me this would be a good deal if I am planning a trip soon to take. Right now I am now planning anything so I don’t believe that it would be worth it.
Such great deals out there now that I don’t think it makes sense to transfer points unless its a 100% Bonus!
I guess this is better since they are giving a better transfer rate. However, as the article states, there are better options for your points.
I remember pre-pandemic when AMEX had a transfer bonus for a different partner it seemed like every week. Glad to see AMEX have one again, even if it’s just Bonvoy.
What’s a great news! It’s a very good price to transfer MR and get good bonus here. But there have small place i can go hope Covid-19 vaccine coming soon and then i can go anywhere i want to go.
Not as bad as Hilton but still, this is one of those currencies that need a 100% bonus to even start to be worthwhile.
I also agree that a 100% bonus should be launched to actually stimulate the demand.
That would just devalue existing points.
Wouldn’t make sense for many people