Use SPG/Marriott as intermediate to transfer points to non-direct Transfer Partners?
Jan 18, 2019, 4:05 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 1
Use SPG/Marriott as intermediate to transfer points to non-direct Transfer Partners?
Hi
Is it possible to use SPG/Marriott as an intermediate to transfer credit card points (MR or UR for example) to non-direct transfer partners like JAL?
And possibly grab the 5,000 bonus miles when applicable (20,000 SPG points / 60,000 Marriott points = 20,000 airlines miles + 5,000 bonus miles).
Or is there some restrictions to the SPG/Marriott points if they are originating from UR/MR transfers?
Thanks!
Is it possible to use SPG/Marriott as an intermediate to transfer credit card points (MR or UR for example) to non-direct transfer partners like JAL?
And possibly grab the 5,000 bonus miles when applicable (20,000 SPG points / 60,000 Marriott points = 20,000 airlines miles + 5,000 bonus miles).
Or is there some restrictions to the SPG/Marriott points if they are originating from UR/MR transfers?
Thanks!
Jan 18, 2019, 6:56 pm
#2
Senior Moderator; Moderator, Eco-Conscious Travel, United and Flyertalk Cares
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Fulltime travel/mostly Europe
Programs: UA 1.7 MM;; Accor & Marriott Pt; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 17,831
Welcome. I'm going to move this to the Marriott forum to see if you might get helpful answers there.
l'etoile
sr. moderator
l'etoile
sr. moderator
Jan 18, 2019, 8:47 pm
#3
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SFO/YYZ
Programs: AC 25K, AS MVP Gold, BA Bronze, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,459
Hi
Is it possible to use SPG/Marriott as an intermediate to transfer credit card points (MR or UR for example) to non-direct transfer partners like JAL?
And possibly grab the 5,000 bonus miles when applicable (20,000 SPG points / 60,000 Marriott points = 20,000 airlines miles + 5,000 bonus miles).
Or is there some restrictions to the SPG/Marriott points if they are originating from UR/MR transfers?
Thanks!
Is it possible to use SPG/Marriott as an intermediate to transfer credit card points (MR or UR for example) to non-direct transfer partners like JAL?
And possibly grab the 5,000 bonus miles when applicable (20,000 SPG points / 60,000 Marriott points = 20,000 airlines miles + 5,000 bonus miles).
Or is there some restrictions to the SPG/Marriott points if they are originating from UR/MR transfers?
Thanks!
At least for the US Membership Rewards program, I cannot imagine an award that is cheaper to book by going AMEX-Marriott-Airline compared to using one of the AMEX partners. It would need to be an award that costs 2.4x as many miles via one of the AMEX partners compared to one only accessible via the Marriott route. But if you need to just top up some Alaska miles or something, yes, it works fine.
Jan 18, 2019, 11:26 pm
#5
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,369
OP is trying to transfer points to airline miles from a program that doesn't transfer to the airline of interest, so laundering them through Starriott is a way to possibly make a transfer that otherwise couldn't be done as it can't be done directly.
Jan 18, 2019, 11:57 pm
#6
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SFO/YYZ
Programs: AC 25K, AS MVP Gold, BA Bronze, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,459
I don't think anyone misunderstood that. It's just hard to imagine a case where that would be worthwhile since partner bookings for airline alliances make most airlines accessible transferring directly from banks. I can see a case like topping up an account to get enough for an award you're just shy of the threshold for though.
Jan 19, 2019, 2:17 am
#8
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,369
I don't think anyone misunderstood that. It's just hard to imagine a case where that would be worthwhile since partner bookings for airline alliances make most airlines accessible transferring directly from banks. I can see a case like topping up an account to get enough for an award you're just shy of the threshold for though.
In many cases, there's more award inventory if you're using "native" program miles rather than the miles of some (alliance) partner. In other cases, you must use native miles for premium cabin travel or for certain upgrades.