Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

See NFL at Wembley by redeeming hotel points with Marriott and SPG

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Marriott Rewards and SPG are offering various packages for the upcoming NFL games at Wembley in October, both for auction and for immediate points purchase.

25,000 points gets you two premium tickets and an NFL gift – see here

Auction packages (some with no bids so far) get you two tickets and a chance to get onto the pitch before the game – see here

See NFL at Wembley with Marriott and SPG

45,000 points gets you two VIP hospitality suite tickets – see here 

Auction packages (all with no bids as of last night) get you two VIP hospitality suite tickets and a chance to get onto the pitch before the game – see here   

There are similar packages on the SPG Moments site.  It isn’t clear if these use separate availability (in which case check both sites) or if they are effectively selling the same seats.

Based on Rob’s valuation of 0.5p per Marriott point, you are “paying” £225 for the hospitality package.  That is £112 per person for the ticket, gift and food and drink throughout the day, which sounds good to me.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

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.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

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.)

Comments (147)

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

  • Rts says:

    Quick Question – if you pay for something using PayPal linked to your amex. Does amex purchase protection still apply?

  • Optimus Prime says:

    Let’s hope Marriott keeps handing out free points during NFL season 🙂

  • Hank says:

    Off topic question – not sure wherebest to ask, so trying here.

    Newbie at this and love this extremely informative site and discussions on it. Basically I want to check what’s the best way to maximise my avios. I put through 10-15k a month on credit cards.

    Right now I’ve just started and got the APRG -referred via Rob. I also have the Virgin Atlantic free card.

    From reading this forum, my next step is the BAPP. Question, can I, and is it the best option to refer myself for this?

    I’ll soon be cancelling my APRG as I believe is correct once I’ve triggered the bonus, and it will only take me a month I’d estimate to trigger the 2-4-1 on the BAPP. What is my best move after i trigger the 2-4-1. I understand most people refer themselves usually for the APRG but I wll be 45 months short of bveing able to apply for this again.

    Thanks

    Hank

    • TGLoyalty says:

      If you have the gold charge card upgrade to the platinum for 20k point then refer yourself to the bapp as you get 18k MR instead of 9k MR with the Gold.

      • Hank says:

        Thanks for replying.

        I’m not sure I understand your post. Are you saying you can upgrade to a platinum and pay 20k points rather than £450? Or pay to upgrade to platinum, get bigger referal bonus then close platinum? It’s the 20k points I don’t follow.

        Platinum was my guess as being what to use after a couple of months when I have closed both APRG and downgraded BAPP.

  • Hank says:

    Thanks,everyone, i understand now. And Ali is correct, it’s the Gold credit card I have.

    Any thoughts of which is best card to get after getting APRG and closing it, and getting BAPP, reaching 2-4-1 threshold then downgrading it before I can apply again for APRG.

    I was thinking it’d be either standard BA or Platinum but not sure which.

    • Rob says:

      You won’t get a bonus on either without a 6-month gap from Gold / BAPP. Starwood is the only way of filling the gap.

      • Hank says:

        Thanks, Rob. Been rereading your card reviews again studying this problem of how to maximise Avios on 100k+ annual spend with bonuses, referals etc included.

        I had forgotten about the 10k bonus points for spending 15k annually on APRG. This may well give a better return completing this spend, it will delay closing the card and hence reapplying for a new bonus, but the bonus on a new BAPP will be closer once this is completed, and BAPP bonus is, at present at least, bigger.

        Rob, it seems there is an agreed strategy to maximise Avios on a 20-30k annual spend. A good article suggestion might be how to maximise Avios on 100k+ spend.

        Thanks

        Hank

  • Hank says:

    I miss your meaning.

    They would not like people to figure out how to get more rewards for their spend? Would you not publish an article if you thought Amex would disapprove of it?

    • Polly says:

      Exactly, Hank…lucky you, having that available monthly spend. Your avios count will mount up rapidly.
      Just aim to rotate your cards every 6 or 7 months, between the 3 cards the gold credit, the bapp, and the spg. Or go for a plat instead of a gold every 2nd time. Your self referrals from plat give you 18k MRs, from the others 9k.
      Do you have a partner you can also refer or parents to swallow up all that spend? So that you can refer each other, and establish a family BAEC account to contain all those avios ?
      Always be spending towards a bonus.

  • Hank says:

    I thought it was added to the first month’s bill, but that obviously hasn’t been case if you have not yet been charged. Maybe they took 20k points for you for the upgrade rather than £450. This would be a better deal for you anyway. Check your points statement.

    Hank

    PS I have always found the Amex customer service staff excellent. All their contact numbers are listed under Contact Us on the website and are freephone numbers, too.

    • S**mo says:

      They don’t take 20K points…
      They used to give you 20K points if you spent a certain amount on the upgraded Plat card.

      However you could only upgrade to Plat Charge Card via this offer if you had a Gold Charge Card, not a Gold Credit Card.

      When upgrading via this offer, it seems some people get charged, others do not. if you don’t the first time round you would on your yearly anniversary.

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