Good Deal: Transfer Marriott Bonvoy Points To United With A 30% Bonus

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United Airlines is currently offering its flyers a 30% bonus when they transfer various hotel currencies across to their MileagePlus account and while I wouldn’t recommend that readers transfer over points from programs like Hilton Honors, the World of Hyatt, or IHG Rewards, a transfer from Marriott Bonvoy can make a lot of sense.

Key Promotion Terms

• To qualify for this offer, members must register for the promotion between September 1, 2021 and 11:59pm EST on September 30, 2021.
• Transfers must be completed by 11:59pm EST on September 30, 2021.
• At the conclusion of the promotion, all miles earned by each member from Qualifying Activity will be multiplied by 30% to determine the eligible bonus up to a maximum of 25,000 bonus miles.
• Bonus miles will be credited into the member’s account on or before January 31, 2022.
• The maximum bonus miles that can be earned by a member under this promotion is 25,000.

Full terms and conditions can be found on the promotion page.

The Maths Of Transferring Bonvoy Points To MileagePlus

Marriott Bonvoy and United MileagePlus have a reasonably close relationship and outside of any bonuses, Bonvoy Points convert to United Miles in a ratio of 3,000 Bonvoy Points to 1,100 United Miles.

On top of this, for every 60,000 Bonvoy Points transferred over to MileagePlus, United gives its members 5,500 bonus miles so a transfer of 60,000 Bonvoy Points would, ordinarily, generate 27,500 miles (22,000 + 5,500).

That’s not a great deal but it’s also not a bad deal either.

When, however, we have a situation where an added bonus is on offer (like right now), the opportunity to convert Marriott Bonvoy points to United miles becomes very tempting.

Because United’s 30% bonus will be applied to the total number of miles generated during the promotion period (up to a limit of 25,000 bonus miles), a transfer of 60,000 Bonvoy Points will now generate 35,750 United Miles.

If we assume that Bonvoy Points are worth no more than 0.7 cents each (I happen to value them at 0.6 cents each but some value them slightly higher), the 60,000 points that are being converted are worth approximately $420. Effectively, therefore, a transfer such as this one would generate 35,750 United Miles at a “cost” of $420, and that places the cost of each United Mile at just 1.175 cents.

As most people seem to value United Miles at considerably more than this (I value them at 1.3 cents each), that’s a great price to pay.

Note: Keep in mind that this promotion caps the number of bonus miles at 25,000 so as a transfer of 60,000 Bonoy Points will generate 8,250 bonus miles, you should make sure you limit yourself to three transfers of 60,000 Bonvoy Points to ensure that you maximize the value on offer.

How To Transfer Bonvoy Points To Airlines

At the bottom of the Marriott homepage, you’ll find a link that suggests you can redeem points for flights…

…and clicking on that link leads you to the main “Transfer Points To Miles” page. From there it’s just a matter of following the simple instructions and your transfer will be enacted.

A Word Of Warning

Marriott Bonvoy Points may not be as valuable as United Miles but they’re considerably more easy to use. While the maths surrounding this promotion supports a transfer of Bonvoy Points to MileagePlus, it doesn’t take into consideration how easy it will be to use those miles once they have been generated – nobody should be enacting a transfer without having a solid plan in place for how any miles generated will be used.

Bottom Line

United’s MileagePlus program is currently offering members a limited-time bonus of 30% when they convert Marriott Bonvoy Points across to United miles. Given the relatively low value of Bonvoy Points (when compared to United Miles) this bonus makes a transfer look very tempting but please make sure you’ve considered how you’ll use any miles that you generate before you start emptying your Bonvoy account.