How Marriott Bonvoy’s Starbucks partnership works (+ earn 1,000 bonus Bonvoy Points)

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Starbucks and Delta have had a loyalty partnership for almost two years, but it was only in June of this year that Starbucks launched a partnership with a hotel loyalty program. That program was Marriott Bonvoy and the partnership with Bonvoy gave U.S. Starbucks Rewards members and US Marriott Bonvoy members cross program earning opportunities for the first time.

How the partnership works

The key to all of this is that …

1. You have to be based in the US
2. You have to be a member of Marriott Bonvoy (join for free here)
3. You have to be a member of Starbucks Rewards in the US (join for free here)
4. You need to link your Bonvoy and Starbucks Rewards accounts (link here).

So, once you’ve done all that, what do you get?

You can earn Bonvoy Points

At various times of the year, Marriott and Starbucks run ‘Marriott Bonvoy weeks’ during which, Marriott Bonvoy members will earn 100 Bonvoy Points every time they complete 3 qualifying Starbucks transactions at participating stores.

Qualifying Starbucks transactions means any purchase at a participating Starbucks location of food, a beverage, and/or merchandise that costs at least $2 and is made via mobile order through the Starbucks mobile app or Starbucks web site using a linked payment method or preloaded Starbucks Card registered to the member’s Starbucks Rewards account, or by scanning your barcode located in the Starbucks mobile app registered to a member’s Starbucks Rewards account prior to completing checkout.

Exclusions include purchases of alcoholic beverages, purchases of Starbucks Card eGifts and physical Starbucks gift cards.

You can earn double Starbucks Stars

Starbucks Rewards members will earn double Rewards Stars on all qualifying Starbucks transactions made during eligible Stays at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties.

Your Starbucks Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy accounts must be linked at least 48 hours before the start of your stay to earn double Stars and under this offer, members will earn the following:

• 4 Stars for every $1 USD spent on qualifying Starbucks transactions when paying with a preloaded Starbucks Card registered to their Starbucks® Rewards account (excluding dollars spent toward taxes and tips)
• 2 Stars per $1 USD spent on qualifying Starbucks transactions when paying with a credit card, debit card or mobile wallet linked to their Starbucks Rewards account (excluding dollars spent toward taxes and tips)
• 2 Stars for every $1 USD spent on qualifying Starbucks transactions (excluding dollars spent towards taxes and tips) when they scan their barcode located in the Starbucks mobile app and then pay with cash, credit card, debit card, or select mobile wallets at the register at Participating Starbucks Stores.

An eligible stay is a stay of one or more consecutive nights at a property participating in the Bonvoy program (excludes homes & villas) where …

• The member has added their Bonvoy number to their reservation
• The reservation was made or at least 48 hours prior to check-in
• The member pays a qualifying rate (per Bonvoy terms and conditions) or makes an Award Redemption
• The member physically stays in one of the reserved guest rooms under the reservation.

For the purposes of earning bonus stars, an eligible stay begins at 00:00 local time on the check-in date of the stay and ends at 23:59 local time on the check-out date of the stay.

Members may earn a maximum of 1,000 Stars under the Double Stars offer per program Year which runs from 18 June.

You can convert Bonvoy Points to Starbucks Stars

As of 18 September 2024, it’s now possible to convert Marriott Bonvoy Points into Starbucks Stars at a conversion rate of 1,000 points to 100 stars.

This is what Starbucks Stars can be exchanged for (at the time of writing):

• 25 Stars – Drink customization (e.g. extra shot, non-dairy option, or a dash of syrup)
• 100 Stars – Brewed hot or iced coffee or tea, bakery item, packaged snack
• 200 Stars – Handcrafted drink (Cold Brew, lattes and more) or hot breakfast
• 300 Stars – Sandwich, protein box or at-home coffee
• 400 Stars – Starbucks merchandise costing up to$20

Given that we value Bonvoy Points at 0.6 cents each (based on the value that we know we can get out of them with relative ease), this is what it would ‘cost’ us if we converted Bonvoy Points to Starbucks stars and then redeemed them for the items listed out above:

• $1.50 – Drink customization (e.g. extra shot, non-dairy option, or a dash of syrup)
• $6.00 – Brewed hot or iced coffee or tea, bakery item, packaged snack
• $12.00 – Handcrafted drink (Cold Brew, lattes and more) or hot breakfast
• $18.00 – Sandwich, protein box or at-home coffee
• $24.00 – Starbucks merchandise costing up to $20

As you can see, unless you genuinely have no other use for your points and have no real prospect of earning any more points to top up your account to a point where you can redeem them for a night at a hotel, converting Bonvoy Points to Starbucks Stars isn’t a good way to get value out of your Marriott balance.

Limited time offer

To celebrate offering Bonvoy Members a new terrible way to redeem their points, Marriott and Starbucks are currently running a limited-time promotion.

Through 18 October 2024, anyone linking their Starbucks and Bonvoy accounts for the first time will earn 1,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points which we value at $6.

You’ll find more details of this offer here, but given that there’s nothing in the terms and conditions saying that a purchase must be made to trigger the bonus, this appears to be a genuine free points handout and that’s always a good thing to see offered.

Bottom line

Marriott and Starbucks have had a partnership since 18 June 2024 and as of 18 September 2024 (the 3 month anniversary of the partnership), Bonvoy Members can now get truly bad value out of their points by converting them to Starbucks Stars at a rate of 1,000 points to 100 stars.

I better news, anyone who hasn’t linked their Bonvoy and Starbucks accounts in the past and who now does so before 18 October 2024, will earn 1,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points.

Related: Delta announces a new tie-up with Starbucks (earn miles & stars)