United Airlines and Marriott have been friends for a long time, and this friendship extends across the breadth of their loyalty programmes. For instance, Marriott Bonvoy offers its Titanium Elites and Ambassador Elite members the United MileagePlus Silver-tier complimentary. Marriott, in turn, offers its Gold Elite status to United MileagePlus Gold-tier members and upwards.

United is offering an up to 30% Bonus for conversions from various Hotel Programmes.

Between October 1 and 31, 2024, United MileagePlus is offering a special promotion for various hotel points transfers, such as Marriott Bonvoy, Accor ALL, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, World of Hyatt, Choice Privileges, Shangri-La Circle and Wyndham Rewards.

For members interested in converting their Marriott Bonvoy Points to United Miles, United requires you to register for this promotion with your MP number before taking advantage of it. Register here.

This promotion has been on offer for the third year in a row; however, from a flat-out 30% bonus, the promotion has moved to a slab-based conversion. This year, the conversion ratios work as follows:

• 20% bonus for <20,000 miles earned from Qualifying Activity
• 25% bonus for 20,000-40,000 miles earned from Qualifying Activity
• 30% bonus for >40,000 miles earned from Qualifying Activity

The miles mean the number of miles received in the United Mileage Plus Account after conversion. This year, United has expressly excluded the bonuses it offers for conversions from Marriott Bonvoy.

Still, Marriott Bonvoy is of particular interest to us. Usually, Marriott offers a ratio of 3 Marriott Bonvoy points to convert into 1 United MileagePlus Mile. Additionally, when you transfer out 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to convert to United Miles, you get a 10,000-mile bonus as well. So, when you convert 60,000 Marriott points, you receive 30,000 United MileagePlus miles in your account.

In this case, you will also receive an additional 5,000 United MileagePlus miles, making it 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points = 35,000 United MileagePlus miles (20,000 base Mileage Plus miles + 5,000 bonus Mileage Plus miles as per falling in the 25% slab + 10,000 Mileage Plus miles conversion bonus courtesy Marriott Bonvoy).

For other programmes, the transfer ratios are as follows:

• Marriott Bonvoy: United Airlines (MileagePlus) is 3:1
• Accor Group (ALL – Accor Live Limitless): United Airlines (MileagePlus) is 2,000:1,000
• Choice Hotels (Choice Privileges): United Airlines (MileagePlus) is 5,000:1,000
• Hilton (Honors): United Airlines (MileagePlus) is 10,000:1,000
• Hyatt (World of Hyatt): United Airlines (MileagePlus) is 2.5:1 with a bonus of 5,000 miles when you convert 50,000 points in one go to 20,000 miles
• IHG Hotels (IHG One): United Airlines (MileagePlus) is 5:1
• Shangri-La (Circle): United Airlines (MileagePlus) is 1:1 (minimum transfer 2500 points)
• Wyndham Rewards: United Airlines (MileagePlus) is 6,000:1,200

There are a couple of things to note with this United promotion. Firstly, United Mileage Plus miles do not expire. However, the award charts are dynamic if you want to redeem with Star Alliance in the US or globally. Second, United Mileage Plus will cap the conversion of the bonus points at 25,000 bonus miles. These bonus miles will be credited to the member’s account by January 31, 2025.

To maximise this promotion with the transfer of Marriott Bonvoy points, you need to effect a transfer of 250,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to United, which will generate 83,333 United Mileage Plus Miles on a base level, 40,000 Mileage Plus Miles as a conversion bonus granted by Marriott Bonvoy (credited immediately) and 25,000 United Mileage Plus Miles courtesy United Mileage Plus (credited by January 2025), for a total of 148,333 Mileage Plus Miles post the conversion.

Bottomline

United is offering an (up to) 30% bonus on converting Marriott Bonvoy reward points (and other hotel programmes’ points) to United Mileage Plus through October 31, 2024, 11:59 Eastern Standard Time. The bonus United Mileage Plus miles are capped at 25,000 miles. To maximise the promotion, you would need to transfer 250,000 Marriott Bonvoy / Amex MR points to receive 148,333 United Miles (83,333 miles on conversion plus 40,000 and 25,000 points bonuses from Marriott and United respectively)

What do you make of this promotion? Will you convert your Amex/Marriott Bonvoy points to United Mileage Plus miles?

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