A couple of weeks ago, American Express had shut down the window to transfer American Express Membership Rewards to SPG, as the merger date for Marriott Rewards & Starwood Preferred Guest IT platforms came closer.

At that point, we knew that the window would open again on August 21 after the merger was completed. What we did not know was what were the new values. Turns out, now we can resume the Amex Rewards to Marriott transfers.

American Express has communicated that the new ratio to transfer to the Marriott Rewards currency is 1:1. Earlier, 3 Amex MR used to convert to SPG Starpoint. For the past two years, the SPG/Marriott conversion has been 1/3, so, in that sense, this is exactly a fair conversion from Membership Rewards to Marriott Rewards now. Although the system still refers to it as Starpoints.

As it works out, the rules have changed a bit, however, the crux of it remains the same. The minimum transfers have gone down to a 100 Membership Rewards points. You can transfer a maximum of 900,000 Amex MR to Marriott Rewards in a calendar year now. All the details are here.

As a reminder, the following cards earn Membership Rewards:

• American Express Gold Card: 1/INR 50
• American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card: 1/INR 50
• American Express Platinum Card: 1/INR 40
• American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card: 1/INR 50
• American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card: 1/INR 50

So, if you are planning a stay at one of the many Marriott Hotels around the world on points, there you are with your best bet of getting points apart from staying at the hotels.