How the Marriott and Emirates partnership works

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Marriott’s partnership with Singapore Airlines was making news a couple of weeks ago, but that’s not the only airline partnership that the hotel giant has. There’s Marriott’s strong partnership with United Airlines and as I’m about to discuss, there the partnership with Emirates as well.

Introduction

The Marriott Bonvoy/Emirates Skywards partnership actually started out as a partnership between Starwood Hotels and Emirates back in 2014, and although the partnership was put on hold when Marriott and Starwood merged in 2016, it was resurrected and turned into what we see now in 2019.

Today’s Marriott/Emirates partnership is called ‘Your World Rewards’ and it is designed to allow reciprocal miles & points earning as well as reciprocal elite benefits (up to a point) for travelers with qualifying elite status.

For flyers and hotel guests alike, this program represents a win-win situation because there’s nothing that they have to give up.

Select Bonvoy elites can earn points alongside their standard earnings from Skywards and select Skywards elites can earn miles alongside their standard Bonvoy earnings from hotel stays.

Stay with Marriott & earn Skywards miles

Emirates Silver, Gold and Platinum elites who link their Skywards and Bonvoy accounts (here) will earn 1 Skywards mile/dollar spent on all eligible spending at Marriott properties worldwide.

Eligible spending includes qualifying room rates but does not include other, incidental, spending that is charged to the room (e.g. food, drinks, parking, tours, etc…).

Where stays are paid for in a currency other than the dollar, the cost of the stay will be converted into dollars per the rules set out by Marriott before the number of miles due is calculated.

The effective rebate that this offers will depend on the value you ascribe to Skywards miles but for me, this would be akin to being given 1.1% back on my eligible Marriott stays.

Fly with Emirates & earn Bonvoy points

Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite members who register to participate in Your World Rewards (here), will earn 3 Bonvoy points/dollar spent on all eligible Emirates fares.

An eligible fare is defined as a fare that earns Skywards miles for travel on any Emirates operated and marketed flight with an EK code.

Bookings for travel on partner airlines made through Emirates are not eligible to earn Bonvoy points through the Your World Rewards program.

The effective rebate that this offers will depend on the value you ascribe to Bonvoy points so as I value them at 0.6 cents each, this represents an effective rebate of 1.8% on any eligible spending I make with Emirates.

Note: When linking your Bonvoy and Skywards accounts, makes sure you remove any zeros at the start of your Skywards membership number. Failing to do so may generate an error message.

Elite benefits at Marriott properties for Skywards elites

Emirates Gold and Platinum elites who have their Skywards accounts linked to their Bonvoy accounts will receive the following benefits on their Marriott stays:

• Access to Bonvoy Gold Elite and Platinum Elite hotel elite check-in lines.
• 4 p.m. late checkout (subject to availability).
• Complimentary enhanced internet access.

Emirates Silver elites do not get benefits on Marriott stays and unlike the ongoing deal that Marriott has with Singapore Airlines, there’s no offer of Bonvoy elite status to Skywards elites.

Skywards elite benefits for select Marriott elites

Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador elites who have linked their Bonvoy and Skywards accounts will receive the following elite benefits on eligible Emirates bookings:

• Priority check-in at designated check-in counters.
• Priority boarding on Eligible Flights for the Your World Rewards Participant only (i.e. not for anyone on the same booking who doesn’t participate in the Your World Rewards program).

Marriott Bonvoy Silver, and Gold elites do not get any extra benefits on Emirates flights through the Your World Rewards program.

Note: Don’t forget that you can enjoy Bonvoy Platinum Elite status just by holding the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (terms apply) so that could be an easy path to getting a few more benefits with Skywards.

Bonvoy points convert to Skywards miles

While not specifically a benefit of the Your World Rewards program (because all Bonvoy members can do this, not just select elites), Marriott Bonvoy points can be converted to Emirates Skywards miles.

The standard transfer ratio is 3 Bonvoy points to 1 Skywards mile, but because Marriott offers a 5,000 mile bonus when members convert 60,000 Bonvoy points, it’s possible to improve that ratio to 2.4 Bonvoy points to 1 Skywards mile.

As I value Bonvoy points at 0.6 cents each and Skywards miles at 1.1 cents each, this transfer option doesn’t make any sense for me, but for someone who just needs to generate a few thousand more Skywards miles to top up an account, this can be an easy way to do that.

Note: Don’t forget that Skywards is partners with Amex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi, so for most readers it will be more economical to generate Skywards miles from one or more credit card transferrable currencies.

Quick thoughts

Because Skywards elites aren’t being asked to give up any earnings in order to collect some Bonvoy points and because Bonvoy members aren’t being asked to give anything up to earn Skywards miles, there isn’t really anything to dislike here.

The overall proposition, however, is quite weak as the reciprocal elite benefits aren’t special at all (except for the potential 4pm check-out for select Skywards elites which can be a fantastic benefit if you’re catching an evening flight), and the earnings aren’t really going to make much difference unless you’re someone who spends a tens of thousands of dollars with Emirates and/or Marriott.

Still, a few added benefits and few extra miles/points are better than no extra benefits and no extra points, so that makes the Your World Rewards program a positive element of the miles and points game.

Bottom line

Marriott and Emirates have a partnership that allows select Bonvoy and Skywards elites to earn bonus miles though eligible hotel stays and bonus points through eligible flight bookings. A few added elite benefits are thrown in as well (although mostly nothing special) so if you qualify to participate in this program, you may as well sign up.