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Marriott Bonvoy and Manchester United part ways

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According to reports in the marketing press, Marriott Bonvoy and Manchester United have not renewed their sponsorship agreement.

This had been a fruitful partnership for Marriott Bonvoy members, with some impressive redemption opportunities available for games at Old Trafford.

This included the M Club box, pictured below.

Malaysia Airways retains its partnership with the club, although this has never resulted in match tickets or any other benefits being available to Enrich frequent flyer members as far as I have seen.

With Virgin Red dropping its suite at the AO (Manchester) Arena, opportunities to burn your miles and points for ‘experiences’ redemptions outside London are shrinking.

Hilton’s new partnership with the Football Association should see some opportunities when the national teams are playing away from Wembley.


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

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (July 2025)

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 Card

60,000 points (to 15th July) 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 The Platinum Card from American Express in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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.

Comments (80)

  • Bagoly says:

    Should the ending quotation marks be pushed out from after SAF to the end of the sentence?

  • John G says:

    If a 100% SAF surcharge is €20 for the very shortest flights, what might that amount to if they have to eventually buy 70% SAF for a long haul flight?!

    They probably picked two business heavy routes where likely they won’t see any change in demand so they can judge it a success and roll it out to other routes. And while they will buy the equivalent of 100% of SAF for these flights to go into their big tank in AMS will the amount of SAF they buy overall really increase? Or is this indeed a stealth price increase?

    • Rhys says:

      IAG last wrote that SAF costs 3x normal jet-A. Obviously, the idea is that this comes down as manufacturing increases.

      Given that they currently buy 2% SAF this does seem like a genuine increase as they are purchasing 100% for these flights. Granted, it won’t be a big increase given the narrow trial period but it does seem like a genuine increase – they aren’t reducing the 2% SAF surcharge elsewhere.

      • memesweeper says:

        If that’s true that’s good — a rare example of not greenwashing

        • Rhys says:

          It IS true. KLM charges 2% SAF surcharge on all flights, 100% on these specific flights in September. You can click on the taxes and fees dropdown when booking a flight on the KLM website to see the fee.

      • ADS says:

        “the idea is that this comes down as manufacturing increases”

        yes, initially. but producers are expected to soon run out of cheap(ish) feedstock (used vegetable oil from fast food shops) – and then presumably prices will rise again.

        • Rhys says:

          …which is exactly the problem that eSAF intends to solve.

        • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

          It can also be made from food waste and since the separate collection of that is being ramped up there is an ongoing additional source.

  • Panda Mick says:

    Wanted to be an outlier:

    Has Marriott dropped Utd because their run of poor results?

    Or this this more strategic… This is what we need to know 😉

  • Patrick says:

    Seems that KLM is playing the “better SAF than sorry”card here 😁

  • David says:

    If KLM are so fond to save the environment why don’t they stump up for the SAF. The plane is taking off with 100 people on board or 2. So let’s call all of this what it is, airlines wanting to be environmentally friendly (correctly so) but at our expense.

  • Ian says:

    Currently KLM gives you the option to voluntarily buy additional SAF on each flight in return for extra XP. Which I always thought was a good way to encourage it. On these flights will KLM award the extra XP for 100% SAF automatically, or will there still be options to buy additional SAF for XP taking the total > 100%?

  • Chrisdf says:

    O/T, there’s an offer on my Amex Plat for £5 off a £50 spend at Morrisons.

  • Barry says:

    In tangential Bonvoy news, I actually won a One point drop yesterday for a VIP weekend package at All Points East, RAYE, Maccabees and more

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