Both of These Hotel Programs Offer Bonus Miles for Point Conversions to AAdvantage Program

American Airlines AAdvantage members can convert their hotel points from not one, but two programs with a bonus right now. Starwood Preferred Guest offers a 20-percent conversion bonus, and Marriott Rewards program offers a 30-percent conversion bonus on transferred points to the airline.

SPG members have until Oct. 31 to transfer Starpoints. Marriott Rewards members have until Dec. 5.

What Are Conversion Rates?

Don’t forget that converting Starpoints in chunks of 20,000 earns another 5,000 miles for every 20,000 points transferred, plus the bonus. After all the math, SPG members can end up with 30,000 AAdvantage miles for every 20,000 Starpoints converted. Forty thousand Starpoints will yield 60,000 AAdvantage miles, and 60,000 Starpoints will yield 90,000 AAdvantage miles.

A secondary bonus will net you another 10,000 AAdvantage miles for every 100,000 miles received from the transfers.

Marriott Rewards points do not transfer at a 1-1 ratio. The conversion rates are as follows:

10,000 points = 2,000 miles + 600 bonus miles = 2,600 AAdvantage miles

20,000 points = 5,000 miles + 1,500 bonus miles = 6,500 AAdvantage miles

30,000 points = 10,000 miles + 3,000 bonus miles = 13,000 AAdvantage miles

70,000 points = 25,000 miles + 7,500 bonus miles = 32,500 AAdvantage miles

140,000 points = 50,000 miles + 15,000 bonus miles = 65,000 AAdvantage miles

It’s important to note that Marriott’s Hotel + Air Packages are excluded from the bonus, which makes this transfer deal less lucrative than some others we’ve seen.

Which Points Offer A Better Deal?

Because SPG gives an additional 5,000 miles for every 20,000 points converted, transferring Starpoints offers a better deal in most cases. Additionally, Marriott Rewards points can be converted to Starpoints at a 3-1 ratio, which comes into play here.

For example, if you transfer 10,000 Marriott Rewards points to the AAdvantage program, you will wind up with 2,600 American Airlines miles. Transferring the same points to Starwood and then to AA will net you 3,333 Starpoints and then 4,000 AAdvantage miles after the 20-percent bonus is applied. I recommend playing with some numbers before making a transfer.

Should You Transfer?

Now, this is a personal question only you can answer. Generally, Starpoints are worth a lot more than AAdvantage miles, even with a transfer bonus. Not to mention, finding decent SAAver availability has become a tall order in the recent months. Generally, I do not recommend making speculative transfers. However, if you have an award in mind, there’s available space and you’re short on points, go ahead and transfer a few thousand points to meet your travel goals.

Will you take advantage of one of the transfer deals? Do you have a redemption in mind?