When is it worth transferring hotel loyalty points to frequent flyer miles?

All of the major hotel points currencies allow you to transfer your points into airline miles.  You will often find the airlines encouraging it – every 9-10 months, pre covid, British Airways offered a 25% to 35% transfer bonus when you moved hotel points into Avios.

Today, I wanted to consider if it ever makes sense to transfer hotel points to airline miles.

In general, hotel points are best redeemed for hotel stays.

How many Avios would you get for the points cost of a £250 hotel night?

Let’s look at the points I expect you would need for a redemption valued at roughly £250 a night:

Hilton Honors – 80,000-90,000 points = 8,000-9,000 Avios

IHG Rewards – 60,000-70,000 points = 12,000-14,000 Avios

Accor Live Limitless – 15,000 points (for €300 voucher) = 15,000 Avios in Iberia Plus or 7,500 Avios in British Airways Executive Club

Marriott Bonvoy – 60,000 points = 25,000 Avios (rate is 3:1 but you get a 5,000 Avios bonus for converting 60,000 points, I took Category 7 as being equivalent to a £250 hotel)

MeliaRewards – 28,000 points = 8,400 Avios

Radisson Rewards – 70,000 points = 7,000 Avios

World of Hyatt – 30,000 points = 12,000 Avios

With the exception of Marriott Bonvoy, where converting to miles is not a bad deal (you get 25,000 Avios for the points usually required for a £250 hotel room), you are generally better leaving large stashes of hotel points where they are.

Assuming you value Avios at 1p each, you are lucky to get 50% of the value of the equivalent hotel room and often a lot worse.

Marriott Bonvoy is the only scheme where I could justify moving my points into airline miles although I would only do this if I needed the miles immediately.

Of course, personal choice also plays a part.

You generally get the best value from hotel points in expensive cities like London or New York.  If your travels take you more to Lyon or Newcastle then your hotel points may be worth less to you.  If you also find yourself just a few Avios short of an award, transferring from a hotel programme may be a better deal than buying Avios from British Airways at 1.6p.

If you only have a small amount of hotel points, it is a different game. Apart from IHG Rewards, which is moving to revenue-based pricing and does now have rooms for 10,000 points at times, and Hilton Honors, where you can now use as few as 5,000 points for a cash discount on your next booking, small balances in hotel programmes can be of little use.

A few years ago I tidied up some of my small hotel balances by converting a lot to Avios, often topping up first from American Express Membership Rewards, and didn’t regret it.  If you will never earn enough for a free room, you might as well convert.

Expiry dates can also be an issue and can prompt a transfer out.

Hotels points can be a way to build an airline balance away from Avios

The other thing to remember is that the hotel chains convert to many airlines, often over 20.  Marriott Bonvoy has over 40 airline partners.  Perhaps you will get more value converting to another scheme?

Marriott Bonvoy is often the only UK partner for a lot of niche airline programmes and the Marriott Bonvoy American Express the only way to earn their miles via daily spend as a UK resident.

Final thought. You can transfer IHG Rewards points to someone else for $5 per 1000, Hilton Honors points for free via the Points Pooling option and Marriott Bonvoy points for free if you call.

Perhaps a transfer to someone who can use a larger total to reach the target they need for a hotel room is a better deal than a handful of Avios for yourself.

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Hotel offers update – May 2022:

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.

Want to buy hotel points? There is a 30% discount when you buy World of Hyatt points by 30th May 2022 (buy here) and an 80% bonus when you IHG One Rewards points by 10th June (buy here).