Is it worth buying hotel points to transfer to Avios or Etihad for the 25% bonus?

Until 13th July, British Airways is offering a 25% bonus (10% with Starwood) if you transfer hotel points from seven major loyalty schemes into Avios. Etihad Guest is offering a similar deal until 6th June.

Since most of the hotel programmes allow you to buy points – and some currently have special offers – I thought it would be interesting to see if any of the deals were so good that you were effectively buying cheap Avios or Etihad miles by buying hotel points.

Test 1:  Starwood Preferred Guest 

This is easily the best deal on the table.  Until May 31st, Starwood is offering a 25% discount when you buy SPG points.

Starwood points convert at 1:1 into airline miles.  When you convert 20,000 at once, you receive a bonus of 5,000 miles.  The extra 10% bonus from the British Airways promotion is on top of this.

Until May 31st, the maths looks like this:

Buy 20,000 Starwood points for $525 after discount (£340, plus any FX fees on your credit card)

20,000 Starwood points gets you 25,000 Avios

Additional 10% bonus gets you to 27,500

Cost per Avios point = 1.24p per point

This is cheaper than buying points at the standard BA rate.

Two extra things to note:

As you can get two seats in the SPG Suite at the O2 for a major concert for 20,000 points, you can effectively buy two tickets for any major gig for £340

There is no bonus on SPG conversions to Etihad Guest in the current promotion so the maths above only works for Avios transfers

Test 2: Club Carlson 

Club Carlson devalued its conversion rate to airline miles two years ago and was never going to be a contender here at the standard rate.

40,000 Club Carlson points will cost you $280. These would convert into 4,000 miles + 25% = 5,000 miles. Cost per Avios or Etihad mile = 3.62p.

Verdict: Terrible

Test 3: Hilton HHonors 

Given the pathetic conversion rate of Hilton points to Avios or Etihad Guest (10:1) this was never going to be a good deal!

10,000 Hilton points costs $100. Transfers into 1,000 Avios or Etihad Guest + 25% = 1,250 miles. Cost per Avios or Etihad mile = 5.18p

Verdict: Terrible

Test 4: Hyatt Gold Passport 

Hyatt is running a bonus for up to 40% bonus points until May 31st.

10,000 Hyatt points costs $240, which is 14,000 points with the bonus.  This transfers into 5,600 Avios + 25% = 7,000 Avios or Etihad miles.  Cost per Avios or Etihad mile = 2.21p

Verdict: Better than Hilton or Carlson but still more expensive than buying Avios directly or using Starwood

Test 5: IHG Rewards Club 

30,000 IHG Rewards Club points costs $345. Transfers into 6,000 Avios + 25% = 7,500 Avios.  Cost per Avios or Etihad mile = 2.97p

There is a loophole which allows you to buy IHG points substantially more cheaply than this at $210 for 30,000. Even at this price, though, the cost per mile is still too high at 1.94p. This is more expensive than buying them from BA.

Verdict: Definitely avoid at the full price

Test 6: Marriott Rewards 

30,000 Marriott Rewards points costs $375. Transfers into 10,000 Avios or Etihad miles + 25% = 12,500 miles.  Cost per Avios or Etihad Guest mile = 1.94p

Verdict: Also no use, more expensive than buying directly from BA

Test 7: Shangri-La Golden Circle

You cannot buy Golden Circle points, as far as I can tell

Conclusion

The only hotel programme where you are likely to get some value from buying points and then transferring them to British Airways is Starwood.

However, with Avios currently offering a 25% bonus on large purchases of miles, the price is roughly the same as taking the Starwood route – and with no FX fees and less messing about required.  I wouldn’t bother with Starwood on this basis.

Starwood is not taking part in the current Etihad Guest transfer bonus.  You could, of course, buy 20,000 Starwood points anyway and transfer them into 25,000 Etihad Guest miles – you just won’t get an extra 25% on top.  You would be paying 1.36p per Etihad mile on this basis.  You cannot normally buy Etihad Guest miles at all.

If you are short of Etihad Guest miles, remember that you can do a ‘cash and points’ redemption and Etihad will ‘sell’ you 25% of the miles you need for just 0.58p.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.