All it takes is transferring SPG points to Air Canada before April 18.
Back in November, I wrote a report about How (and Why) I Just Got 152,000 United Miles—plus Seven Nights at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park—for 180,000 Starwood Points. The keynote: the Starwood Starpoints-to-Marriot Rewards opportunity netted nine cents in value per Starpoint. (Only other requirement: You have to like luxury hotels.)
Had I had a crystal ball, I wouldn't have bothered with the United deal, because now Marriott has a promotion that offers a 30% bonus when transferring Marriott points to Air Canada miles, which I generally prefer over United miles.
The bonus works like this:
- 20% more miles when converting hotel points into 2,500 to 99,999 miles
- 25% more miles when converting hotel points into 100,000 to 199,999 miles
- 30% more miles when converting hotel points into 200,000+ miles.
With the Air Canada transfer bonus, you can get seven nights at top-tier Ritz-Carltons, as I did at the Central Park property. It is worth $5,600+ and 150,000 Air Canada miles (2,000 miles less than the United deal back in November).
The Math: Transfer 180,000 Starpoints—otherwise equal to 225,000 Starwood partner airline miles with the bonus—and get 540,000 Marriott Rewards points. You can redeem them for 150,000 Air Canada miles (120,000 plus a 25% bonus based on the current transfer deal), plus you get a tier-four or -five hotel (the top level) free for seven nights.
Why Would I Take Air Canada Miles Over United?
Let me count the reasons.
One, United usually doesn’t have great mileage availability, so you’re stuck using its partners. Worse: United jacks up the mileage rate when you do resort to partners. It funnels you into a high-cost ticket. So Air Canada is often a good option because of the mileage rate, which on many routes is much lower than United's, especially with First Class awards with partners, what I care about most.
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Refer back to my November report showing seven ways till Sunday how good this opportunity can be.