How to Take Advantage of the 30% Transfer Bonus From Hotel Programs to United MileagePlus

United Airlines flyers can earn a 30-percent bonus on hotel points conversions to MileagePlus miles through Nov. 30. Members can earn up to 25,000 bonus miles by participating in the point transfer promotion.

Participating hotel partners provide the following conversion rates:

Marriott Rewards

• 8,000 points to 2,000 miles
• 16,000 points to 5,000 miles
• 24,000 points to 10,000 miles
• 56,000 points to 25,000 miles
• 112,000 points to 50,000 miles

Hilton Honors

• 10,000 points to 1,000 miles

Starwood Preferred Guest

• 2 points to 1 mile

IHG Rewards Club

• 10,000 points to 2,000 miles

Club Carlson

• 2,000 points to 200 miles
• 10,000 points to 1,000 miles
• 50,000 points to 5,000 miles
• 100,000 points to 10,000 miles

World of Hyatt

• 2.5 points to 1 mile
• 50,000 points to 20,000 miles, plus 5,000-mile bonus

Choice Privileges

• 5,000 points to 2,500 miles

Wyndham Rewards

• 6,000 points to 1,200 miles
• 16,000 points to 3,200 miles
• 30,000 points to 6,000 miles

Golden Circle

• 2,500 points to 2,500 miles

To qualify for the promo, MileagePlus members must register between Oct. 9 and Nov. 30. All miles earned via this promo will be multiplied by 30 percent on or before Jan. 30. Club Carlson members will earn a 100-percent bonus instead of a 30-percent bonus, up to 25,000 miles maximum.

Should You Transfer?

The most lucrative way to use this promo to your advantage is by making a transfer to Marriott Rewards. Say, you transfer 112,000 Marriott Rewards points to United, they will turn to 65,000 MileagePlus miles after the 30-percent bonus is calculated.

The other way is to use one of Marriott’s Hotel + Air Packages. For instance, a package of seven nights at a Category 1-5 Marriott property and 110,000 United miles requires 250,000 Marriott Rewards points. With the conversion bonus, members will wind up with 135,000 MileagePlus miles and seven nights at one of Marriott’s eligible properties.

Related: Great Hotels for Using A Marriott Air + Hotel Category 1-5 Certificate

What About SPG?

At 2-to-1, Starpoints do not have the most favorable ratio when transferred to United. However, you can transfer Starpoints to Marriott Rewards at a 1-3 ratio and end up ahead. For example, about 37,333 Starpoints equal to 112,000 Marriott Rewards points, which can be converted to 65,000 MileagePlus miles after the conversion bonus. Such a transfer gives you about 1.74 United miles for each Starpoint transferred.

When you bring the Hotel + Air Packages into the picture, you can convert 90,000 Starpoints to 270,000 Marriott Rewards points. That many points will get you seven nights at a Category 1-5 property and 157,000 United miles after the cap of 25,000 bonus miles is reached.

In Conclusion

As usual, please don’t transfer your hotel points just because. Make sure you’ve got a good use for them because speculative transfers aren’t as valuable as you might think. It’s always good to do some research and at least have a destination in mind.

 

Will you take advantage of the points-to-miles transfer bonus from United Airlines?