A new exciting promotion came out today from American Express Canada. Until October 15, 2022, there’s a 25% bonus when you transfer your Amex Membership Rewards (MR) points to your Marriott Bonvoy™ account.
This is a great opportunity for those that have the American Express CobaltTM Card or the The Platinum Card® by American Express to transfer their Membership Rewards (MR) points to Marriott Bonvoy for upcoming hotel stays.
A reminder that the Amex Cobalt card is one of the best Canadian credit cards on the market. You earn an incredible 5x MR points on grocery, restaurant and and food delivery purchases. Plus, there’s currently an amazing offer of $100 cash back bonus when you sign up for the card!
25% Transfer Bonus to Marriott Bonvoy
Regularly, you can convert 1 Amex Cobalt MR point into 1.2 Marriott Bonvoy points. But, during this 25% bonus promotion, 1 MR point = 1.5 Marriott Bonvoy points! This is a great transfer bonus for converting Amex MR points to Marriott points!! (In September 2021, there was a similar promotion with a higher 30% bonus).
Note that you need to transfer a minimum of 1,000 MR points and afterwards in increments of 100 points. So, here’s some transfer examples:
- 1,000 MR points = 1,500 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 15,000 MR points = 22,500 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 30,000 MR points = 45,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 50,000 MR points = 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
Also, keep in mind that the points transfer could take up to 5 business days (usually just 2 business days) and is non-refundable.
Other Amex Membership Rewards cards (like the Amex Platinum) are also eligible for this promotion.
So, what are some good uses for Bonvoy points?
Obviously, Bonvoy points can be redeemed for hotel nights at Marriott properties. But they can also be converted to over 40 different airline frequent flyer programs. Additionally, you can redeem your points for unique experiences and events with Marriott Bonvoy Moments.
Please refer to my previous article for more tips and strategies to use when redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points.
Use Marriott Bonvoy points for hotel stays
You can redeem Bonvoy points at 6,700 Marriott properties world wide.
Marriott used to have an award chart to tell you how many points you could expect for a free hotel night. But that’s no longer the case since Marriott switched to dynamic award pricing in March 2022.
In this pricing model, the points rate reflects the underlying cash rate of the hotel. Thus, there is no set guidance on the number of Bonvoy points required for a free night.
Although, Marriott has stated that until the end of 2022, award pricing at more than 97% of properties should continue to range between off-peak and peak award costs.
Plus, Marriott has confirmed that their 5th night free benefit is still be available. So, if you book a 5-night stay with Bonvoy points, the cheapest night out of the five will be free.
Marriott Hotel examples
For example, you could stay overnight at the the Montreal Airport Marriott In-terminal hotel which generally costs 40,000 points per night.
Or for a better value of your points, stay at the TownePlace Suites hotel in Petawawa, Ontario. This hotel has decent pricing ranging between 5,000 and 10,000 points per night with an average rate of 7,500 points/night.
If you book this Petawawa hotel on off-peak dates, it could cost a remarkably low 5,000 points per night!
Add in Marriott’s 5th night free benefit and you could stay for 5 nights at this hotel for only 20,000 points! This is exactly what I did when I last stayed at this hotel in March 2021 so check out my full review of the TownePlace Suites Petawawa.
How to transfer Amex Cobalt MR points to Marriott Bonvoy
Here are the steps if you wish to convert your American Express CobaltTM Card points to Marriott Bonvoy points.
First, you first need to add your Marriott Bonvoy account details in your American Express account. Note that it could take up to 5 business days for your account details to be verified before you can initiate the transfer.
To link your accounts:
1) Log into your American Express account and select your Amex Cobalt card (if you have multiple Amex credit cards).
2) On the right side of the home screen, you should see your Membership Rewards balance. Click on “View and Redeem Points”.
If you don’t see this option, you can also reach Membership Rewards page by clicking on “Membership Rewards” under the Information tab at the top of page.
3) Next, click on “Frequent Traveler Participants” under the Travel tab.
4) Now you’ll see all of Amex’s hotel partners. Choose Marriott Bonvoy and click on “Transfer my points”.
5) Finally, enter your Marriott Bonvoy account number and your postal code. Note that your name and address must match between your Amex and Marriott Bonvoy accounts.
Click on Add Account to complete the process. Remember that it might take up to 5 days before your accounts are linked.
Once your Marriott Bonvoy account is linked to your Amex account, you can then proceed with the points transfer. Remember that the transfer usually takes 2 business days to complete but could be up to 5 business days.
Note: you’ll only see the regular 5:6 points transfer ratio. The additional 25% bonus points should appear in your Marriott Bonvoy account about 4-8 weeks after the end of the promotion.
Summary
American Express Canada is offering 25% bonus points when transferring your MR points to Marriott Bonvoy, until October 15, 2022. This is one of the best transfer bonuses we’ve seen from Amex!
Thus, this limited time promotion is a great opportunity for current Amex Cobalt cardholders to transfer their MR points to Marriott Bonvoy for upcoming hotel stays.
If you don’t have the Amex Cobalt card yet, consider signing up via Great Canadian Rebates to receive a $100 cash back bonus and earn a welcome bonus of 30,000 MR points!
Do you plan on converting your Amex Cobalt MR points into Marriott Bonvoy? Let me know in the comments below.
Disclosure: American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information, please visit the American Express website.
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