The Marriott Bonvoy program is impressive on its own when you’re earning points for free stays, but one of its many benefits is the 44 airline transfer partners Marriott Bonvoy boasts — more than any other hotel loyalty program. While most of the time you’ll get the best value for Marriott points by redeeming them for Marriott stays, and most transfer partners aren’t worth taking advantage of, there are several airline transfer partners that can give you great value for your points.
Ready to turn your Marriott points into miles and your next award flight? Here’s the ultimate guide to Marriott airline partners — including how to transfer Marriott points and when it actually makes sense.
Marriott Airline Transfer Partners
Marriott Bonvoy has an impressive list of 44 airline transfer partners, including partners within all three major airline alliances. With all but 3 partners, points transfer at the same points to 1 mile ratio. For every 60,000 Marriott points to transfer to a partner, you’ll get 15,000 bonus points (worth 5,000 bonus miles with most partners).
That means 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 airline miles with most partners, or a 3:1.25 transfer ratio.
The only 3 airlines that break this transfer ratio are:
- Air New Zealand: 200:1 transfer ratio. 60,000 Marriott points = 325 Airpoints
- JetBlue TrueBlue: 6:1 transfer ratio. 60,000 Marriott points = 12,500 TrueBlue points
- United MileagePlus: 3:1 plus a 10% bonus with the RewardsPlus partnership. 60,000 Marriott points = 27,500 points (including the bonus points with transfers in 60,000-point increments)
Sometimes Marriott Bonvoy or airlines offer transfer bonuses that can give you an even better value. For example, you may see an offer to get a 30% bonus when you transfer Marriott points to British Airways or United. These bonuses can be anywhere from 15% to 35%!
The list of participating frequent flyer transfer partners with Marriott Bonvoy includes:
- * AEGEAN Miles+Bonus
- * Aeroflot Bonus
- Aeromexico ClubPremier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- * Air China PhoenixMiles
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- * Air New Zealand Airpoints
- * Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Alitalia MilleMiglia
- * American Airlines AAdvantage
- ANA Mileage Club
- * Asiana Airlines Asiana Club
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- * China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles
- * China Southern Airlines Sky Pearl Club
- * Copa Airlines ConnectMiles
- Delta SkyMiles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- * Frontier Miles
- Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Iberia Plus
- InterMiles
- Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Korean Air SKYPASS
- * LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass
- Multipass Fidelidade
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- * Saudia Airlines Alfursan
- * South African Airways Voyager
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Rapid Rewards
- * TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- * Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer
* These transfer partners are all unique to Marriott Bonvoy. That means they don’t partner with Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, or American Express Membership Rewards. In these cases, Marriott Bonvoy may be the only easy option for earning miles aside from branded credit card spending or flights with the respective loyalty programs.
Note that Lufthansa Miles & More was a Marriott transfer partner until mid-2019 when Lufthansa suspended the partnership.
How to Transfer Marriott Points to Miles
Transferring Marriott points to airline partners is easy and only takes a few minutes. You’ll need to log into your Marriott Bonvoy account and choose “Redeem Points” then “Travel.” Look for the option to “Transfer Points to Miles” or click here.
In the next step, you need to choose the frequent flyer program you want to use and enter your airline member number. You also need to choose how many points you want to convert to miles.
Note: You can transfer 3,000 to 240,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per day. You don’t need to transfer points in specific increments, though: you can transfer the specific number of points you need as long as it’s more than 3,000 points.
Best Marriott Bonvoy Transfer Partners
Want to get the best value when you convert Marriott points to airline miles? Some transfer partners represent a great value while others should be avoided, as a general rule. Here are the best ways to maximize your Marriott points when transferring them to an airline program. This list includes the absolute best transfer partners as well as some that can be good in more limited circumstances.
Aegean Airlines Miles+Bonus
Transfer time: 3 days
Aegean, a Star Alliance partner, is one of the most overlooked Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners that offers some great value. One of the perks of Aegean is its regional classifications: North America includes the continental U.S., Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean while Europe and North Africa (including Israel!) are all in the same region.
You can book flights within Mexico, the U.S., and the Caribbean for just 25,000 miles in economy or book a business class award flight from the U.S. to Israel or Europe for only 90,000 miles. By comparison, United requires an extra 10,000 for economy flights within North America or an extra 25,000 miles for business class to Europe. You get an even better value flying to Israel: United charges 140,000 miles for the same business class flight instead of 90,000 miles.
While Aegean passes on fuel surcharges from most partners, you only pay €20 if you need to change an award ticket.
Air Canada Aeroplan
Transfer time: 4 days
While not one of the best transfer partners, you can still get a good value for your Marriott points despite losing value when they’re transferred to the program (Marriott points are worth about 0.8 cents each and Aeroplan miles are worth about 1.5 cents each).
The best use for Aeroplan miles? Economy domestic U.S. flights on partner United are only 25,000 miles round-trip without worrying about United’s close-in fee. You can take advantage of partner award flights without fuel surcharges or fly round-trip in business class to Western Europe for 110,000 Aeroplan miles. Air Canada is launching a new Aeroplan program in 2020 so Air Canada may not remain a good value for Marriott transfers for long.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
Transfer time: 4 days
Planning to transfer Marriott points to Alaska Airlines? Alaska miles are difficult to earn and Marriott Bonvoy is the only easy transfer partner. Alaska is also not part of any airline alliance which makes this partnership even more valuable.
Alaska Airlines miles are the most valuable airline mile and there are plenty of ways to get an amazing value when you transfer Marriott points to Alaska Airlines. You can use Alaska Airlines miles to book on partner Cathay Pacific for a first-class seat to Asia from the U.S. for just 70,000 miles and add a free stopover or get to Australia for 60,000 miles in business class. Book an award flight on partner Fiji Airways to get to Fiji for just 40,000 miles in economy — or book a flight to Australia for the same price and add a stopover in Fiji.
Dreaming of a Hawaiian vacation? One-way trips to Hawaii from the continental U.S. on Alaska Airlines start at just 15,000 miles for economy seats! Other domestic flights can also be a good deal with main cabin award seats on trips less than 700 miles start at only 5,000 miles.
American Airlines AAdvantage
Transfer time: 2 days
While AAdvantage miles are easy to earn, there are many cases in which it makes sense to transfer Marriott points to American Airlines, especially since Marriott is the only flexible transfer partner of American. In fact, American is the only domestic legacy carrier that isn’t partnered with a major card issuer for point transfers despite its relationship with Citi.
Despite American’s move toward dynamic pricing, you can still find great deals, especially with its web specials and MileSAAver awards. You can also use AAdvantage miles to fly on partners in the Oneworld alliance, sometimes with lower miles than other partner programs. For example, you can fly first class on Japan Airlines from the U.S. to Japan for 80,000 American miles or 195,000 Marriott points, or just 60,000 miles in business class. 80,000 miles can also get you a business class award flight to Australia from the U.S. on Qantas, one of the best airlines in the world.
Here’s American’s award chart for partner flights departing from the U.S. and Canada:
If you have an eligible American Airlines Citi credit card, transferring Marriott points to AAdvantage miles can be especially beneficial to take advantage of MileSAAver awards and get a discount of up to 7,500 on round-trip flights to select cities.
Asiana Airlines Asiana Club
Transfer time: 4 days
When you’d rather use fewer miles in exchange for higher fuel surcharges, Asiana Airlines can be a good choice as a Marriott transfer partner. While Asiana offers very low award rates, they also pass on large surcharges, including Lufthansa’s infamous surcharges.
When you transfer Marriott points to Asiana Airlines, you can book a round-trip Lufthansa first class award flight for just 100,000 miles from the U.S. to Europe or just 50,000 for an economy award. The big drawback, other than the huge surcharge, is award space on Lufthansa won’t be available until 15 days before departure so flexible plans are a must. If you’d prefer to use more miles and pay less out-of-pocket, you can instead transfer Marriott points to United and book the same Lufthansa first class flight from North America for 110,000 miles — one way — without any fuel surcharges.
Looking for other ways to maximize Marriott points through Asiana? You can book other Star Alliance partner business class awards from the U.S. to Europe for 40,000 miles and potentially pay taxes and fees under $50, depending on the partner, or book a partner award flight from the U.S. to Korea for 60,000 miles in business class.
British Airways Executive Club
Transfer time: 3 days
It’s easy to overlook the British Airways program. After all, it has some of the highest carrier surcharges on award flights so it usually makes sense to use a different program. However, its distance-based award chart can give you a great value when you transfer Marriott points to British Airways — if you’re strategic.
In most cases, you’ll get the best value when you use miles for short, nonstop flights with economy seats at just 4,000 to 4,500 for routes below 651 miles on British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Iberia. You can get great deals on short-haul flights abroad in expensive markets like Asia. Domestic short-haul U.S. flights are just 7,500 miles or 9,000 miles for zone 2 (651 to 1,151 miles) with options like Chicago to Dallas. American, by comparison, would usually charge 12,500 miles for this route. Because the pricing is applied per segment, not cumulative across your itinerary, it’s important to stick with nonstop flights.
As long as you aren’t using British Airways Avios miles for transatlantic flights to or from the UK, you can avoid the high cost under the distance-based award chart and the huge surcharges.
Emirates Skywards
Transfer time: 3 days
If you’re flying through the Middle East, transferring Marriott points to Emirates may offer a good value. Emirates isn’t known for its partnerships and isn’t part of any airline alliances. While there are several transfer partners with Emirates, Marriott is the only partnership that offers bonuses for loyalty members with elite status in either program.
Before transferring to Emirates, keep in mind that Emirates award flights usually don’t have the best value. You’re typically better off using miles with a partner like Alaska to book Emirates flights. You should also stick to round-trip award flights for the best deal. Note that it’s usually a better deal to transfer Marriott points to JAL instead. Still, a transfer to Emirates can be a good deal if you already have Emirates miles but you’re short some miles.
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
Transfer time: Less than 1 day
If you’re flying from the continental U.S. to Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines is obviously a good choice, but the airline also offers inter-island flights to Tahiti and Australia plus nonstop flights to Boston, New York, and West Coast cities. While Hawaiian has switched to dynamic pricing, they tend to offer better deals than other carriers and they publish a range of points you can expect to need for award flights.
Economy award availability also tends to be very good during the off-peak season, allowing you to fly from Los Angeles to Honolulu for 20,000 miles each way. You can get a good value by flying to Tahiti (first class from Honolulu for as low as 47,000 miles) or French Polynesia (as low as 47,000 in economy from the mainland) with a stopover in Honolulu. You can even make it to New Zealand and Australia from North America with a stopover in Honolulu starting at 60,000 in economy. These are otherwise tricky destinations to reach with miles.
Iberia Plus
Transfer time: 1 day
Iberia Plus Avios miles aren’t the most valuable, and the reward program can be difficult when it comes to Aer Lingus and British Airways — all owned by IAG and using Avios as a currency but with different fees and prices — but there is still some value to transferring Marriott points to Iberia Plus.
One of the best values? Booking short round-trip or multi-city awards. These are priced like a one-way with awards that are distance-based, not price based by segment. You can make connections or enjoy a multi-city trip with an award priced as a one-way flight. You can also book short domestic flights on partner American Airlines for 11,000 to 12,000 in economy.
Planning a trip to Spain? While other airlines require at least 30,000 miles one-way in economy to fly from the U.S. to Europe, you can get from the east coast to Madrid in business class for just 34,000 Avios miles during the off-peak season.
Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank
Transfer time: 2 days
JAL is one of Marriott Bonvoy’s best airline partners for two reasons: it’s difficult to earn Japan Airlines miles outside of Marriott and they allow multiple stopovers with an open jaw on award flights. While some partners come with large surcharges and taxes, you can avoid them with many Oneworld alliance partners.
A great use for JAL miles? Booking Emirates flights at decent rates. Most of the time, JAL is the best way to book Emirates flights now because it uses its distance-based award chart. When you book an award flight, you can include up to 6 segments and 2 stopovers with a cost that’s based on the combined distance.
You can also book Japan Airlines flights and find some good deals, especially from the U.S. to Japan with one-way economy awards at just 25,000 miles. That means you need only 60,000 Marriott points to book a flight to Japan — a pretty unbeatable deal.
Korean Air SKYPASS
Transfer time: 2 days
Marriott Bonvoy is now one of the only easy ways to earn Korean Air SKYPASS miles thanks to an end to their partnership with Chase. When you transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Korean Air, you can book business class flights on Korean and enjoy their famous Apex Suites which offer the experience of a private jet with private seats that recline into a flat bed. During the off season, you can book business class from the U.S. to Korea for just 62,500 SkyPass miles! If you book before July 2020, when free stopovers will be eliminated, you can add a stopover in Hong Kong with no extra miles.
There are also some good deals when you book a SkyTeam partner flight with Korean Air, including 50,000 miles round-trip from North America to Europe or South America. Hawaii is even included in the North America region to potentially book round-trip flights from the continental U.S. to Hawaii for just 25,000 SkyPass miles.
Southwest Rapid Rewards
Transfer time: 1 day
Southwest may not be your go-to airline, but it shouldn’t be overlooked for affordable domestic and Caribbean flights. Southwest Rapid Rewards is a surprisingly decent frequent flyer program that’s user-friendly and does not have fees for flight changes or cancellations. You can also book award flights with absolutely no blackout dates. As long as there’s a cash ticket available for the flight, you can book it with Rapid Rewards points. The cost of flights are tied to the cash price with Southwest points typically worth 1.4 to 1.8 cents each.
Southwest mostly has domestic U.S. routes but they’re also a great transfer partner for booking award flights to the Caribbean and Hawaii. Southwest can also be a good use for your Marriott points if you don’t have a flexible travel schedule since they have no blackout dates.
To get the best value when you transfer Marriott points to Southwest Rapid Rewards, look for Wanna Get Away fares which often make Southwest points worth 1.8 cents each. Because Marriott points transfer to Southwest in a day or less, you have a better chance of snagging good deals when you see them.
As you can see, you can snag a flight from Los Angeles to Dallas for just 4,426 miles.
United MileagePlus
Transfer time: 2 days
Marriott and United have a special partnership that gives you a 10% bonus when you transfer Marriott points to MileagePlus. That means 60,000 Marriott points become 27,500 United miles, not 25,000.
Transferring Marriott points to United isn’t always the best value, but United doesn’t pass on fuel surcharges for partner award flights, potentially saving you hundreds, especially with first class and business class. Flying Lufthansa from the U.S. to Europe would cost 110,000 miles but just $5.60 in taxes while the same award through Aeroplan would cost $800 in taxes and fees but only 70,000 miles. You can also get a steal on short-haul flights between cities in Europe, Australia, and Japan.
Not-So-Great Marriott Transfer Partners
While the above airline partners can offer a good or even great value for Marriott Bonvoy transfers, a long list of partners aren’t worth it. These transfer partners should usually be avoided, although there are some limited exceptions.
- Aeroflot. While transferring Marriott points to Aeroflot can make sense in a few situations, such as booking award flights at just 15,000 miles each way within Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Hawaii, it takes about 3 weeks for Marriott points to transfer. There are also fuel surcharges.
- Aeromexico. While the program has some great perks, including its SkyTeam Go Round the World Pass award ticket, it simply isn’t a good value for your Marriott points.
- Air China. Marriott is the best way to earn PhoenixMiles without flying Air China, but you don’t get a good value because your points will transfer to kilometers, not miles. The program also has a subpar award chart that’s tricky to use.
- Air France-KLM. You can transfer many other points and instantly rather than using Marriott points.
- Air New Zealand. The transfer ratio is very unfavorable and the Airpoints program has high fees and a costly award chart.
- Alitalia MilleMiglia. It’s better to use a Capital One card to earn MilleMiglia miles. Capital One miles transfer at a 2:1.5 ratio.
- ANA Mileage Club. While there are some sweet spots, like round-trip from the U.S. to Europe for 55,000 miles, ANA passes on partner surcharges unlike United and AIr Canada, for example.
- Avianca LifeMiles. You’ll get a better value transferring Capital One miles at a 2:1.5 ratio. Amex Membership Rewards points and Citi ThankYou points can also be transferred to Avianca.
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. There are better ways to earn Asia Miles such as transferring Capital One miles at a 2:1.5 ratio. The program also has complicated rules and it can be difficult to book award flights.
- China Eastern Airlines. This program has limited value as the partner award chart is essentially worthless and one-way awards cost as much as round-trip awards with most programs.
- China Southern Airlines. This program has limited value similar to China Eastern Airlines.
- Copa Airlines. The ConnectMiles program has almost the same award chart as United but you get a better value simply transferring Marriott points to United MileagePlus.
- Delta SkyMiles. SkyMiles don’t provide the best value, and there are limited ways to get a good value when you transfer Marriott points to Dela.
- Etihad Guest. You’ll get a better value transferring Capital One miles at 2:1.5 to Etihad than using Marriott Bonvoy prices. Plus, you can’t search for partner awards online through Etihad and the Etihad website also isn’t great at booking connecting itineraries.
- Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club. Unfavorable award rates and fuel surcharges.
Frontier Airlines. It can take up to 6 weeks for Marriott points to transfer and it’s hard to get a good value. - JetBlue TrueBlue. The transfer ratio is low at 6:1.
- LATAM Airlines & Multipass. The award chart is inaccurate and uses one-way rates with unpredictable costs.
- Qantas Frequent Flyer. You can get a better value transferring Capital One miles at 2:1.5. You can also transfer Amex Membership Rewards points and Citi ThankYou points to Qantas.
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club. You can transfer Capital One miles to Qatar Airways at a much better 2:1.5 ratio with a 24-hour transfer time instead of 3 days with Marriott.
- Saudia Airlines. The program has limited value.
- South African Airways. The program has very little value aside from occasional promotional deals like roundtrip economy from the U.S. to Africa for less than 30,000 miles.
- Singapore Airlines. Save your Marriott points and use an instant transfer from a different program if you need Singapore Airlines miles.
- TAP Air Portugal. While you can get a good value on TAP flights, it isn’t easy to get good deals on awards and it can take MONTHS for points to transfer.
Thai Airways. Other Star Alliance carriers like United and Asiana offer a better value. - Turkish Airlines. It’s usually better to use Citi ThankYou points if you need Turkish Airlines miles given the instant transfer and 1:1 ratio. While the program has a few sweet spots, there are fuel surcharges and it can be challenging to book award flights on Turkish Airlines.
- Virgin Atlantic. You can get instant transfers from other programs and potentially a better value.
- Virgin Australia. You’ll find better deals with Delta SkyMiles.
Tips for Transferring Marriott Points to Miles
Depending on the partner, it can take anywhere from 1 to 2 days or even several weeks for your miles to show up in your frequent flyer account. Because your miles can’t be transferred back to Marriott, it’s important to plan ahead.
- Have an award flight in mind (and alternatives!) before you transfer points but remember to be flexible in your travel plans.
- Check for flights with plenty of award space.
- Look for alternate flights the day before and after.
- Look for alternate airports nearby.
- Avoid award travel during peak times when award space disappears quickly.
- Always transfer Marriott points in 60,000-point increments if the partner qualifies for the 5,000 bonus miles (and most do!)
- You can use Marriott points to precisely top off your airline loyalty account. Unlike most programs that require transferring in specific increments, Marriott allows you to transfer any number of points you want as long as you transfer at least 3,000.