How to transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to another person ONLINE, for free

One of least known and often useful features of Marriott Bonvoy is the ability to transfer points from one member to another for free.

The only snag was that, historically, you had to call Marriott Bonvoy to do this which was a bit of a faff.

No more! 18 months ago, Marriott set up online transfers of points from one member to another.

The page you need on the Marriott Bonvoy website is here.

There are very few rules (these are taken from Section 2.8 of the Bonvoy T&C):

• to transfer or receive points, both Marriott Bonvoy accounts must be at least 90 days old or be at least 30 days old with qualifying activity

• your transfer must be for at least 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and a multiple of 1,000 points (you get an error message otherwise)

• you are restricted to two transfers per month (in or out) and six transfers per calendar year (in or out)

• you can transfer up to 100,000 points per calendar year

• you can receive up to 500,000 points per calendar year

• there is no requirement for both parties to share the same address or be related

Transfers can take up to 24 hours to complete.

Why might you want to transfer Marriott points to another person?

The obvious answer is ‘for an easy life’, keeping points from all adult family members in one place.

The smarter answer is ‘to be strategic’. It makes sense, inside a family or partnership, for the person with the highest Marriott Bonvoy status to book reward stays because this will determine what benefits are received.

(Historically my wife has transferred Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors points from her occasional stays to me, because I usually have a higher status level than her in both schemes and it makes sense that I book any redemptions.)

This is also a sensible option for someone who has Marriott Bonvoy points which are about to expire. The value can be preserved by sending them to another person. Note that you cannot stop expiry of your own points by having 1,000 points sent to you, because this is not ‘qualifying activity’.

It could also help you if you were booking a large number of rooms. Marriott lets you earn points, but not elite night credit, for up to three rooms per night as this HfP article explains. If you needed more than three rooms, you could credit these to someone else and then transfer the points to yourself.

Whilst possibly not strictly in the letter of the rules, this also makes it easier to trade points with a friend:

• Avios lets you transfer up to 60,000 points to another person per year for a flat £50 fee

• Virgin Atlantic lets you transfer up to 2 million Virgin Points to another person in one transaction for a flat £10 fee

• Hilton lets you transfer up to 500,000 points to another person per year for free

• Marriott lets you transfer up to 100,000 points to another person per year for free

All of these transfers can be done online, and clearly give opportunities for informal swapping of points.

You can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points by clicking here (log-in required).

PS. If you don’t have one yet, here is our full review of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card

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

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card from American Express is increased to 80,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 120,000 Marriott Bonvoy points! The spend requirement is changed to £10,000 in six months for this offer. Click here to apply.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 45,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. Click here to apply.

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (50,000 bonus Amex points)

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.)