Bits: Avios / Tesco competition, register for the new Starwood promotion

News in brief:

Avios / Tesco competition launched

Avios has launched a competition for anyone converting Tesco Clubcard points into Avios via avios.com.

This means that BA and avios.com are running very similar but different competitions, with different dates!

Here is the avios.com one.  Full details can be found on avios.com here and you convert via the Tesco / avios.com conversion page here.

Prizes: 2 x 50,000 Avios; 3 x 25,000 Avios; 150 x 5,500 Avios

Deadline:  convert your Clubcard points by 15th June

1 entry per £2.50 converted

As a reminder, here is the British Airways Executive Club version.  The tesco.com page to convert your Clubcard vouchers to BA is here.  As per this page of ba.com:

Prizes:  50 x 18,000 Avios

Deadline:  convert your Clubcard points by 31st May

1 entry per £5 converted (auto-converters get 2 entries per £5 converted)

Unless you have only £2.50 of vouchers to convert, or are reading this after 31st May, these competitions are virtually identical.  The avios.com one has a total of 1m Avios to give away compared with 900,000 Avios in the BA one.

The key question is – where do more people convert?  BA.com or avios.com?  You should decide which site gets the fewest (in £ terms) of conversions and use that one!

New Starwood Preferred Guest promotion launched

Yesterday I covered the new Marriott Rewards promotion which runs from 27th May to 4th September.  Starwood Preferred Guest, also now under Marriott ownership, has launched its own offer.

You need to register via this page of spg.com.

The offer, called ‘Take Three’, is a simple one:

double points for Sunday to Thursday stays of 2 nights or more

triple points for stays which include a Friday or Saturday night and are 2 nights or more

That’s it.  All you need to do is check that the hotel you are visiting is on the list of participating properties here.

If your goal is collecting Marriott Rewards or SPG points, there is no clear winner as to which promotion is best:

The Marriott Rewards offer is a flat 2,000 bonus points per stay from your 2nd stay with additional bonuses for trying different brands

The Starwood offer kicks in from your first stay and the size of it is based on your total earning, but requires a minimum stay of two nights

The SPG offer is a better deal for heavy spenders.  2,000 Marriott points converts into 666 Starwood Preferred Guest points.  Starwood Preferred Guest earns 2 base points per $1.

If you will be spending more than $333 on a hotel stay, you will be probably be better off choosing a Starwood rather than a Marriott property.  It isn’t totally that simple – you need to adjust for any differences in base earning and the fact that your first Marriott stay earns no bonus but subsequent ones may trigger a brand bonus on top.  In simple terms, though, put short cheap stays into Marriott and longer pricier 2+ night stays into Starwood hotels, assuming that both chains exist where you’re going.

You need to register for ‘Take Three’ via this page here.

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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.)