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Many hotel loyalty programs allow members to transfer points to partner airlines. However, most of those options typically provide awful value for your points. Perhaps the only exception is Marriott Bonvoy®. Marriott Bonvoy members can transfer points to nearly 40 airlines at a respectable 3:1 ratio.
Even better, you can get a 5,000-mile bonus when transferring at least 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to most airlines, netting you a total of 25,000 miles. Or you can get a total of 30,000 United miles for every 60k Bonvoy points transferred, thanks to Marriott's preferred partnership with United.
Here's what you need to know about transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to airlines.
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Marriott Bonvoy® Airline Transfer Partners
Marriott partners with 37 airlines — a longer list of partners than any other transferable points program! And of those partners, you can freely transfer Bonvoy points to all but one airline at a 3:1 transfer ratio.
That exception is Air New Zealand. Marriott points transfer to the airline's Airpoints program at a 200:1 ratio. On transfers of 60,000 points or more, you'll get a 75-point bonus. That means a 60,000-point transfer results in a 375-point deposit in your Airpoints account — redeemable for NZ$1 apiece.
List of Marriott airline transfer partners
Check out the complete list of transfer partners below:
| Frequent Flyer Program | Transfer Ratio (Bonvoy points:miles) | Bonus for transferring 60,000+ points |
|---|---|---|
| Aegean Airlines Miles+Bonus | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Aer Lingus AerClub | 3:1 | 5,000 Avios |
| Aeromexico Rewards | 3:1 | 5,000 points |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 3:1 | 5,000 points |
| Air China PhoenixMiles | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Air New Zealand Airpoints | 200:1 | 75 Airpoints |
| Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards | 3:1 | 5,000 points |
| All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | 3:1 | n/a |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 3:1 | n/a |
| British Airways Club | 3:1 | 5,000 Avios |
| Cathay Pacific Cathay | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| China Southern Airlines Sky Pearl Club | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Delta SkyMiles | 3:1 | n/a |
| Emirates Skywards | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Etihad Airways Etihad Guest | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Frontier Airlines Frontier Miles | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Iberia Plus | 3:1 | 5,000 Avios |
| InterMiles | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| LATAM Pass Brazil | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 3:1 | 5,000 points |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 3:1 | 5,000 Avios |
| Saudia Alfursan | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 3:1 | 5,000 points |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| United MileagePlus | 3:1 | 10,000 miles |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 3:1 | 5,000 points |
| Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer | 3:1 | 5,000 miles |
| Vueling Club | 3:1 | 5,000 Avios |
How to transfer Marriott points to airlines
To kick off a transfer, visit Marriott's “Transfer Points to Miles” webpage and log in to your Bonvoy account. Select your airline of choice, fill in the transfer form, and initiate! It's that easy. Just make sure the names on your Marriott Bonvoy and frequent flyer account match.
The minimum transfer to all airlines is 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. After you meet the minimum, you can convert Marriott points to airline miles in increments of 3 points.
It's important to understand the miles expiration policy of the airline to which you're transferring Bonvoy points. You should generally have an immediate use of the miles anytime you're transferring points, as speculative transfers are typically worth avoiding.
Related: Do Marriott Bonvoy Points Expire?
Bonus Miles When Transferring Marriott Bonvoy Points to Select Airline Partners
On transfers to most of its partners, Marriott tacks on a 5,000-mile bonus when you move Bonvoy points to airlines in multiples of 60,000 points. This applies to a vast majority of the 37 transfer partners. The three exceptions are American Airlines AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles, and Avianca LifeMiles.
Marriott lets members transfer a maximum of 240,000 points per day. That means you can receive up to 20,000 bonus miles daily via airline partner transfers. Transfer 240,000 Bonvoy points and you’ll receive 100,000 airline miles.
Frustratingly, this bonus won't show up when you enter the number of Marriott points you want to transfer in the transfer form. Instead, you'll see the bonus after submitting the transfer.
Transfer Marriott Points to United with an enhanced bonus
In March 2023, Marriott changed how transfers to United work. Previously, travelers received a 10% bonus on all transfers to United. Now, travelers can transfer Marriott points to United at a 3:1 transfer ratio — like almost all other airlines.
But that's not all. You'll now get 10,000 bonus United MileagePlus miles when you transfer at least 60,000 Bonvoy points at once, courtesy of a preferred partnership. That means you will receive 30,000 MileagePlus miles on transfers of 60,000 Bonvoy points. When maximized, that equates to a 50% bonus.
- Base transfer: 60,000 points = 20,000 United miles
- Bonus: 10,000 United miles
- Total: 30,000 United miles
How Long Do Marriott Transfers to Airlines Take?
So, when can you expect your Marriott transfer to post to your frequent flyer account? Transfer times for Marriott point transfers vary widely depending on the airline you transfer to.
To get an idea of what to expect, bookmark AwardWallet's transfer times tool. You'll see the average time AwardWallet users have to wait before their new airline miles arrives.
However, transfers aren't typically instant, as evidenced by a small snapshot of transfer times to a handful of partners.
Get alerts with AwardWallet Balance Watch
If you want to know as soon as the transfer posts, you can use Balance Watch to get an alert as soon as your balance changes. When an AwardWallet member tracks a transfer through Balance Watch, the mile transfer times page is updated with your data point — letting other travelers see how long it takes on average for each program.
Is it Worth Transferring Marriott Bonvoy Points to Airlines?
Converting Marriott points is a great tool to keep in your back pocket for two reasons: topping off your accounts and building a balance of hard-to-earn airline miles.
First, if you're a few points short of a redemption, you can avoid buying miles outright to cover the difference by freely transferring Marriott points to the airline of your choice. Earning the few miles necessary through transferring is an easy way to save a few dollars on out-of-pocket travel costs.
Second, Marriott partners with a handful of programs that other transferable point programs don't. For example, Frontier Miles is otherwise inaccessible outside of transfers through Marriott. Another example, JAL Mileage Bank is only a transfer partner of Bilt Rewards and, most recently, Capital One. So outside of collecting Bilt points or Capital One miles, a transfer from Marriott is your only option — and can be worth it for JAL premium cabin flights.
This Japan Airlines business class flight from Chicago (ORD) to Tokyo (HND) costs 55,000 JAL miles. That would require transferring 125,000 Marriott points to JAL. Although not great, this can be helpful when there is more award availability through JAL's own program than any partner airlines.
Some airline partners are more valuable than others
Numbers-wise, the 3:1 ratio means you'll pay a premium to transfer your Marriott points to an airline. In other words, the value of three Bonvoy points is typically greater than the one airline mile you'll receive. However, there are some exceptions.
For example, AwardWallet users typically redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for 0.93¢ apiece. Times three, you're trading around 2.8¢ worth of Marriott points for whatever a singular airline mile is worth.
To select airlines like Cathay Pacific (2.85¢), Iberia (2.99¢), and Virgin Atlantic (3.63¢), AwardWallet users can, on average, redeem one airline mile for more value than three Bonvoy points. These transfers are more worthwhile than transfers to Delta (1.34¢), Emirates (1.55¢), Southwest (1.52¢), and several other airlines where the mile value is less than the value of three Bonvoy points.
Plus, when taking advantage of the 5,000 point bonus when transferring 60,000 Bonvoy points, your redemption value gets even a little bit better.
A good litmus test for whether or not transferring is worth it is whether or not you're satisfied with the value you'll get from your new bundle of airline miles. If not, there might be more value in using your points for free nights at a Marriott hotel.
Related: Best Marriott Bonvoy Redemptions for Luxury Stays
Quick Ways To Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points
While there are several ways to earn a boatload of Bonvoy points, the fastest is with a Marriott credit card. After banking a welcome bonus and spending on your card of choice, you'll have a hefty balance of points. And if you choose not to redeem those points for free nights at a Marriott hotel, you can look at moving them to an airline.
Currently, there are six co-branded Marriott credit cards open to new applicants. The roster is split across two issuers: American Express and Chase.
Occasionally, these cards will offer welcome bonuses featuring Free Night Awards — not a bundle of Bonvoy points. Free Night Awards and their point equivalents don't transfer to airlines.
American Express-issued Marriott Bonvoy cards
Amex offers three Marriott co-branded cards. Two are for personal use, while the third tailors to small businesses. Here's the current welcome offer on these cards:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card: Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Earn up to 125,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Bonus Points. Earn 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases and an extra 50,000 bonus points after you make an additional $3,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
(Terms Apply)
- 6X points on purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy
- 4X points on up to $15,000 in combined purchases per year at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets
- 2X points on all other eligible purchases
(Terms Apply)
- 6X points on purchases at Marriott Properties
- 3X points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery
- 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines
- 2X points on all other eligible purchases
(Terms apply)
- 6x Marriott Bonvoy® points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program.
- 4x Marriott Bonvoy® points on each dollar of eligible purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping
- 2x Marriott Bonvoy® points per dollar on all other eligible purchases
Chase-issued Marriott Bonvoy cards
For those under the Chase's restrictive 5/24 rule, the bank offers a lineup of three personal cards:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card: Earn 60,000 Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from your account opening.
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: Earn 125,000 bonus points and 1 Free Night Award (valued up to 50,000 points) after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card: Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after you spend $4,000 in eligible purchases on their Card in the first three months.
- 3X points for every $1 spent at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels
- 2X points on other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains)
- 1X point on all other purchases
- Earn 6X Bonvoy points per $1 spent participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 3X points per $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining, and 2X points per $1 on all other purchases
- Earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy® points for every $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on gas stations, grocery stores, and dining
- Earn 2X Bonvoy points for every $1 spent on all other purchases
- 6X points on purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy
- 4X points on up to $15,000 in combined purchases per year at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets
- 2X points on all other eligible purchases
Final Thoughts
Marriott's transfer partners are a valuable part of the Bonvoy program. The majority of airlines convert at a 3:1 ratio. However, you can improve that rate to 2:1 when you transfer 60,000 Marriott points to United MileagePlus.
Marriott Bonvoy remains one of the major transferrable point programs, thanks to the sheer number of transfer partners and the additional 5,000 bonus miles earned for every transfer of 60,000 points (for most airline partners). As hotel award redemption rates continue to rise, finding alternative ways to use your Marriott points may be necessary. While it may not make sense to transfer to airline in all circumstances, having this tool when looking to top up a balance or grab an award in a program where you don't have miles can be key.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), and Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees)
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