With the final integration of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programs, we have updated our Featured Review: Marriott Rewards vs. Membership Rewards (MR) vs. Ultimate Rewards (UR) vs. ThankYou (TY) vs. Club Rewards (CR).
In this review we will compare five most popular and versatile rewards programs in the market. They are similar in that their points can be transferred into miles/points of a number of frequent traveler programs (airlines/hotels).
Marriott Rewards
Marriott Rewards is the frequent guest program of Marriott International whose hotel portfolio includes Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, JW Marriott, EDITION, W Hotels, Marriott, Renaissance, Delta, Gaylord, Autograph Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels, Courtyard, AC Hotels, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, Protea, Moxy, Four Points, element, aloft, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club. Marriott points can be valuable when redeemed for hotel stays in Marriott portfolio hotels. Here we don't want to go into details of hotel redemption, please visit marriott.com for more information.
Marriott points can be extremely valuable when transferred into miles of 40+ frequent flyer programs, mostly at 3:1 ratio. This ratio may seem low compared to other programs, but you have to understand this essentially represents the same value as the old Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points which transfer to airline miles at 1:1 and to Marriott points at 1:3 before the final integration of Marriott Rewards and SPG programs. In fact, with the merger, the number of airline partners actually further increased from 34 to 44. As Marriott points are generally obtained more easily than the points in the other programs in this review, they do continue to represent great value.
Most importantly, if you transfer 60,000 points you receive a bonus of 15,000 points, i.e., 60K Marriott points = 25K miles, or 2.4 Marriott points = 1 mile of most partners. You can transfer your Marriott points to a household member's Marriott account but there is paperwork you will have to do and sign. However, you can only transfer your Marriott points to a frequent flyer account under your name.
In addition, you might redeem Marriott points for the Travel Packages (Hotel + Air Packages): your points will be converted to a certain number of frequent flyer miles plus a seven-night hotel certificate at a certain redemption level. Marriott revamped the Hotel + Air charts in August 2018, with major devaluation. The new travel packages do not represent good value compared to the simple miles transfer without the hotel certificate; for example, you might redeem 330K Marriott points for 100K miles plus a 7-night certificate at Category 1-4 hotels - you essentially only save 60K points for the hassle of finding a single hotel to stay for 7 consecutive nights.
Membership Rewards (MR) from American Express
On the earning side, you earn one extra point for each dollar spent on travel booked through MR (American Express Travel); however, Amex charges a booking fee on airfare or air-hotel packages ($6.99 per domestic ticket; $10.99 per international ticket) so most likely it is not a good deal. Effective May 2015, Amex waives the booking fee for Platinum and Centurion cardmembers. Amex used to have a shopping portal that allowed you to earn up to 10X bonus points; however, it was closed in 2013.
On the redemption side, MR points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, travel (Pay with Points), and so on, at up to 1 cent per point. However, some cards are eligible for a transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to over 20 frequent traveler programs. Let's look at these two groups:
MR points can be transferred into miles or points of the following programs:
Airline Partners
Compared to airline miles transfer, hotel points transfer does not represent good value. Even though MR does not have the built-in 25% transfer bonus like Marriott, Amex runs limited-time transfer promotions on certain partners several times a year, so the value of MR points can be higher. Another huge advantage of MR over Marriott is that the transfer to most partners is instantaneous rather than days or weeks. This can be very useful when you find a particular award ticket available and want to grab it immediately before it is taken. The downside of MR is that Amex charges 0.06 cent per point up to $99 for transfer to domestic airlines. For example, if you transfer 100K points to 100K Delta miles, you will be charged $60 for the transaction. You can not transfer your MR points to someone else's MR account. However, you can transfer your MR points to your authorized user's frequent traveler accounts.
Three Ways of Using MR points for Airfare: In addition to the aforementioned two options to redeem MR points for airfare - Pay with Points (fixed value, 1 cent per point) and the transfer feature, Amex also offers certificates for economy tickets for the following airlines: Cathay Pacific, Swiss, Qantas, and South African Airways. Note that they (except Swiss) are not transfer partners: you can't transfer MR points to their miles but you rather use a bulk of points in exchange for certificates that can be used for economy tickets (or companion tickets). The use of certificates is not subject to capacity control and you can actually earn miles on them. There is no certificates for business or first class tickets.
For example, using the certificate a round-trip economy ticket on Swiss from SFO/LAX to Europe costs 65K points no matter how much the revenue ticket actually costs. If you use Pay with Points feature and the revenue ticket costs $1,000, you will need 100K points. For comparison, if you want to use Swiss' own frequent flyer program - Miles and More, which by the way is a transfer partner of Marriott, it will cost 50K miles plus fuel surcharge (which can be as high as, say $400) and is subject to capacity control.
Ultimate Rewards (UR) from Chase
Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) is a knock-off of Amex Membership Rewards. On the earning side, you earn one extra point for one dollar spent on airfare booked through UR, but unlike Amex, Chase does not charge a booking fee. You also earn up to 10x points when shopping through UR.
The regular UR program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, cash, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point. However, premium UR cards including Sapphire Preferred ($95), Sapphire Reserve ($450), JPM Reserve ($450), and Ink Preferred ($95), have two premium redemption features: one is 25% bonus to travel redemption via UR (1 point = 1.25 cent); the other is to transfer points into miles/points of frequent traveler programs. Just like MR, transfer from UR to miles/points is instantaneous. Also like MR, if you have a regular UR card such as Freedom and another premium UR card such as Sapphire Preferred, you can pool all UR points together and enjoy the premium features. You can transfer your UR points to the UR account or a frequent traveler account belonging to one household member. Points transfer to third parties is prohibited. Currently, UR has the following partners:
Airline Partners
ThankYou (TY) from Citi
For several years, Citi's ThankYou Rewards (TY) had been lagging behind with only one transfer partner Hilton HHonors (this relationship ended in December 2017), and we were excited to see that Citi finally introduced several airline partners in July 2014. Currently there is no points earning for shopping with Citi.
The regular TY program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, statement credit, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point. However, premium TY cards including Citi ThankYou Premier ($95), Citi Prestige ($450), and Citi Chairman, have a transfer feature similar to Marriott, MR, and UR, that allows ThankYou points to be transferred to frequent traveler programs. If you have a regular TY cards such as ThankYou Preferred, you may pool all your points together and the points earned through the regular TY cards become eligible for transfer. You may share your TY points with someone else; however, the shared points will expire in 90 days. You can only transfer your TY points to a frequent traveler account under your name. TY partners include the following:
Club Rewards (CR) from Diners Club
Club Rewards from Diners Club has always had the transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to miles/points. Club Rewards points earned from Diners Club cards such as Diners Club Premier ($95) and Diners Club Elite ($300), both of which hasn't been accepting new applications since late 2014, can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, cash, travel, etc., at up to 1 cent per point. In addition, CR points can be transferred to the following frequent traveler accounts, mostly at 1:1:
Airline Partners
For the master comparison chart, please see the updated review.
In this review we will compare five most popular and versatile rewards programs in the market. They are similar in that their points can be transferred into miles/points of a number of frequent traveler programs (airlines/hotels).
Marriott Rewards
Marriott Rewards is the frequent guest program of Marriott International whose hotel portfolio includes Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, JW Marriott, EDITION, W Hotels, Marriott, Renaissance, Delta, Gaylord, Autograph Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels, Courtyard, AC Hotels, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, Protea, Moxy, Four Points, element, aloft, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club. Marriott points can be valuable when redeemed for hotel stays in Marriott portfolio hotels. Here we don't want to go into details of hotel redemption, please visit marriott.com for more information.
Marriott points can be extremely valuable when transferred into miles of 40+ frequent flyer programs, mostly at 3:1 ratio. This ratio may seem low compared to other programs, but you have to understand this essentially represents the same value as the old Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points which transfer to airline miles at 1:1 and to Marriott points at 1:3 before the final integration of Marriott Rewards and SPG programs. In fact, with the merger, the number of airline partners actually further increased from 34 to 44. As Marriott points are generally obtained more easily than the points in the other programs in this review, they do continue to represent great value.
- Aegean Airlines Miles+Bonus (3:1)
- Aeroflot Bonus (3:1)
- Aeromexico Club Premier (3:1)
- Air Canada Aeroplan (3:1)
- Air China Phoenix Miles (3:1)
- Air New Zealand Airpoints (200:1)
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (3:1)
- Alitalia MilleMiglia (3:1)
- All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club (3:1)
- American Airlines AAdvantage (3:1)
- Asiana Airlines Asiana Club (3:1)
- Avianca LifeMiles (3:1)
- British Airways Executive Club (3:1)
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (3:1)
- China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles (3:1)
- China Southern Airlines Skypearl Club (3:1)
- Copa Airlines ConnectMiles (3:1)
- Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (3:1)
- Emirates Skywards (3:1)
- Etihad Guest (3:1)
- Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns (3:1)
- Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (3:1)
- Hainan Airlines (3:1)
- Hawaiian Airlines (3:1)
- Iberia Plus (3:1)
- Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (3:1)
- Jet Airways JetPrivilege (3:1)
- JetBlue TrueBlue (6:1)
- Korean Air SkyPass (3:1)
- LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass (3:1)
- Miles and More (3:1)
- Multiplus (3:1)
- Qantas Frequent Flyer (3:1)
- Qatar Airways (3:1)
- Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan (3:1)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (3:1)
- South African Airways Voyager (3:1)
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (3:1)
- TAP Air Portugal TAP Victoria (3:1)
- Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus (3:1)
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles (3:1)
- United Airlines MileagePlus (3:1.1)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (3:1)
- Virgin Australia Velocity (3:1)
Most importantly, if you transfer 60,000 points you receive a bonus of 15,000 points, i.e., 60K Marriott points = 25K miles, or 2.4 Marriott points = 1 mile of most partners. You can transfer your Marriott points to a household member's Marriott account but there is paperwork you will have to do and sign. However, you can only transfer your Marriott points to a frequent flyer account under your name.
In addition, you might redeem Marriott points for the Travel Packages (Hotel + Air Packages): your points will be converted to a certain number of frequent flyer miles plus a seven-night hotel certificate at a certain redemption level. Marriott revamped the Hotel + Air charts in August 2018, with major devaluation. The new travel packages do not represent good value compared to the simple miles transfer without the hotel certificate; for example, you might redeem 330K Marriott points for 100K miles plus a 7-night certificate at Category 1-4 hotels - you essentially only save 60K points for the hassle of finding a single hotel to stay for 7 consecutive nights.
Membership Rewards (MR) from American Express
On the earning side, you earn one extra point for each dollar spent on travel booked through MR (American Express Travel); however, Amex charges a booking fee on airfare or air-hotel packages ($6.99 per domestic ticket; $10.99 per international ticket) so most likely it is not a good deal. Effective May 2015, Amex waives the booking fee for Platinum and Centurion cardmembers. Amex used to have a shopping portal that allowed you to earn up to 10X bonus points; however, it was closed in 2013.
On the redemption side, MR points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, travel (Pay with Points), and so on, at up to 1 cent per point. However, some cards are eligible for a transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to over 20 frequent traveler programs. Let's look at these two groups:
- Not eligible to transfer points: Blue ($0), Blue Business ($0), Zync ($25); however, if you have another card that has the transfer feature, all your MR points will be pooled together and all of them will be eligible to transfer points.
- Eligible to transfer points: EveryDay ($0), Blue Business Plus ($0), EveryDay Preferred ($95), Membership Rewards Business Card ($75), Green ($95), Business Green Rewards ($95), Gold ($125), Ameriprise co-branded Gold ($125), Premier Rewards Gold($175), Business Gold Rewards ($175), Mercedes-Benz Credit Card ($95), Platinum ($550), Business Platinum ($450), Mercedes-Benz co-branded Platinum, Ameriprise co-branded Platinum, Morgan Stanley co-branded Platinum, Goldman Sachs co-branded Platinum, Centurion ($2,500).
MR points can be transferred into miles or points of the following programs:
Airline Partners
- AeroMexico Club Premier (1:1)
- Air Canada Aeroplan (1:1)
- Alitalia MilleMiglia (1:1)
- All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club (1:1)
- British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
- Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (1:1)
- EL AL Israel Airlines Matmid Club (50:1)
- Emirates Skywards (1:1)
- Etihad Guest (1:1)
- Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
- Hawaiian Airlines (1:1)
- Iberia Plus (14:1)
- JetBlue TrueBlue (1.25:1)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)
- Choice Privileges (1:1)
- Hilton HHonors (1:2)
- Marriott Rewards (1:1)
Compared to airline miles transfer, hotel points transfer does not represent good value. Even though MR does not have the built-in 25% transfer bonus like Marriott, Amex runs limited-time transfer promotions on certain partners several times a year, so the value of MR points can be higher. Another huge advantage of MR over Marriott is that the transfer to most partners is instantaneous rather than days or weeks. This can be very useful when you find a particular award ticket available and want to grab it immediately before it is taken. The downside of MR is that Amex charges 0.06 cent per point up to $99 for transfer to domestic airlines. For example, if you transfer 100K points to 100K Delta miles, you will be charged $60 for the transaction. You can not transfer your MR points to someone else's MR account. However, you can transfer your MR points to your authorized user's frequent traveler accounts.
Three Ways of Using MR points for Airfare: In addition to the aforementioned two options to redeem MR points for airfare - Pay with Points (fixed value, 1 cent per point) and the transfer feature, Amex also offers certificates for economy tickets for the following airlines: Cathay Pacific, Swiss, Qantas, and South African Airways. Note that they (except Swiss) are not transfer partners: you can't transfer MR points to their miles but you rather use a bulk of points in exchange for certificates that can be used for economy tickets (or companion tickets). The use of certificates is not subject to capacity control and you can actually earn miles on them. There is no certificates for business or first class tickets.
For example, using the certificate a round-trip economy ticket on Swiss from SFO/LAX to Europe costs 65K points no matter how much the revenue ticket actually costs. If you use Pay with Points feature and the revenue ticket costs $1,000, you will need 100K points. For comparison, if you want to use Swiss' own frequent flyer program - Miles and More, which by the way is a transfer partner of Marriott, it will cost 50K miles plus fuel surcharge (which can be as high as, say $400) and is subject to capacity control.
Ultimate Rewards (UR) from Chase
Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) is a knock-off of Amex Membership Rewards. On the earning side, you earn one extra point for one dollar spent on airfare booked through UR, but unlike Amex, Chase does not charge a booking fee. You also earn up to 10x points when shopping through UR.
The regular UR program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, cash, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point. However, premium UR cards including Sapphire Preferred ($95), Sapphire Reserve ($450), JPM Reserve ($450), and Ink Preferred ($95), have two premium redemption features: one is 25% bonus to travel redemption via UR (1 point = 1.25 cent); the other is to transfer points into miles/points of frequent traveler programs. Just like MR, transfer from UR to miles/points is instantaneous. Also like MR, if you have a regular UR card such as Freedom and another premium UR card such as Sapphire Preferred, you can pool all UR points together and enjoy the premium features. You can transfer your UR points to the UR account or a frequent traveler account belonging to one household member. Points transfer to third parties is prohibited. Currently, UR has the following partners:
Airline Partners
- Aer Lingus AerClub (1:1)
- British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
- Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
- Iberia Plus (1:1)
- Korean Air SkyPass(1:1) - partnership ending 8/26/18
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (1:1)
- United Airlines MileagePlus (1:1)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)
- IHG Rewards Club (1:1)
- Marriott Rewards (1:1)
- World of Hyatt (1:1)
ThankYou (TY) from Citi
For several years, Citi's ThankYou Rewards (TY) had been lagging behind with only one transfer partner Hilton HHonors (this relationship ended in December 2017), and we were excited to see that Citi finally introduced several airline partners in July 2014. Currently there is no points earning for shopping with Citi.
The regular TY program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, statement credit, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point. However, premium TY cards including Citi ThankYou Premier ($95), Citi Prestige ($450), and Citi Chairman, have a transfer feature similar to Marriott, MR, and UR, that allows ThankYou points to be transferred to frequent traveler programs. If you have a regular TY cards such as ThankYou Preferred, you may pool all your points together and the points earned through the regular TY cards become eligible for transfer. You may share your TY points with someone else; however, the shared points will expire in 90 days. You can only transfer your TY points to a frequent traveler account under your name. TY partners include the following:
- Avianca LifeMiles (1:1)
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (1:1)
- Etihad Guest (1:1)
- Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
- Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer (1:1)
- JetBlue TrueBlue (1.25:1)
- Jet Airways JetPrivilege (1:1)
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich (1:1)
- Qantas Frequent Flyer (1:1)
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club (1:1)
- Sears Shop Your Way (1:12)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus (1:1)
- Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles (1:1)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)
Club Rewards (CR) from Diners Club
Club Rewards from Diners Club has always had the transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to miles/points. Club Rewards points earned from Diners Club cards such as Diners Club Premier ($95) and Diners Club Elite ($300), both of which hasn't been accepting new applications since late 2014, can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, cash, travel, etc., at up to 1 cent per point. In addition, CR points can be transferred to the following frequent traveler accounts, mostly at 1:1:
Airline Partners
- Air Canada Aeroplan (1000:1000)
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (1075:1000)
- British Airways Executive Club (1000:1000)
- Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (1075:1000)
- El Al Airlines Matmid Club(1000:20)
- EVA Airways Infinity MileageLands (1000:1000)
- Hawaiian Airlines (1075:1000)
- Icelandair Saga Club (1000:1000)
- SAS EuroBonus (1000:1000)
- South African Airways Voyager (1000:1000)
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (1613:1200)
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus (1000:1000)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1000:1000)
- Best Western Rewards (1250:3300)
- Choice Privileges (1250:2400)
- Hilton HHonors (1250:2000)
- Hyatt Gold Passport (1250:750)
- IHG Rewards Club (1250:1500)
- Marriott Rewards (1250:1500)
For the master comparison chart, please see the updated review.
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