Marriott is ending its 5,000-mile transfer bonus for a fourth airline program

Editor’s note: We’ve updated this article because Marriott is also discontinuing the transfer bonus for Korean Air.

The Marriott Bonvoy program has many airline transfer partners. These transfer partners include some programs for which Marriott is likely your only option if you want to transfer rewards into the program to book an award.

Maximizing Marriott Bonvoy’s unique airline transfer options: Part 1.
Maximizing Marriott Bonvoy’s unique airline transfer options: Part 2.

Until recently, you’d get a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points you transfer from Marriott to airline partners. So, transferring 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to most partners would get you 25,000 miles.

But in October, some Marriott Bonvoy members received emails stating, “Change is in the air. Beginning October 31, 2022, the 5,000 bonus points-to-miles incentive with American Airlines will end.” At the time, a Marriott spokesperson told TPG that the 5,000-mile bonus per 60,000 points transferred was also ending for Avianca LifeMiles and Delta SkyMiles.

We’d hoped this would be it. But today, Frequent Miler reported that the 5,000-mile bonus per 60,000 points transferred is ending for Korean Air on Dec. 1, 2022. We reached out to Marriott, which confirmed this information but said it isn’t currently planning to end the bonus for any other airlines.

Related: Here’s what you should know before transferring Marriott points to airline miles

Analysis of this change

ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

It’s frustrating that Marriott isn’t communicating this change on its website. Marriott’s transfer page includes a note stating, “The offer of 5,000 bonus miles does not apply to American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles and Delta SkyMiles.” But there’s no mention of the bonus ending for transfers to Korean Air. Instead, Marriott is notifying members via email who have previously transferred points to affected partners.

A Marriott spokesperson said it doesn’t plan to discontinue the bonus for any other airlines. But given that Marriott is announcing the bonus’ removal for each airline separately, I expect we may continue to see more airlines added to the list of transfers that won’t get a 5,000-mile bonus per 60,000 Marriott points transferred as the months go by.

Since Marriott Bonvoy has dropped its award pricing bounds for stays in 2023 and beyond, some loyalists may find more value in transferring Marriott points to airlines. As such, it’s a bummer to see another airline partner added to the list of partners that won’t benefit from the 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points transferred.

For those transferring Marriott points to Korean, this is a clear devaluation of Marriott Bonvoy points. The Korean Airlines SkyPass program doesn’t provide the value that it used to, but it’s still one of the best ways to book Korean Airlines flights on points. No other points programs transfer to Korean either, making this change particularly painful for frequent Korean Air travelers.

Related: How I’m spending over 5 million Marriott Bonvoy points

Bottom line

It’s never good to see a loyalty program remove benefits its members enjoy. Unfortunately, I suspect more programs will lose this bonus over the coming months and years.

On the bright side, you can transfer points from other programs to American, Avianca and Delta:

American Airlines: Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt Rewards.
Avianca: American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One, Citi ThankYou, Marriott Bonvoy and Brex Cash.
Delta Air Lines: American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Korean Air: Marriott Bonvoy.

If you’re planning to transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Korean Air, I recommend doing so before Dec. 1, 2022. If you get an email from Marriott about the bonus ending for other airlines in the future, consider forwarding it to tips@thepointsguy.com.