Sojan

Is converting 70,000 miles into 25,000 AA miles with a 5,000 bonus or 30,000 a good deal. I have just received this offer from Marriott and AA

pinniped

It's a personal decision, but I tend to get more value from 70,000 Marriott points than I do from 30,000 AA miles. (And I like and regularly use both of them.)

The greatest value in Marriott is reaching the Travel Package level (300,000-400,000 total points to redeem). If I felt like 70k was all I'd ever have to work with, the miles might look a *little* more appealing. But I think I'd still opt to redeem for hotel rooms unless I needed the 30k AA immediately for a large flight award.

84fiero

Agree, it really depends on what one's travel needs and goals are. If you have use for 70K Marriott points, and don't have a particular near-to-mid-term need for 30K AA miles, I'd leave them sit. On the other hand if you could make use out of the miles more than the hotel points, make the transfer. A good deal isn't a good deal, if the end result doesn't provide you with a useful benefit.

Me personally, I have no real use for Marriott or most hotel points based on my travel patterns and plans for the next year or so. All other things being equal, I'd get much more out of the AA miles. However I still wouldn't do this transfer as I have enough AA miles for now and am planning to use other miles in the nearer term. We now have the ability to transfer Marriott to SPG points (1 SPG per 3 Marriott), and SPG has (for now) many airline partners (including AA) and the 5K bonus per 20K transferred. So I'd probably leave my points alone for when I need some flexibility to top up balances in other airline programs when the need arises.

Just my perspective - there's no right or wrong, really - just spend some time figuring out what's right for you.

TrojanHorse

remember you can convert those MR points into SPG points as well at a 3:1 ratio (I think thats the ratio) to open up some more hotel options.

as stated by others, I find more value in the hotel redemption than I do the air package unless I do the large conversion of a hotel cat cert and airline miles; those are great but you need way more than 70K to do that

Tilly71

In the UK I think MR - SPG is 2:1.

sdsearch

I've never heard of Marriott to SPG being different in different countries. If it is, do you have a link to prove that?

Did you realize the MR abbreviation in this thread is for Marriott Rewards, even though it stands for Membership Rewards (Amex) in many other threads?

bmabnorth

Might be slightly off topic, but I'm considering Marriot > SPG > Aeroplan. Currently a %20 bonus from AE for transfers from hotel partners. So, 70k Marriott = 23300 SPG = 28300 AE * %20 = 33,960. Still considering whether this is a good deal as I struggle to find a good use for Marriott points.

mahasamatman

The OP was using MR for Membership Rewards.

sdsearch

One poster correctly (for this thread) used "those MR points" to refer to Marriott Rewards, then the next poster ("the OP" you refer to) was who assumed it meant Membership Rewards.

It's Marriott Rewards to SPG that is 3:1 (announced only a couple months ago as one of the first steps in the merger between Marriott and Starwood).