We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with
confidence. While we don't cover every company or financial product on
the market, we work hard to share a wide range of offers and objective
editorial perspectives.
So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us for advertisements that
appear on our site. This compensation helps us provide tools and services -
like free credit score access and monitoring. With the exception of
mortgage, home equity and other home-lending products or services, partner
compensation is one of several factors that may affect which products we
highlight and where they appear on our site. Other factors include your
credit profile, product availability and proprietary website methodologies.
However, these factors do not influence our editors' opinions or ratings, which are based on independent research and analysis. Our partners cannot
pay us to guarantee favorable reviews. Here is a list of our partners.
The 5 Best Marriott Transfer Partners — and 4 to Avoid
Using Marriott points to book flights can be worthwhile if you know which airlines have a favorable transfer rate.
As a digital nomad for nearly five years, JT is a freelance writer that proves through experience that credit card rewards can drastically reduce the cost of travel. After working as a tax accountant for a decade, JT turned his analytical skills to points, miles and credit cards. He published over 2,000 articles as a writer for The Points Guy.
Elina Geller is a contributing NerdWallet travel writer specializing in airline and hotel loyalty programs and travel insurance. In 2019, Elina founded TheMissMiles, a travel rewards coaching business. Her work has been featured by Forbes and AwardWallet. She is a certified public accountant with degrees from the London School of Economics and Fordham University.
Meghan Coyle is an editor on the Travel Rewards team and the co-host of the Smart Travel podcast. She covers travel credit cards, airline and hotel loyalty programs, and how to travel on points. Meghan is based in Los Angeles and has a love-hate relationship with LAX.
Published in
Updated
How is this page expert verified?
NerdWallet's content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and
relevance. It undergoes a thorough review process involving
writers and editors to ensure the information is as clear and
complete as possible.
This page includes information about these cards, currently unavailable on
NerdWallet. The information has been collected by NerdWallet and has not
been provided or reviewed by the card issuer.
Marriott Bonvoy members can certainly use their points for free stays at Marriott. But there’s another use for Marriott Bonvoy® points: booking flights.
Marriott, like other hotel loyalty programs, allows members to convert points to airline miles. But unlike other hotel programs, Marriott partners with a whopping 38 airline transfer partners and offers a 3:1 transfer ratio for most of them.
Some airline partner transfers can be quite lucrative, while others aren’t great at all. Here are the best (and worst) Marriott transfer partners.
Subscribe to our free TravelNerd newsletter for inspiration, tips and money-saving strategies, delivered straight to your inbox.
By signing up, you will receive newsletters and promotional
content and agree to our Terms of Use
and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
The value of Marriott Bonvoy points
Before you transfer your Bonvoy points, you should know what a Bonvoy point is actually worth. NerdWallet values Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.9 cent each. These points transfer to most airline partners at a rate of 3 Bonvoy points to 1 airline mile. When you’re trading 3 Bonvoy points (worth 2.7 cents according to our valuations), you’ll need to get at least 2.7 cents in value from every airline mile to break even.
This is a little easier if you take advantage of Marriott’s transfer bonus. For every 60,000 Bonvoy points that you transfer, Marriott will add 5,000 more miles. So with most airlines, instead of getting 20,000 miles for 60,000 Bonvoy points, you get 25,000 miles per 60,000 Bonvoy points. At that rate, you need to extract just 2.2 cents per airline mile to break even.
Note that this transfer bonus does not apply to American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Avianca or Air New Zealand, but that transfers to United come with an additional bonus (more on that below).
To figure out how much value you get from each airline mile, divide the cash price of your plane ticket by the number of miles you’ll have to redeem. For example, let's say a round-trip economy ticket from Los Angeles to London costs $750 in cash or 50,000 miles.
Divide $750 by 50,000 and you'll find that you’re getting a value of 1.5 cents for each mile, which isn’t that good. But if you look at that same trip in a business class seat ($4,650 in cash or 117,500 miles), you'll get nearly 4 cents per mile — a very good value.
🤓Nerdy Tip
If you're short just a few thousand airline miles to book an award flight with a Bonvoy transfer partner, you might justify trading your Bonvoy points at a poor value. But normally, you don’t want to trade 3 Bonvoy points for an airline mile that's worth less than 2 cents.
The best Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners
1. Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards
Alaska’s partner award chart is chock-full of incredible sweet spots, despite recent changes that make many awards distance-based. Members can redeem points to Asia in business class on most flights for as few as 50,000 points each way on a partner like Cathay Pacific.
Other good deals include flights from the West Coast to Australia in Qantas First Class for 110,000 points each way.
2. United Airlines MileagePlus
With the RewardsPlus partnership between United and Marriott, MileagePlus members receive a 10,000-point bonus when converting 60,000 Marriott points into United miles. So, a 60,000 Marriott point transfer to United will net you 30,000 United miles. Also, sweet spots in the United award program can get you great value for your transferred Bonvoy points.
Nerdy Perspective
How have you used Marriott Bonvoy points?
Benjamin Din
Lead Writer
I love using my Marriott Bonvoy points to stay at exciting properties I normally would not pay the cash rate for. On a recent trip to Bali, I stayed at Mandapa, one of only a few Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties in the world. It was an amazing experience that I never would have splurged on without points.
I love using my Marriott Bonvoy points to stay at exciting properties I normally would not pay the cash rate for. On a recent trip to Bali, I stayed at Mandapa, one of only a few Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties in the world. It was an amazing experience that I never would have splurged on without points.
Benjamin Din
Lead Writer
Tiffani Sherman
Contributing Travel Writer
I only redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for five-night stays because if you pay for four nights, you get the fifth night free when redeeming points. This is a great value. I also love redeeming points in Europe where the points values seem to be much better than in the United States.
I only redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for five-night stays because if you pay for four nights, you get the fifth night free when redeeming points. This is a great value. I also love redeeming points in Europe where the points values seem to be much better than in the United States.
Tiffani Sherman
Contributing Travel Writer
Craig Joseph
Lead Travel Writer
My favorite use of Marriott Bonvoy points is at the Swan or Dolphin hotels at Disney World Orlando. The redemption rates are reasonable compared to the cash rate for the hotel, and the hotel locations can't be beat for access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I even received an upgrade to the presidential suite at the Swan Hotel as a Marriott Gold elite during a winter trip to Disney World — a room that came with a grand piano!
My favorite use of Marriott Bonvoy points is at the Swan or Dolphin hotels at Disney World Orlando. The redemption rates are reasonable compared to the cash rate for the hotel, and the hotel locations can't be beat for access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I even received an upgrade to the presidential suite at the Swan Hotel as a Marriott Gold elite during a winter trip to Disney World — a room that came with a grand piano!
Craig Joseph
Lead Travel Writer
Benjamin Din
Lead Writer
I love using my Marriott Bonvoy points to stay at exciting properties I normally would not pay the cash rate for. On a recent trip to Bali, I stayed at Mandapa, one of only a few Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties in the world. It was an amazing experience that I never would have splurged on without points.
I love using my Marriott Bonvoy points to stay at exciting properties I normally would not pay the cash rate for. On a recent trip to Bali, I stayed at Mandapa, one of only a few Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties in the world. It was an amazing experience that I never would have splurged on without points.
Benjamin Din
Lead Writer
Tiffani Sherman
Contributing Travel Writer
I only redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for five-night stays because if you pay for four nights, you get the fifth night free when redeeming points. This is a great value. I also love redeeming points in Europe where the points values seem to be much better than in the United States.
I only redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for five-night stays because if you pay for four nights, you get the fifth night free when redeeming points. This is a great value. I also love redeeming points in Europe where the points values seem to be much better than in the United States.
Tiffani Sherman
Contributing Travel Writer
Craig Joseph
Lead Travel Writer
My favorite use of Marriott Bonvoy points is at the Swan or Dolphin hotels at Disney World Orlando. The redemption rates are reasonable compared to the cash rate for the hotel, and the hotel locations can't be beat for access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I even received an upgrade to the presidential suite at the Swan Hotel as a Marriott Gold elite during a winter trip to Disney World — a room that came with a grand piano!
My favorite use of Marriott Bonvoy points is at the Swan or Dolphin hotels at Disney World Orlando. The redemption rates are reasonable compared to the cash rate for the hotel, and the hotel locations can't be beat for access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I even received an upgrade to the presidential suite at the Swan Hotel as a Marriott Gold elite during a winter trip to Disney World — a room that came with a grand piano!
Craig Joseph
Lead Travel Writer
Benjamin Din
Lead Writer
I love using my Marriott Bonvoy points to stay at exciting properties I normally would not pay the cash rate for. On a recent trip to Bali, I stayed at Mandapa, one of only a few Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties in the world. It was an amazing experience that I never would have splurged on without points.
I love using my Marriott Bonvoy points to stay at exciting properties I normally would not pay the cash rate for. On a recent trip to Bali, I stayed at Mandapa, one of only a few Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties in the world. It was an amazing experience that I never would have splurged on without points.
Benjamin Din
Lead Writer
Tiffani Sherman
Contributing Travel Writer
I only redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for five-night stays because if you pay for four nights, you get the fifth night free when redeeming points. This is a great value. I also love redeeming points in Europe where the points values seem to be much better than in the United States.
I only redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for five-night stays because if you pay for four nights, you get the fifth night free when redeeming points. This is a great value. I also love redeeming points in Europe where the points values seem to be much better than in the United States.
Tiffani Sherman
Contributing Travel Writer
Craig Joseph
Lead Travel Writer
My favorite use of Marriott Bonvoy points is at the Swan or Dolphin hotels at Disney World Orlando. The redemption rates are reasonable compared to the cash rate for the hotel, and the hotel locations can't be beat for access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I even received an upgrade to the presidential suite at the Swan Hotel as a Marriott Gold elite during a winter trip to Disney World — a room that came with a grand piano!
My favorite use of Marriott Bonvoy points is at the Swan or Dolphin hotels at Disney World Orlando. The redemption rates are reasonable compared to the cash rate for the hotel, and the hotel locations can't be beat for access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I even received an upgrade to the presidential suite at the Swan Hotel as a Marriott Gold elite during a winter trip to Disney World — a room that came with a grand piano!
Craig Joseph
Lead Travel Writer
3. American Airlines AAdvantage
Although it’s not the most valuable mileage currency, the American Airlines AAdvantage program offers some sweet spots. You can’t get American miles by transferring points from a program like Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Capital One or American Express Membership Rewards.
American's lack of transfer partners makes Marriott transfers particularly valuable for topping off your AAdvantage account. A great deal is moving 345,000 Marriott points to receive 115,000 American miles and redeeming them for Etihad First Class to the Middle East or the Indian subcontinent.
American’s award chart is also a steal in business class on airlines like Etihad or Qatar Airways (among others) from the contiguous U.S. You would pay 70,000 miles one-way to the Middle East or India, 75,000 to Africa, 60-70,000 depending on which parts of Asia, and 80,000 to the South Pacific in business class.
4. Air France-KLM Flying Blue
This loyalty program regularly runs promotional deals that can discount the cost of business class significantly to around 60,000 miles each way (sometimes even less) from North America to Europe. You would only need to transfer 180,000 Marriott points for that amount.
5. Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
The Turkish Miles&Smiles program offers some of the most spectacular sweet spots around. Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values Turkish Airlines miles at 0.7 cent each. You can fly to Hawaii for just 10,000 miles each way or fly in business class for 15,000 miles one-way.
Other Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners worth considering
Air Canada Aeroplan: Air Canada's Aeroplan program offers a slate of sweet spots. You can book a business class award to Hawaii starting at 35,000 points or Europe starting at 60,000 points. If you’re taking advantage of one of these high-value redemptions, it could make sense to transfer Bonvoy points.
ANA Mileage Club: With All Nippon Airways' Mileage Club, you can fly to Europe in business class for 100,000 miles round-trip. By taking advantage of this or other sweet spots, you can get a ton of value from your Marriott points.
JAL Mileage Bank: Japan Airlines offers various sweet spots in its award chart.
Marriott partners with more than a dozen programs that aren’t a transfer partner of any other major transferable currency (American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase or Citi). That means that Marriott Bonvoy points are your sole source of miles for these programs besides earning with them outright.
Here are those exclusive programs: Here are those exclusive programs:
Not all of these partners offer good value for your transferred Marriott points, but it’s nice to have the option if you need to top off your account for an award with one of these programs.
Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners to avoid
1. Southwest Rapid Rewards
Rapid Rewards points have a value of around 1.3 cents each, and there are no real sweet spots since points prices are tied to cash prices. You’ll likely lose value by transferring large amounts of Marriott points to Southwest at a 3:1 transfer ratio.
2. Air New Zealand Airpoints
The transfer rate for Marriott points to Air New Zealand (200:1) is much worse than that of the other transfer partners; this is unlikely to make sense for most travelers.
If you’ve never heard of InterMiles, that makes sense: It’s the zombie mileage program of Jet Airways, which declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in 2019. So there’s very little value to be found in the program.
If you want to leverage Marriott’s transfer partners ...
In general, Marriott points are best spent at Marriott Bonvoy hotels themselves. But sometimes you need to top off an airline point balance. Or perhaps you realized that your company's headquarters used to be next to a Marriott, but since the company went entirely work-from-home, you have no allegiance to Marriott any more. In cases like that, it can make sense to send your points to an airline's frequent flyer program rather than let them collect virtual dust.
But to maximize your Marriott points, focus on the specific airline loyalty programs that provide outsize value through incredible sweet spots.
Ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points
Tempted by these transfers so much that you need even more Bonvoy points? You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points by staying at Marriott hotels, but the easiest way to rack up a bunch of points fast is by spending on Marriott co-branded credit cards. These Marriott credit cards each come with a solid welcome bonus:
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.
• 3 Marriott Bonvoy® points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
• 2 points per $1 on grocery stores, rideshare, select food delivery, select streaming and internet, cable and phone services.
• 1 point per $1 on all other eligible purchases.
• 6 Marriott Bonvoy® points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
• 3 points per $1 on up to $6,000 a year in combined purchases on grocery stores, gas stations and dining.
• 2 points per $1 on all other eligible purchases.
• 6 Marriott Bonvoy® points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
• 4 points per $1 on up to $15,000 a year in combined purchases at U.S. supermarkets and at restaurants worldwide (including takeout and delivery in the U.S).
• 2 points per $1 on all other eligible purchases.
Terms apply.
• 6 Marriott Bonvoy® points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
• 3 points per $1 at restaurants worldwide and on flights booked directly with airlines.
• 2 points per $1 on all other eligible purchases.
Terms apply.
• 6 points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
• 4 points per $1 on restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping.
• 2 points per $1 on all other eligible purchases.
Terms apply.
Welcome offer
Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after spending $1,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.
Earn 3 Free Night Awards after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of account opening, and an additional 1 Free Night Award after spending $4,000 total on eligible purchases within 4 months of account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. Redeem your Free Night Awards for a one-night stay at properties with a redemption level up to 50,000 points per night, a total value of 200,000 points. Certain hotels have resort fees.
Earn 175,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 5/13/2026. Terms Apply.
Earn 200,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 5/13/2026. Terms Apply.
Earn 3 Free Night Awards after you spend $6,000 in purchases and an extra 2 Free Night Awards after you spend an additional $3,000 in purchases on the Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms apply.
NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary,
trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed
studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with
industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness
and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's high
standards for journalism by reading our
editorial guidelines.
