40,000 POINTS BONUS: How to earn miles with 40 different airlines with the Marriott Amex

UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

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.

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The Marriott Bonvoy American Express lets you earn miles with 40 different frequent flyer schemes if you convert the Bonvoy points. This is a benefit which no other UK credit card can match.

For 26 of these airline schemes, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is the ONLY way of earning their miles via a UK credit card.

You might not realise it but, for example, if you are after Air Canada or Air New Zealand miles, this card is your only route to earn them from day to day spending.

With the Marriott Bonvoy card recently doubling its sign-up bonus to 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (offer ends 14th November) I wanted to take another look at this unique feature.

The representative APR is 54.8% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 31.0% variable.

You can find out more and apply for the card here.

Which 26 airline currencies can only be earned from the Marriott Bonvoy American Express?

Here is the full list of Marriott Bonvoy airline partners (you can also see it online here) and the transfer rates.

For the 26 airlines below, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express is the ONLY UK credit card which can be used to earn their miles when you transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points.

The conversion rate is 3:1, except for Air New Zealand which is 200:1.

• Aegean Airlines Miles+Bonus
• AeroMexico ClubPremier
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air China PhoenixMiles
• Air New Zealand Airpoints
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
• American Airlines AAdvantage
• ANA Mileage Club
• Asiana Airlines Asiana Club
• Avianca LifeMiles
• China Southern Sky Pearl Club
• Copa Airlines ConnectMiles
• FRONTIER Miles
• Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club
• Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
• InterMiles
• Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank
• Korean Air SKYPASS
• LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass
• Multiplus Fidelidade
• Saudia Alfursan
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards 
• THAI Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer

For completeness, Marriott Bonvoy can also be converted into the following 14 frequent flyer programmes. However, these airline partners are not exclusive to Marriott Bonvoy in the UK. There are other options for earning these miles from a credit card, such as American Express Gold or Platinum, and in most cases at higher rates.

The conversion rate from Marriott Bonvoy in all the programmes below is 3:1.

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air France / KLM Flying Blue
• British Airways Executive Club
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Delta SkyMiles
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• Iberia Plus
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Air Portugal Miles&Bonus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Vueling Club

How many miles does the Marriott Bonvoy American Express earn?

You earn 2 Marriott Bonvoy points for every £1 you spend, with 6 points per £1 when spending in Marriott hotels.

These transfer to airline miles at 3:1, as the list above shows, so you are getting 0.66 miles per £1 spent.

If you move 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to an airline at once you get a 5,000 miles bonus.  60,000 Marriott points will therefore get you 25,000 airline miles.  This is 0.833 airline miles per £1 spent on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card.

There are two exceptions to the bonus:

• transfers to United Airlines get a bonus of 10,000 miles when you convert 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points

• you do not receive the 5,000 miles bonus on transfers to American Airlines, Avianca, Delta Air Lines or Korean Air

For someone collecting Air Canada Aeroplan miles etc the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card is a straightforward way of picking them up at an attractive ‘0.833 miles per £1’ rate.

And don’t forget the sign-up bonus ….

If you qualify, the sign-up bonus is currently worth 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.  This converts to 13,334 airline miles.

40,000 Marriott Bonvoy is a special offer which runs until 14th November 2023. The standard bonus is just 20,000 points.

You must spend £3,000 within three months to receive the bonus.

If you collect, say, Air Canada miles, this is one of the very few ways in the UK to give your account a quick boost.

Of course, you can also use your bonus points for Marriott hotels where 40,000 Bonvoy points should get you at least £200 of value.

Eligibility for the bonus is restricted.  You only qualify if you have not held ANY personal American Express cards in the previous 24 months.

You CAN still apply for the card even if you don’t qualify for the bonus, of course.  You will receive all of the other benefits, including the 15 free elite night credits and Silver status.

Conclusion

The ability to earn miles in 40 different frequent flyer schemes at a decent rate is a low profile benefit of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card.

For 26 of these airlines, including high profile carriers such as American Airlines and United Airlines, this is the only UK credit card which lets you earn their miles from your daily spending.

You can apply for the card here.

You can find out more about how Marriott Bonvoy works in our review here.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 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 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:

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.

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:

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.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.