Amex Points Transfer Offer: Get 50% Extra Marriott Bonvoy Points

By | November 20, 2019

American Express India has been testing the waters recently with the Hilton points transfer Offer wherein you can transfer your Amex MR to Hilton and get 50% extra points. It seems the offer worked out for them that now they’ve the offer enabled for Marriott Bonvoy too. This is a GREAT NEWS if you’re into Marriott like me. Here are all the details,

Offer Details

  • Offer: Get 50% extra points on transferring your Amex MR points to Marriott Bonvoy.
  • Offer Period: 15th Sep – 31st Oct 2019
  • Fulfilment: 8 weeks from the offer end date (31st Dec’19), for the additional Marriott Bonvoy Bonus Points to be awarded
  • Redemption Fee: Rs.250 (plus applicable GST) would be levied for all American Express Cards except for Centurion Card, Platinum Card, Platinum Reserve, Travel Credit Card and Platinum Corporate Card.
  • Source

That’s a neat & simple offer which should fetch you 50% more Marriott Bonvoy points on transfer. Meaning, if you’re into Marriott, all your Amex spends are boosted with 50% more reward rate.

The big boost is for those holding Amex Platinum with International spends as you get 3X points there. Just incase if you’re unaware of the capability of Marriott Bonvoy Points, do check out the other article on Maximising Amex MR Points.

But hey, the decision to put the redemption fee on non-premium cards isn’t a good move.

Bottomline

It is amazing to see such offers show up with American Express. As you might know, I’ve been longing for the Marriott Credit card in India for a while, so this offer is definitely a great move.

And not just that, this festive season, you shall make use of this offer along with the upcoming 2019 Diwali Spend based offer to get greater returns on your spend on American Express credit cards.

Just incase if you are not in the Amex ecosystem yet, here are some of cards worth applying,

While I’m excited about the Amex – Marriott offer, what’s your thoughts on this Marriott Bonvoy Points transfer offer? Feel free to share your views in the comments below.

Update: Fulfilment for Sep 2019 transfers done on Nov 17th

61 thoughts on “Amex Points Transfer Offer: Get 50% Extra Marriott Bonvoy Points

  1. Rahul

    This sounds really good. Will transfer by Mid/end of october by earning some additional 5-6k points 🙂

    Reply
  2. Amit Handa

    I just checked the same on Amex Website and same you updated here on the very same day.

    Great work Siddarth!

    Yup! 50% more points option is also good for guys who recently received Amex Platinum Charge cards recently. It will be live getting 1.825 lacs Marriot potint. that will be equal to 2.5 years value.

    As festive season is just about to start and Amex starts shifting its gear early. It is a good move by Amex. We can also expect some spend based offers as well. Lets thumps for Amex.

    Reply
  3. AV

    Hi Sid,

    Can you share me URL of Marriott Bonvoy where I can register for membership because i count found Indian website of Marriott Bonvoy.

    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      I don’t think Marriott has a separate website for India. Its all same.

      Reply
      1. AV

        Thanks, Sid I just became the member of Marriott Bonvoy membership. And by reading your informative credi card blog I got approved my DCB today. I came into the credit points game when I started following your blog.

        Reply
  4. Amex Guy

    This offer will read from good to great depending on a person’s travel pattern. Marriott’s season based points table just kicked in. So this offer flattens it out for people who stay in peak season.

    But, for folks like me who are okay with staying off-peak, the new points table and this offer combined makes it unbelievable. For a hotel I had to spend 7500 points a night until last week, I can spend 3333 now.

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      Found any nice properties with Off-peak rates enabled? I could only see peak rates on most properties in TN.

      Reply
    2. Neo

      Slightly off topic, but if i were to apply for the Amex Plat today, would i be able to get the MRs to transfer to Marriott in time for this promo ?

      ~Neo

      Reply
      1. Sujit Kumar Hota

        One of my friends – a new to amex customer got his card approved on 4th day and and the plastic on 8th. Himanshu got it in approx 26 days. So it depends on your luck and planetary positions.

        Reply
      2. SH

        You can make it on time – may be just in time. If you apply today, then you would need at least 2 weeks to get the card. I had two Amex cards when I sourced this, and yet they visited both my residence and office for verification purposes. All these take time. Then say you get the card by 7th Oct, it will all depend on the statement cycle – as the bonus points will get credited after you have paid the fees. So if your cycle is say on early Oct – you will be out of luck. You should call up the Amex Plat Charge line and see if you can influence at least the billing cycle. They are usually able to change the date when the statement is generated if you call them after getting the card, but before using it. That way you will be able to advance your billing cycle say to 15th Oct and in that case you will have made it. Best of luck. Let us know how you fare.

        Reply
        1. SH

          Correction…So if your cycle is say on early Oct – you will be out of luck. It should be read as: So if your cycle is say on early NOV – you will be out of luck.

          Reply
          1. Neo

            Hi SH,
            So i went ahead with the Plat Charge & the bonus points were credited the usual 2 days after spend ( 10K points for referral on spending 10K & 100K on total 25K threshold)
            Transferrred the entire stash to Bonvoy & waiting for the 50% bonus to hit.
            The TAT for Priority pass is too long ( 4 weeks ) but they were accomodating enough to give the membership # & a web PIN to create a digital card.
            The odd thing probably are the long waiting times when reaching out at the Platinum helpline or maybe I am expecting too much :P.
            Also, any idea, how long does the Taj Gold membership kit take to be received ?

      3. rqulnayak

        It depends.
        If you already have an Amex card, you won’t need to go through the whole KYC and document submission thing and you could potentially get the card within the next 5-7 days. Then ts just the matter of spending 25k and getting your 1 lac bonus plus 10k of referral bonus .

        However if you arent already an Amex customer. The whole process could take 15-20 days.

        Reply
      4. Shivi

        Waiting for the time when AmEx starts issuing cards to Tier 2 City residents. Sigh! They need to change their decade old redundant policy.

        Reply
        1. BlackShadow

          I feel it makes sense for them to still have that rule. The majority of outlets in Tier 2 city do not accept Amex. Then again there will be posts of people saying stuff like “If the card is not accepted in majority of outlets, why are they giving out cards to people in those cities.” In India, it is a double-edged sword. So it makes sense.

          Reply
      5. Neo

        What it also means is that Marriott to airline transfer is also effectively 2:1. add to that the 5k bonus on transferring 60k miles & an opportunity to hack into Alaska Airlines makes this a super opportunity.

        Reply
  5. Shaunak Guharay

    This is absolutely brilliant.

    I have a bunch of MR points accumulated, which I was intending to transfer to Marriott anyway. The bonus points offer + no redemption charge on Plat Reserve makes this a very sweet deal indeed.

    I saw the Hilton Honors bonus last month, but honestly, redemption rate on Hilton is not that great. I usually try to redeem points in lower category hotels, something I would be paying cash for otherwise anyway, and they often fetch values > Re 1 to 1.2 per MR (consider 1:1 MR->Marriott) very easily.

    Reply
  6. Mahendra G

    Great article again as usual.

    By the way, could please review Bajaj Finserv World Plus SuperCard.
    Interesting fact about that card is ATM withdrawal has no charges for 50days.

    Reply
  7. Gkcards

    Is it useful to convert travel and rewards card points? For travel card, I think the points get converted to milestone offers, and for rewards card, there are again milestones at 18/24k points

    Reply
  8. Ranjan Ladani

    Hello Siddharth Sir,
    I already have two credit cards. Then, I received a call from ICICI Bank (Branch) and was told about my pre-approved Coral Card. I was excited and submitted my documents to them with application form.

    Then, I did some research and concluded that I am no more interested in that card. It’s only been two days. Can I cancel my application ? Should I call customer care or Visit the Branch ? Please let me know the procedure.

    Since it’s only been two days, I hope there would not be any Hard enquiry ! Is application cancellation going to affect my score ? I am worried since I am planning to apply for a Home loan.

    Reply
  9. Krishna

    Hi Sid,
    recently i got 40K marriot points and i am platinum elite member, how effectively i can use this and what luxury hotels i can get at good rates in India.

    Reply
    1. Neo

      35K points get you a night at say a W Goa, JW Marriott Walnut Grove, Mussoorie among other things.
      Being a platinum, there is free breakfast for two & lounge access.
      Now since Marriott has variable rates, you may want to check exact points needed. Category 1 & 2 hotels should give redemption too.

      ~Neo

      Reply
  10. Amann

    Neo

    That depends on when Amex issues you the reward points.

    Say you apply and get the card on 1st OCT. Then, the only question is whether Amex issues reward points in 3 working days after swipe like SC or on statement date like most Card Issuers.

    Reply
    1. Rahul

      Amex hdfc and many others issue reward points 3 days after swipe. Even citi does I believe.

      Reply
  11. Neo

    I checked with an Amex rep. Card should come in 3 4 days ( have the MRCC, Gold charge & plat travel) and points should kick in within 48 hrs of 25k spend. Fingers crossed & shall be completing the app tomorrow.
    125k plus 20k on 4 suppl. cards with the current promo is too good to miss.
    Also, Marriott is running a points sale of its own. So maybe use the 25k to buy more points and get 3x on the plat.

    Reply
  12. Utkarsh

    Thank you So much for this article, Sid!
    I got my AmEx Platinum last week. (Now I have my 3 dream cards: Infinia, Diners Black and AmEx Plat. All thanx to knowledge gained through Your articles.) After reading your article, I completed my 25K worth purchase. Now waiting for the statement to be generated so that I can pay that dreaded joining fee plus the bill and get the 1.1L bonus points (2 add on cards so 10k extra).
    Like you, I’m fond of Marriott too. Wondering how many points I should transfer. Any suggestions?

    Reply
      1. Utkarsh

        Whoa! Really?
        After this if I want to redeem points for some travel, can I still do it via the points in Marriott Bonvoy?
        Also, on the website, Bonvoy is yet to upgrade me to Gold Elite (only Hilton was prompt and approved Gold membership within a day of enrolling). Then should I wait till I’m a Gold Elite to transfer my 1Lakh points? Or it makes no difference and I can do it right away?
        Thanx in advance,
        Utkarsh.

        Reply
        1. Siddharth Post author

          Choice is yours.
          It makes no difference. You can transfer anytime.

          Reply
          1. Utkarsh

            I went for it 🙂
            Thanx again Sid!
            (What’s interesting is that the AmEx executive on the phone Actually told me that I was doing the right thing. Taking interest and detailing how it’ll help me. I’m impressed.)

        2. Neo

          Utkarsh, dont think just about hotels with bonvoy. Bonvoy transfers to a lot of airlines 3:1 ( 2:1 effective this promo). Also, remember that for every 60K points transferred,Bonvoy gives you a bonus 5k miles. What this can mean is, for 60K points transferred to Alaska Airlines, you get 25K miles which is good enough for a DEL-NRT-BKK/SIN/HKG business class. And you pay some $55 as tax.
          I don’t know about your travel patterns, but if you have work related travel which takes you to Marriott properties, take up the Platinum challenge in 2020. 16 Nights in 3 months & you get bumped up to Platinum.

          ~Neo

          Reply
          1. Atul

            If air miles are the main considerations then you get better returns by directly transferring points from Amex to the Airline Frequent Flyer plans. In most cases the conversion is 1:1. Going this route to indirectly get air miles would be a devaluation in most cases.

          2. Utkarsh

            Whoa!
            Thanx a lot Neo. Will keep this in
            Ind for sure 🙂

            Utkarsh.

          3. S&S

            Intra Asia sweet spot removed by Alaska, effective yesterday. Shows on their award charts.
            Now stopover available only between regions.
            (Ex. Hyd-Hkg-North America)
            That’s a blow for future travel planned.
            It was milked to the max, courtesy promotions by Singapore based bloggers looks like.
            Was too good to last this long.

            Here’s where Asia Miles can still be handy.

            S&S

        3. ANI

          Before getting Amex platinum I thought Amex offering some best benefit in Marriott gold and later I found it’s not so great , so better do a Marriott platinum challenge and do 16 night in 3 months time so u will get Platinum which is far superior than gold, in this aspect Amex is too primitive they forget to understand that SPG / Marriott merged and gold is no longer an attractive elite tier. The funny part is you don’t need to be a an elite gold member to do a platinum challenge, open an account today and call Marriot they will enrol you for the challenge and you become platinum ! So what way Amex given benefits? These are my recent thoughts after using the card for 6 months. I’m staying 15 nights in Marriott hotels MONTHLY now & these are my learnings and their FHR costing double than booking directly at properties which provide more benefits!

          Reply
    1. Atul

      Which frequent flyer program is this? Most popular ones like Etihad, Emirates, BA all have a 1:1 points to miles conversion ratio for amex.

      Reply
      1. Mayank Grewal

        Nope. It’s 2:1 – unless they’ve very recently changed it.

        Reply
      2. Ankur

        Checking the amex India website for airline partner’s shows converting rate at 2:1

        Reply
  13. Pankaj

    Hi I did not get the 50% extra points, did it a couple of days back , does it come late. I see points already transferred but not the bonus

    Reply
    1. Siddharth Post author

      “Please allow up to eight weeks from the offer end date (31st Dec’19), for the additional Marriott Bonvoy Bonus Points to be awarded. “

      Reply
  14. Krish

    I have three AMEX variants (Plat Travel, Gold and Rewards). Should I move all MR points to a single card and then transfer or can I do it separately? For that matter Gold and Rewards card have similar value.

    Reply
    1. Neo

      Gold & MRCC cards can be linked together. Plat travel will remain separate. Else you can transfer separately for each of the 3. For linking you can give a call to CC & they will do it at the back end.

      Reply
  15. Sachin Gupta

    Hi Sid,
    Thanks for the informative post. Marriott is also running a campaign where the are giving 30% discount on purchasing their points. It would come out to 60p per point. Does it make sense to buy these points in advance at this rate for any future travels?

    Reply
  16. rajat vohra

    is the offer still valid as it doesn’t show up anymore on the website .
    i was thinking about enrolling on the plat card (would be getting 1.1 lakhs points on signup ) and get them converted to marriot so essentially getting 1.65 lakh on marriot .
    is the offer still active please confirm .
    i already own infinia , which is better to get diners black or plat (more value for money)?

    Reply
  17. Neo

    Anyone, who has the 50% bonus Bonvoy points credited to their account ?
    As per Amex CC, the fulfilment of the same would be done by 31st Dec & not before that.

    Reply
  18. Aakash

    Guys I have a doubt.
    I have got Dinners Black in July, and till now i have earned 1,00,000 points (Mostly through 10x & smartbuy)
    Just now i got AMEX PLAT TRAVEL CARD
    My question is, Is it that easy to earn Amex MR points? as i heard it is 1 MR point for ₹50 spent
    So for a basic Marriot room redemption i need 6,000 MR. So, I need to spend ₹ 3,00,000 i get 6000 MR so that i can redeem 1 night in a Marriot hotel.
    Is there any other way to Accelarate points?

    Reply
  19. Anand

    Hello
    I have been holding HDFC dinners black from July 2019, I have 1,00,000 RP in my a/c (earned it by 10x). I can redeem those RP in many ways.
    I am planning to get an AMEX travel Platinum card. But the reward system is confusing.
    One night at Marriot CAT 1 hotel costs 5000 Marriott Bonovy
    By spending ₹50 I would get 1 MR. So to get 5000 MR I must spend ₹2,50,000 to get 5000 MR.
    So is there any other way to get 5000 MR?

    Reply
  20. Sharathkumar Anbu

    50% bonus points seems to have been credited on November 17, 2019. I think everyone would have got it.

    Reply
  21. Nihar

    Not received the 50% bonus Bonvoy points as yet . I transferred the MR points on 31st Nov. What about others who transferred on the last day ?

    Reply
  22. ka

    2 amex points upon transfer to intermiles shall be 1 intermile.

    however, 2 amex points upon transfer to marriott bonvoy shall be 2 marriott bonvoy points which in turn upon transfer to intermiles shall be 6 intermiles. thus, via marriott bonvoy, 2 amex points can give 6 intermiles.

    do you think, this may add value to amex points?

    Reply
    1. Abhi

      Its actually the other way round. 6 Marriott B points converts to 2 intermiles. I know its a shame.

      Reply
  23. Dhrumil Parekh

    Has this offer ever been repeated after 2019? I have a good number of points and would like to wait if it gets repeated every year.

    Reply
    1. Abhi

      Both transfer partners Marriott and Hilton havent been giving bonus for Amex India points conversions for a while now. Not sure next time around the bonus will be as high as 50% either.

      Reply

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