Marriott hotel + air packages

  Award Ticket Strategies

Marriott Rewards is the only hotel program where it can worthwhile to transfer your points to frequent flyer programs, so that you can use them to book award tickets.

If you are are planning on converting Marriott points into frequent flyer miles, you can take advantage of Marriott's Hotel + Air packages, to get a discount on a 7-night hotel certificate. If you'll have an opportunity to stay at a hotel, for 5-7 days, this can be a better option than just a regular points transfer.

Before Marriott changed the Hotel + Air award charts as part of unifying the Marriott and SPG programs, these Hotel + Air packages were a tremendous deal. In some extreme cases, it actually cost fewer points to get a package (with the free 7-night certificate) than it did to just get the same number of frequent flyer miles.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Get a discounted 7-night Marriott stay along with your airline miles

• When you redeem for a package, you get a 7-night hotel certificate—you can decide where you want to use it later. You can use the certificate anytime during the year following your points transfer, and you can use the airline points whenever you want. You don’t need to have a definite plan to use the hotel certificate at the time you transfer you points.

• You can upgrade your hotel certificate when you want to use it—so start out with a Category 1-4 certificate. To upgrade your certificate, you’ll simply need to pay the points difference between the different categories of hotels. Unless you have a specific hotel stay in mind, always start with the Category 1-4 certificate, and then adjust it later (if necessary).
• Hotel + Air packages can still be a good deal, even if you don’t plan to stay the full 7 nights. Depending on the package you're interested in, the discount can still make the package worthwhile, even if you only need to stay 5 or 6 nights. Unfortunately, you can’t split the certificate across two different hotels.
• The packages are a much better deal when you would need to pay the peak rate for the hotel. Certificates can be used regardless of whether the hotel is offering standard, peak, or off-peak award rates. Marriott has priced the packages assuming that you will take advantage of the certificate during peak travel times.

You'll save 90,000 points on a 100,000 mile package, and 45,000 points on a 50,000 mile package, which can be a savings of up to 50% on the cost of 7-night hotel stay.

100,000 mile packages

Cat 4	Cat 5	Cat 6	Cat 7	Cat 8
Package Cost
330,000	390,000	510,000	570,000	750,000
Normal cost for 100,000 miles
240,000	240,000	240,000	240,000	240,000
Points required for 7-night certificate
90,000	150,000	270,000	330,000	510,000
Normal cost for 7-night peak stay
180,000	240,000	360,000	420,000	600,000
Package savings
90,000	90,000	90,000	90,000	90,000
Percentage discount on certificate
50%	38%	25%	21%	15%

50,000 mile packages

Cat 4	Cat 5	Cat 6	Cat 7	Cat 8
Package Cost
255,000	315,000	435,000	495,000	675,000
Normal cost for 50,000 miles
120,000	120,000	120,000	120,000	120,000
Points required for 7-night certificate
135,000	195,000	315,000	375,000	555,000
Normal cost for 7-night peak stay
180,000	240,000	360,000	420,000	600,000
Package savings
45,000	45,000	45,000	45,000	45,000
Percentage discount on certificate
25%	19%	13%	11%	8%

• Packages are a better deal on lower category hotels. Because the discount is fixed, it is a more significant discount on less expensive hotel stays. For example, saving 90,000 points on a Category 4 certificate represents a 50% savings, but saving the same number of points on a Category 8 certificate only represents a 15% savings.

From another perspective, the 90,000 points you need to pay extra to get a Category 4 certificate with your 100,000 miles is the the same number of points that would normally be required for a 3 night peak stay. But, the 510,000 points you would need to pay extra to get a Category 8 certificate, is more than the cost of a 6 night stay.

• Packages can actually cost more than the separate cost of the miles and hotel room, if you wind up using the certificate during non-peak dates. The packages still provide a discount at lower category hotels, especially for 100,000 mile packages, but can be more expensive than the individual pieces in higher categories for the 50,000 mile packages. The calculations for off-peak dates are even worse.
100,000 mile packages

Cat 4	Cat 5	Cat 6	Cat 7	Cat 8
Points required for 7-night certificate
90,000	150,000	270,000	330,000	510,000
Normal cost for 7-night standard stay
150,000	210,000	300,000	360,000	510,000
Package savings
60,000	60,000	30,000	30,000	0
Percentage discount on certificate
40%	29%	10%	8%	0%

50,000 mile packages

Cat 4	Cat 5	Cat 6	Cat 7	Cat 8
Points required for 7-night certificate
135,000	195,000	315,000	375,000	555,000
Normal cost for 7-night peak stay
150,000	210,000	300,000	360,000	510,000
Package savings
15,000	15,000	(15,000)	(15,000)	(45,000)
Percentage discount on certificate
15%	7%	(5%)	(4%)	(9%)

• You get an extra 10% when you are redeeming for United Miles. United is a preferred partner of Marriott’s, and you will get 10% extra miles when you purchase a package. But, you get the same extra 10% on a regular points transfer, so it doesn't affect the value proposition of the packages.

Cheap frequent flyer transfers when you are booking a multi-night stay

If you are already planning a 5 to 7-night stay at a Marriott or Starwood hotel, you can take advantage of these hotel + air packages to convert points to airline miles at extraordinarily good rates.

We don’t normally recommend transferring points into miles until you have a specific redemption in mind. However, the cost to do so, when you are already booking a multi-night hotel packages, is inexpensive enough, that it is worthwhile to transfer extra points to a program that you are most likely to use.

• Marriott 7-night packages. With the normal Marriott packages, you can acquire airline miles for an additional cost of only 1 Marriott Point per mile (rather than 2.4 points per mile).  100,000 miles would only require 33,334 Starpoints (100,000 Marriott points), rather than the normal 80,000 Starpoints (240,000 Marriott points).
• Starwood 5-night packages. With a Category 3 Starwood hotel, you’ll need an extra 32,000 Starwood points or 96,000 Marriott points for 50,000 miles, rather than the normal 40,000 Starpoints or 120,000 Marriott points. With a category 4 hotel, you’ll need an extra 30,000 Starwood points or 90,000 Marriott points instead.
• Marriott 5-night packages. If you can take advantage of 5-night package, you’ll use fewer points than you would for a 7-night package, but the cost in points for the miles is a bit higher, although still well below the normal price. The following table shows costs for the miles, beyond the cost for a 5-night hotel reservation, in Marriott points. The cost in Starwood points would be 1/3 the amounts shown.

	50,000 miles	70,000 miles	100,000 miles	120,000 miles
Normal Transfer	120,000	168,000	240,000	288,000
1-5	65,000	85,000	115,000	135,000
6	60,000	80,000	110,000	130,000
7	60,000	80,000	110,000	130,000
8	70,000	90,000	120,000	140,000
9	95,000	127,000	145,000	165,000

Award Tickets 101: The Basics

Step-by-Step Guide to Booking Award Tickets

2. Choose the Least Expensive Frequent Flyer Program for Your Ticket

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