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American Express Membership Rewards transfer rate to Marriott Bonvoy confirmed

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This is not unexpected, but it is good to have it confirmed.

The American Express Membership Rewards hotel transfers page (click here) has been updated to show that transfers to the new combined Marriott / Starwood programme will go through at a 2:3 ratio.

It erroneously shows as ‘3 Starpoints’ instead of ‘3 points’ but I’m sure Amex will fix that.

This is as we expected, as the old ratio to Starwood was 2:1 with Starwood to Marriott at 1:3.

In theory transfers should restart from today after a suspension whilst the Starwood / Marriott IT merger was completed.


earns points from credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In 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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Comments (157)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Craig says:

    Still Platinum for me, at least for now!

  • e.thomas says:

    O/T IHG points expiring.
    I have no need for hotel booking in known future.
    Would be very grateful for any suggestions to stop points expiring.
    Does buying from the shopping catalogue work? But most items seem an awful lot of points.
    Thanks in advance

    • e.thomas says:

      Does buying IHG points stop them from expiring?
      Thanks

      • Optimus Prime says:

        I think it does. What it doesn’t is counting towards elite status.

    • e.thomas says:

      Thanks Genghis – quick and helpful, as always!

    • Alan says:

      You can always sign up for their opinion surveys thing. That kept mine alive when I wasn’t using IHG hotels very much. Mind you, I’ve not had a survey invite for some time so maybe they aren’t doing it anymore?

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

      Book and cancel a redemption night

      • Alan says:

        Indeed – this works perfectly, do it annually for my Dad’s account!

  • Optimus Prime says:

    OT – I think there’s someone here collecting Alaska Airlines via Marriott Travel Packages (Alan?). They are doing a Mystery sales at up to 50% bonus.

    Source: LL and OMAT

    • Alan says:

      Nope, I topped up my UA account. Don’t even have an AS one so didn’t want to start a whole new one!

    • Alex W says:

      That was me – over a week and they haven’t arrived in my (newly opened) Alaska account yet.
      Thanks for the sale info – even at $0.02 each I am not a buyer with the current exchange rate (thanks Brexit).

      • Lady London says:

        Haha my bet is that side of things is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

        It will for sure get better again but meanwhile the money men will make money on the swing down and on the swing up.

  • Dave says:

    O/T – I can’t seem to see the progress bars towards qualifying spend when I sign into my Amex account. Have they moved?

    Thanks

  • mr dee says:

    Still can’t transfer, hope it gets fixed asap

  • krys_k says:

    OT. I only received 64k out of 90k Avios points from Iberia. Written three times. No reply. Anyone else in this position having subsequently successful received their points?

  • Anon says:

    OT. Hoping to book business class flights to Johannesburg with BA. There is a choice of the 747 or the A380 there and back. What are people’s preferences, is one better than the other. I know and have experienced the upper cabin of the 747, but not really had that much experience of the BA A380. Any advice appreciated.

    • TripRep says:

      Upper Deck on A380 in CW is ok, smaller than main deck, but quieter IMHO.

      Done it from MIA to LHR & LHR to SIN

    • Genghis says:

      Not all seats are equal on BA as you may know. I prefer 744 UD 62A/K, 64A/K even though it’s more clapped out than the 388 53A/K. I rarely watch the entertainment system anyway.

      • Alan says:

        Agreed, you can imagine how gutted I was when two trips booked in 64K got switched to 777 🙁

    • Jamie says:

      I’ve only done that route in economy and premium economy – the A380 is obviously newer (and quieter, more comfortable etc) although found the crew more attentive and friendlier on the 747, I think the 747 is operated by an old worldwide crew and A380 is mixed fleet (not 100% sure on that though!) Tbh if avios isn’t a factor I would always recommend Virgin or even SAA over BA for that route!

    • frakie says:

      I love the upper deck of the 747. It’s like a private jet. It’ll not be around for long so I’d always take that where available

      • Ben says:

        I prefer the 747 on that route but if you get stuck with the old planes (less business class seats) then the entertainment is pointless. With the time of the 747 flight its more about maximizing sleep for me.

    • PhilW says:

      Having done both in quick succession several time in the last year I much prefer the quietness of the A380

  • Alex says:

    I have been spg gold for 8 years thru the amex plat card, but I’m now silver, is that right?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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