Marriott Hotel + Air Package (via SPG points) - bonus freq flyer points

bozbargain on 26/07/2017 - 12:31
Last edited 26/07/2017 - 12:50

I read on PointHacks that United is offering a 100% bonus when purchasing points. I believe from previous comments (nightelves?) that buying a Marriott Hotel + Air package triggers the same bonus points compared to buying miles outright.

According to Marriott, you get 132,000 United points for a 7-night Cat5 stay (which includes a 10% bonus, so 120,000 is the normal rate). Would I be right to say you now get 240,000 United points instead? And are United points considered a good currency, even after the upcoming devaluation (November 2017)?

Travel

Comments

  • donbot on 26/07/2017 - 12:42

    I think it sounds too good to be true, but will be (very) happy to be proven wrong.

  • tuvz on 26/07/2017 - 13:25
    +3

    nope
    two completely different things
    you will not get 240,000 points

  • Cheap Charlie on 26/07/2017 - 14:34
    -2

    OP, did you ask these questions in the questions section on PointHack after you finished reading the article?

    In my opinion the whole point hack stuff is some what of a fallacy.
    You get drawn in after reading an article a=bout some one whom flys around the world in business or fist for $20 etc and get drawn in.
    From what I can see, most such hacks surround sweet spots within the redemption cat on business class flights, predominately short haul.
    Outside of circumventing peak or last minute full fare pricing, a true OZB able to book in advance would prefer to secure a heavily discounted short haul fare, rather than pay full wack economy rates for a business seat.

    More than happy to be corrected

    • bozbargain on 26/07/2017 - 14:46
      +1

      I agree that it's not for everyone but I prefer to combine discounted economy fees with legs in business class (through points) when traveling to Europe with the family (eg business class into Asia and economy from thereon). I find PointHacks a very valuable source of information in that respect. The reason I opened this topic is because there are a few expert points guys here on OzB who hinted to me in the past to wait with booking these Marriott Hotel + Air packages until a good promo comes up. I thought this was one of these promotions so I'm waiting for them to comment here!

  • nightelves on 26/07/2017 - 14:50
    +1

    The Hotels+Air package already has the 10% bonus if you redeem United Mileage Plus points. Which in this case was 120k+12=132k United Points. It even outlines the conversion. When you buy points you get a percentage bonus added to the amount of points you buy. Two separate thing altogether.

    Before the devaluation kicks in you were able to redeem 30k one-way in biz class to South East Asia and 40k one-way to Japan and Korea. After the devaluation it'll be 55k one-way biz class to South East Asia which is an increase of 66% and Japan and Korea also increase to 55k one-way as well.

    Hope this clears things up for you.

    • bozbargain on 26/07/2017 - 15:10

      Thanks nightelves. But you did mention there are sometimes deals where you get extra points on top of what Marriott lists, right?

      bazza1980 mentioned the following in a Velocity thread from May:

      Btw, there is also currently a 25% transfer bonus when transferring from Hotel points to AA miles, so you would get 150,000 Miles !
      https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/miles/partners/ho…

      When I asked if that would also apply to miles acquired through Marriott Miles & More, you answered:

      Yeah it is. I have redeemed a similar offer for British Airways and United and both got the bonus transfer after it came across. Better off waiting for bonus transfer from Alaska Airlines. They offer better rewards redemption and allows 1 stopover per one way

      So if I understand you correctly, the bonus points (above 120k) kick in only when there's an additional 'hotel transfer' promotion, not when the airlines have generic 'points buy' promotions.
      Just really keen on understanding how you can double dip and when it's best to do so! :-)

      • donbot on 26/07/2017 - 16:15
        +2

        Correct. There seem to be semi-regular times when hotel points converting to airline miles (eg. SPG/Marriott) - prime example of the AA 25% Bonus. BA ran one recently for 35% I think, and Aeroplan are running one 35% currently I believe.

        Having taken advantage of the recent AA 25% bonus for hotel point converstions - I can vouch for the Marriott 7 nights packages providing excellent value for the points involved.

        Now, hopefully there is another United bonus one soon, and hopefully availability exists to use them up before the devaluation hits in November!

  • nightelves on 26/07/2017 - 15:18
    +2

    This was the promo that I leveraged off last year from United: http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2016/10/17/leverage-…

    This was for British Airways: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2016/06/23/british-air…

    These deals are in no way related to points that you purchase directly from the airlines.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join