Marriott reward nights may not be easy to accumulate, but the program’s Air + Hotel awards do offer tremendous value. For as little as 200,000 points, you can book 7 nights at a Category 1-5 hotel plus 50,000 – 55,000 airline miles.
Depending on where you travel, those miles could cover roundtrip airfare for two people. Not bad, is it? You’re probably thinking, “200,000 points sounds like a lot. How could I ever pull that off?” Well thanks to generous credit card sign-up bonuses and a 1:3 transfer ratio from SPG to Marriott, that’s really not that difficult to pull off.
Option 1: Get the Two SPG Credit Cards
At the moment, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express has an increased sign-up bonus of 35,000 points after $7,000 spent in 3 months. That’s at least 42,000 SPG points after meeting the spending requirement. Transferring these points to Marriott will get you 126,000 points. Now you’re short just 74,000 points for an Air + Hotel award.
The solution? Pick up the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express and you’ll earn 25,000 points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. Those 28,000 SPG points convert to 84,000 Marriott points. That’s more than enough to top off your account for a Air + Hotel award.
Of course, I’d do it slightly differently. I’d only transfer 25,000 SPG points and then save the remaining 3,000 points for a Category 1 – 2 award night. Depending on when you arrive at your destination, it might make sense to spend a night at an airport hotel. It works out cheaper and if you’re getting there late at night, you’re not making full use of your hotel anyway so why pay more than you need to? Most airport hotels are lower category anyway, so this is a nice way to maximize your points further.
Option 2: Get an SPG + Marriott Card
If you can’t muster up the will to transfer 67,000 SPG points to Marriott (I don’t blame you), then there’s luckily another option. The Marriott Premier Rewards Visa Signature card is offering 75,000 points after $3,000 spent in 3 months. That means you need just 125,000 more Marriott points…or 41,666 SPG points. The sign-up bonus from the SPG Business card helps take care of this. Now you’re ready to relax and enjoy a 7-night vacation plus airfare!
While 200,000 Marriott points sounds like a lot, it’s totally attainable with as few as two credit card sign-up bonuses. There aren’t many ways to get a 7-night hotel stay plus airfare covered with just two credit card sign-up bonuses. I’m sure that will change once SPG and Marriott completely merge into one program. In the meantime, there’s tons of value to be gained from those SPG to Marriott transfers. Take advantage of it while you still can!
Have you booked a Marriott Air + Hotel package before? How did you generate enough points for the booking?
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