Aeroplan has just launched a new 20% transfer bonus from Marriott Bonvoy, which may be a good opportunity to pad your Aeroplan balance if you’ve got Bonvoy points to spare.
20% Transfer Bonus from Marriott Bonvoy to Aeroplan
From today until May 31, 2022, Aeroplan members will receive a 20% bonus when converting points from Marriott Bonvoy. The nature of this deal is fairly time-sensitive, as there’s just about 10 days’ time to take advantage.
Normally, Marriott Bonvoy points can be transferred to Aeroplan at a 3:1 ratio, with a bonus of 5,000 Aeroplan points whenever you convert in chunks of 60,000 Bonvoy points. Thus, the optimal transfer ratio is 60,000 Bonvoy points = 25,000 Aeroplan points.
With a 20% bonus promotion in play, converting 60,000 Bonvoy points will result in 30,000 Aeroplan points, or an effective transfer ratio of 2:1.
Bonus Aeroplan points can take four to six weeks from the day you initiate the transfer to show on your account.
Is This Marriott–Aeroplan Transfer Bonus Worth It?
This promotion was historically offered quite frequently under the “old” Aeroplan program, but this is the first time we’re seeing it offered since Aeroplan’s relaunch in November 2020.
Both Marriott Bonvoy and Aeroplan are cornerstones in the Canadian loyalty ecosystem, with many ways to rack up the points in each program through credit card welcome bonuses and transferring points from American Express Membership Rewards.
Whether or not this 20% transfer bonus from the former to the latter is worthwhile will depend on your particular strategy as a points collector: do you prefer to spread your earning efforts across both flights and hotels, or do you place a greater emphasis on high-value flight redemptions above all else?
Aeroplan continues to represent the best way for Canadians to travel in luxury at a minimal cost, whether that’s booking sweet spots like 55,000 points from Vancouver to Tokyo in ANA business class or 130,000 points to Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways First Class, or leveraging the “Latitude Attitude” for domestic transcontinental lie-flat seats.
Meanwhile, hotel chains have been devaluing their loyalty programs left and right, including Marriott Bonvoy’s recent move to dynamic pricing – and the trend is only set to continue in the coming years.
Thus, if you have excess Bonvoy points that you’d prefer to use towards high-value flight redemptions instead, the current 20% conversion bonus would be quite opportune.
Overall, I’d say that this 20% conversion bonus from Marriott Bonvoy to Aeroplan isn’t too attractive when you look at the big picture, and I personally won’t be taking advantage.
Aeroplan points are easy to earn through a variety of other methods, such as via the 10+ Aeroplan co-branded credit cards, transferring Amex MR points at a 1:1 ratio, the Aeroplan eStore, or the various 5x or 10x earning promotions that we’re blessed with on a regular basis.
However, if you no longer see enough value in using Bonvoy points for hotels and would like to use them towards flights at a higher value, the 20% bonus to Aeroplan would be a helpful boost towards booking one of the program’s sweet spots.
Conclusion
From today until May 31, 2022, you’ll receive a 20% bonus when you convert Marriott Bonvoy points to Aeroplan. This is the first time we’re seeing a historically frequent promotion show up in a couple of years’ time.
If you find a luxurious premium cabin redemption more enticing than using points for hotels, this is the right promotion for you to funnel some of your hotel points towards booking a flight in the future.
On the other hand, if your strategy is to earn enough points to cover both flights and hotels, then it’s best to keep your Aeroplan and Bonvoy points balances driving towards their respective best objectives.
