Marriott points to United miles question
 

Hi all. We are going to do a European cruise in June, 2013 and we're taking the kids and their wife and girlfriend-- 6 of us in all. I have some United miles and a lot of Marriott points I'm going to convert. We won't need the hotel stays so the travel package doesn't really apply.

I'm planning on converting about 375,000 Marriott points into miles. A couple of questions-- I note that the highest conversion is 125,000 points into 50,000 miles. Are there higher points that have a better conversion rate? Has there been a historical time that there have been bonus miles on conversion? Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

If you do one of the "travel rewards" you can get a much better rate - 1 to 1.

It does come with a 7 day Marriott certificate, that is good for a year, and can be extended another year.

Link:

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi

FYI: US Airways is giving a 50% bonus on miles transferred this way, so that might be a better way to go, since they are both * Alliance.

Valid point.

You get a MUCH better rate on the travel packages...plus, a free vacation :p

Thanks for the advise. Now that I do the math, you are correct. You basically get the 7 night motel stay added for free. Thanks again.

[QUOTE=nachosdelux;18252355]If you do one of the "travel rewards" you can get a much better rate - 1 to 1.

It does come with a 7 day Marriott certificate, that is good for a year, and can be extended another year.

Link:

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi

Hi... I am missing something and hope you can help explain... :)

I can convert 125,000 points to 50,000 miles alone, or 200,000 points to 50,000 miles and get the hotel and car certs. Where is the 1 to 1 exchange? And if I want miles only, it seems cheaper to use 125,000 rather than 200,000 to get the exact same 50,000 miles.

What am I missing? (based on your comment about 1 to 1)

Thanks. :)

After the first 200,000 points, it is 1:1 to redeem additional points. So the real value is taking the maximum award - 270,000 points gets you 120,000 miles. Each point ABOVE 200,000 converts to 1 mile.

So for the OP's example, 375,000 points could convert directly to 150,000 miles. Or redeem 250,000 for a travel package with 100,000 miles, then convert the remaining 125,000 points to 50,000 miles directly. Then you've earned the same 150,000 miles and get a 7 night stay as a bonus.

(This is one big reason some of us are so loyal - that's a great redemption value for hotel points.)

Got it! Makes sense now. Thank you so much! :)