We sometimes see airlines offer a bonus when you convert hotel rewards into airline points, and British Airways has just launched the latest such promotion.
In this post:
Transfer hotel points to British Airways with 25% bonus
Between April 19 and April 25, 2022, British Airways Executive Club is offering a 25% bonus when you convert select hotel points into Avios. Specifically, this is valid for transfers from the following partners:
- Marriott Bonvoy
- IHG One Rewards
- World of Hyatt
- Radisson Rewards
- Radisson Rewards Americas
As you’d expect, there are a few terms & conditions to be aware of:
- There’s no registration required to take advantage of this offer
- Bonus Avios will post within four to six weeks after the conversion is initiated
- The date range is based on when you initiate the points transfer, and not when the points have to be in your Executive Club account (since most transfers aren’t instant)
- Each program has a minimum number of points that need to be transferred — that number is 9,000 with Marriott Bonvoy, 10,000 with IHG One Rewards, 5,000 with World of Hyatt, and 2,000 with Radisson Rewards and Radisson Rewards Americas
Should you convert hotel points into Avios?
I’d note that in general I don’t consider converting hotel points into airline miles to be a good value. That’s especially true with IHG One Rewards, Radisson Rewards, and World of Hyatt, where you lose a ton of value when doing this (based on my valuation of points).
I’d say the one circumstance under which this potentially represents a good deal is with Marriott Bonvoy. You can convert Marriott Bonvoy points into airline points at a 3:1 ratio, and you get a 5,000 point bonus for every 60,000 points transferred.
In other words, 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points would ordinarily convert into 25,000 Avios, and then during this promotion you’d get a further 25% bonus, for a total of 31,250 Avios. That means you’re earning more than one Avios for every two Marriott Bonvoy points, which many would no doubt consider to be a good deal.
Personally this is something I probably wouldn’t consider to be worthwhile given all the easy ways there are to earn British Airways Avios. British Airways Executive Club partners with a few transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
On top of that, there are three credit cards issued in the US that earn Avios:
- Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card (review)
- British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review)
- Iberia Visa Signature® Card (review)
You can find a detailed comparison of the three cards here.
- British Airways Visa Signature® Card
- American Express® Gold Card
- American Express® Business Gold Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- 3x Avios per dollar spent on purchases with British Airways
- 10% Discount on British Airways Flights
- Reward Flight Statement Credit
- $95
- 4x points at restaurants
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases annually
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
- $250
- Access to Amex Offers
- Redeem Amex Points Towards Airfare
- $375
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- Earn 1.5x on purchases of $5,000 or more in a single transaction on up to $2MM per calendar year
- Redeem Points For Over 1.5 Cents Each Towards Airfare
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
- 5x total points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- 3x points on dining
- 2x points on travel purchases
- $95
- 3x points on Travel after the $300 Annual Travel Credit
- 3x points on Dining
- $300 Travel Credit
- $550
- Earn 3x points on travel
- Earn 3x points on shipping purchases
- Cell Phone Protection
- $95
Bottom line
At the moment you can receive a 25% bonus when you convert hotel points into British Airways Avios. We’ve seen this type of promotion a few times in the past, though it has been a while. This promotion could represent a good deal, at least for Marriott Bonvoy transfers.
However, personally I wouldn’t take advantage of this simply because all of the easy ways to earn British Airways Avios, while Marriott Bonvoy points can be much harder to come by.
Does anyone plan on taking advantage of this 25% bonus on converting hotel points into British Airways Avios?
Awesome