Marriott Bonvoy Devaluing Some Mileage Transfers

Marriott Bonvoy is worsening the value proposition of some airline mileage transfers, which sets a bad precedent.

Marriott ends 5,000-mile transfer bonus for some partners

One of the nice things about Marriott Bonvoy is that it’s the only hotel loyalty program where you can efficiently convert hotel points into airline miles without losing much value.

With Marriott Bonvoy’s airline mileage transfer program, you can transfer Bonvoy points to over three dozen airline miles at a 3:1 ratio. There’s an incentive to transfer Bonvoy points in increments of 60,000.

With the 3:1 ratio, you’d ordinarily earn 20,000 airline miles when converting 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. However, Marriott offers a bonus of 5,000 miles when transferring 60,000 points, meaning that 60,000 points actually converts into 25,000 airline miles, giving you a real transfer ratio of 2.4:1.

At least that’s how it has worked historically. As reported by Katie Genter, this will be changing. As of October 31, 2022, Marriott Bonvoy will stop offering the bonus of 5,000 airline miles for three partners:

• American AAdvantage
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Delta SkyMiles

When you transfer Bonvoy points to those partners, the ratio will be 3:1, regardless of the increments in which you do so. That obviously takes away quite a bit of value. On top of that, this sets a bad precedent. This is the first real devaluation we’ve seen to Marriott Bonvoy airline mileage transfers in a long time, and this has historically given the value of Bonvoy points quite a bit of stability, especially in light of other devaluations.

Why would Marriott Bonvoy devalue these transfers?

I’m always curious about the motivation for loyalty program changes, and this is no exception. Why would Marriott Bonvoy suddenly devalue the efficient transfer ratios for just three of the over three dozen partners? The way I view it, there are a few potential explanations:

• These programs raised the cost they wanted to charge Marriott Bonvoy for mileage transfers, and as a result that’s being passed on to consumers
• These are the airline partners that Marriott Bonvoy members transfer the most points to, and Marriott wanted to reduce its costs associated with these transfers
• These transfer partners strong-armed Marriott into discouraging members to make these transfers, because they felt this was cannibalizing their other revenue streams somehow

If I had to guess, I’d assume the answer is probably a combination of the first and second point. I wouldn’t be surprised if these are the mileage transfer partners that cost Marriott the most, in terms of a combination of cost per mile plus frequency of transfers. I suspect Marriott is trying to discourage these transfers, for whatever reason.

Bottom line

Marriott Bonvoy is devaluing points transfers to three airline partners. Specifically, the bonus of 5,000 airline miles for transferring 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points is being eliminated for American AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, and Delta SkyMiles.

This sets a concerning precedent, since the ability to convert Marriott points into airline miles helps create a floor value for the program.

What’s your take on Marriott Bonvoy devaluing select mileage transfers?