After Hilton Honors, American Express and Marriott Bonvoy have come together to offer a new Amex to Marriott Transfer Bonus to the Indian cardmembers of American Express. The promotion, which kicked off a few days ago, is offering a straight 50% bonus on transferring your Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy, with the points being received in your Marriott Bonvoy account by December 31, 2019.

The normal transfer ratio between American Express Membership Rewards points and Marriott Bonvoy points is 1 MR = 1 Marriott Bonvoy Point, so for this promotion, you get 1.5 Marriott Bonvoy points with your Membership Rewards transfer.

The following cards offer the ability to transfer points to Marriott Bonvoy:

• Personal Cards
  • The American Express Centurion Card
  • The American Express Platinum Card
  • American Express Gold Card
  • American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card
  • The American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card
  • The American Express Gold Credit Card
  • The American Express Membership Reward Credit Card
• Corporate Cards
  • The American Express Gold Corporate Card
  • The American Express Green Corporate Card
  • The American Express Platinum Corporate Card

How to transfer Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy?

You would first need to register your Marriott Bonvoy Account with Membership Rewards before you make the transfer go through. You will get an email back from American Express stating that your Marriott Bonvoy account has been successfully registered. This could take a day or two. If you already have made a transfer in the past, you don’t have to add your number again. If you don’t have a Marriott Bonvoy membership, join now.

Amex to Marriott Transfer Bonus Terms & Conditions

Membership Rewards point transfers must be made in increments of 100 points with a minimum transfer requirement of 1,000 points for each transfer. At the regular redemption rate, 1000 Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points. From 12:00:00 am IST on September 15, 2019, until 11:59:59 IST October 31, 2019, when you transfer Membership Rewards Points to Marriott Bonvoy you will receive 50% more Marriott Bonvoy Points on the total number of Membership Rewards points transferred. For example, if you move 1,000 Membership Rewards Points to Marriott Bonvoy, you will be credited a total of 1,500 Marriott Bonvoy Points. 

A maximum of 900,000 Membership Rewards Points per account can be transferred per calendar year (January to December). Remember, once you transfer out the points to Marriott Bonvoy, you can’t move them back into your Membership Rewards account under any circumstances. The bonus points will not be added to your account instantaneously but will be added to your account up to eight weeks from the offer end date (by December 31, 2019). 

Should you transfer?

The Amex to Marriott Transfer Bonus is a lucrative one, and perhaps one of the best ones you would receive in the coming days. As American Express is the only transfer partner for Marriott Bonvoy in India, if you would like to stash up on Marriott Bonvoy points, this is your best opportunity to do so.

What good are Marriott Bonvoy points?

Marriott Bonvoy points are good for stays in many Marriott properties, aspirational, and in the city as well. I wrote a significant analysis of how you could use your American Express points to Marriott Bonvoy for travel. However, with the now live Marriott Bonvoy Peak pricing (and off-peak too), the opportunities may change depending on the time of the year you want to go where you want to go.

One way to get more value out of your Marriott points is by taking advantage of the 5th night free on award stays.

How to generate Membership Reward points?

American Express has been offering some generous promotions recently, which you can benefit from if you want more Membership Rewards Points.

• American Express Membership Rewards Card is currently being offered free, which gets you 4,000 Membership Rewards for sign up (subject to min. spends), and then for four transactions of INR 1,000 per month, you get another 1,000 Membership Rewards points.
• All American Express cards have bonuses going out, up to 5,000 Membership Rewards points per supplementary user added. So, you can add more users to your card and get another handsome bonus added to your account. Check here for details.
• If you want a large boatload of Amex Membership Rewards points, here is a special offer getting you 110,000 Membership Rewards points on signing up for the American Express Platinum Card. 

Bottomline

This is a great promotion, and if you have plans to stay at a Marriott hotel in the coming months, perhaps it makes sense to transfer some Membership Rewards points over to Marriott now. I will certainly be partaking in this promotion as well and will report back with my experience when I can.

What do you make of the Amex to Marriott Transfer Bonus? Will you be able to use it?