American Airlines and Marriott Rewards kiss and make up

If you applied for the MBNA American Airlines credit card in May when it was offering an amazing 35,000 miles for signing up, you may be looking for additional ways to top up your new American Airlines account.

A new option has just opened, as American Airlines and Marriott Rewards have decided to renew their partnership.

AA and Marriott were, as you would expect from two giants in their respective industries, partners for many years until June 2010. At that point there was, presumably, some commercial disagreement and the partnership ended.

You can now earn American Airlines miles again when you stay at any of the 14 brands in the Marriott portfolio (Courtyard, Marriott, JW Marriott, Autograph, AC Hotels etc) at 1-2 miles per $1 on the room rate, plus incidentals.

However, as a ‘welcome back’ gift, Marriott is offering 500 additional American Airlines miles (on top of your usual earnings) for every stay at a Marriott group property between 15th July and 15th August. Full details are on the AA website. You would need to set up your Marriott account to earn American Airlines miles instead of Marriott Rewards points in order to benefit from this, so – if you are actively collecting Marriott Rewards – you would need to decide whether this offer was worth the switch or not.

You can also redeem your Marriott Rewards points for AA miles at the following rates:

10,000 points = 2,000 miles
20,000 points = 5,000 miles
30,000 points = 10,000 miles
70,000 points = 25,000 miles
140,000 points = 50,000 miles

The same rates also apply for transactions to Avios, of course.

If you have a large pile of Marriott Rewards points, the travel packages offer even better value.

Starting at 200,000 Marriott points, the packages offer you 7 hotel nights and 50,000+ airline miles – offering a substantial saving on redeeming for the two separate elements together. I will do a full article on the value of these packages at some point.

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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)