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One thing that I love about American Express are their transfer bonuses and right now they are offering two interesting bonuses to Hilton and Marriott Hotels.
During “normal” times, the bonuses present an opportunity to save points on a redemption, but we are in COVID times, so are they a good choice? Let’s take a look at the offers…
HILTON AND MARRIOTT TRANSFER BONUSES
This morning, I noticed two transfer bonuses that were not present last night. The first offer is a 40% transfer bonus to Hilton Honors.
The standard points transfer ratio for Hilton Honors is 1:2. In other words, when you transfer 1000 points, you’ll receive 2000 Hilton Honors points. However, with this bonus, you’ll receive 2,800 Hilton Honors points. The offer ends 10/31/20.
The second offer is a 40% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy.
The standard points transfer ratio for Marriott Bonvoy is 1:1. In other words, when you transfer 1000 points, you’ll receive 1000 Marriott Bonvoy points. However, with this bonus, you’ll receive 1,400 Bonvoy points and this offer also ends 10/31/20.
SHOULD YOU TRANSFER YOUR POINTS?
Possibly. <— how is that for clarity?
Personally, I would not transfer points without a, rather immediate, use in mind. Once your transfer is complete, the points/miles are with that airline (or hotel) and will remain in that account until they used or expire. American Express points are a valuable transferrable currency. In other words, they are more valuable as American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points than sitting, in this case, in a Hilton or Marriott account.
However, there are circumstances where you can obtain significantly more value for taking advantage of the transfer bonus.
MATH CLASS
For example, let’s say you want to stay at a top tier Hilton hotel. A single night will cost you at least 95,000 points for a standard room. With this bonus, you’ll need 39,000 Membership Rewards points (instead of 48,000).
This also applies to Marriott. Let’s say you want to stay at a top tier Marriott hotel. A single night will cost you at least 85,000 points for a standard room. With this bonus, you’ll need 61,000 Membership Rewards points (instead of 85,000).
In other words, the higher the category of the hotel, the more lucrative these transfer bonuses could be in securing an aspirational (often insanely expensive) property.
One hotel that has my eye is the The St. Regis Mauritius Resort (Marriott). Mauritius is not an island that gets talked about by the “cool influencers.” However, you may want to put The St. Regis Mauritius Resort (and Mauritius in general) on your radar after you see the pictures.
This hotel is insanely expensive as prices can easily top $1000 per night during peak dates. But as a Category 7 hotel, point redemptions range from 50,000 to 70,000. Although 50,000 points is a deal, a 40% transfer bonus makes this hotel look even more AMAZING!
FINAL STAMP
As always, I don’t recommend transferring points speculatively. Amex points are more valuable as Amex points not Hilton or Marriott points.
Additionally, I am not writing about this offer suggesting that it is “safe” to travel but I do recognize that many people are traveling (at least according to TSA data).
I write this article simply because if you’re going to travel or have a redemption in mind, it’s worth knowing that you can save points for doing exactly what you were going to do anyway.
It’s also worth noting that this offer applies to Hilton and Marriott hotels around the world and 1TP has subscribers that live in nations that have returned back to “normal,” so taking advantage of the offer could be prove lucrative for certain individuals.
Are you planning to take advantage of this offer?
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