Have you ever found the perfect airline redemption but came up short on the required points and miles, even after transfer credit card points?
That was the situation I found myself in when trying to book a Emirates towards the sky award recently, but I found a solution that you might not have expected.
I ended up purchasing hotel points to solve my problem. And, thanks to a promotion to buy points, doing so costs less than purchasing airline miles directly, allowing me to book the exact flights I wanted for a fraction of the cash price.
Here’s how it worked and why it’s worth thinking outside the box the next time your mileage balance falls short.
Related: How to Redeem Marriott Bonvoy Points for Maximum Value
Sometimes a healthy balance of transferable points isn’t enough
He had done the calculations. Redeeming an Emirates Skywards award would save me over $1,000 compared to paying cash for the same flights. I was able to see availability and was ready to book this essential trip.
I transferred all my Citi Thank You Rewards points balance for the Emirates Skywards program at a not so ideal, but still acceptable price Transfer rate 5:4but I still missed about 6,000 Skywards miles.
My next instinct was to check my Pursue ultimate rewards needles. While I had a healthy balance of Chase points, because Chase is is no longer an Emirates Skywards transfer partnerUnfortunately I was not able to transfer any of them to cover this reservation.
Instead of giving up, I started thinking.
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Consider purchasing points on the program you want to book
Emirates directly sells Skywards miles for $30 per 1,000 miles. To cover a 6,000-mile shortfall, you would need to spend $180.
Since I would save over $1,000 by paying with miles instead of cash, spending less than $200 to purchase the remaining miles would have been a decent way to save, but I wanted to find a way to reduce the cash outlay.
How a Marriott Bonvoy Promotion Turned Out to be the Best Way to Save Money
At that time, Marriott was running a promotion that offered a 40% bonus when purchasing Marriott Bonvoy needles. Through it, I paid just $162.50 for 13,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, which converted to 18,200 points after applying the bonus.
I then transferred those points to Emirates Skywards. Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to Emirates Skywards at a ratio of 3 Bonvoy points per 1 Skywards mile, meaning 18,000 of my Bonvoy points were converted into exactly 6,000 Skywards miles, enough to complete the booking.
They also transferred instantly, which was ideal for finalizing my travel plans.
While this was only $17.50 cheaper than purchasing the required number of Skymiles directly from Emirates, I was determined to keep out-of-pocket costs as low as possible.
Also remember that this strategy also works for flights operated by Emirates partners. You can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Emirates to redeem with more than a dozen airlines, including TAP Air Portugal, Gol Airlines, Korean Air, and Copa Airlines.
Related: Buying points and miles saved me over $1,000 on flights and hotel stays
What hotel points transfer to airline miles?
Marriott Bonvoy points, whether purchased or earned from stays or through credit card spendingcan be transferred to 38 airline programs, usually at a rate of 3:1, a neat way to collect valuable but harder-to-earn coins, such as Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards needles, Japan Airlines mileage bank Virgin Australia Velocity miles and points.
You’ll earn 10,000 bonus airline miles for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer to United MileagePlus Program and 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 Bonvoy points you transfer to most other transfer partner airlines.
You can also transfer Hilton Honors needles, IHG One Rewards needles, Accor lives without limits points, Radisson Rewards points and Hyatt World points out various airline programs; However, transfer fees are typically very low compared to Marriott Bonvoy’s 3:1 rate, so it’s best to focus on Marriott Bonvoy if you want to transfer hotel points to frequent flyer programs.
Related: Why I’m transferring my Marriott Bonvoy points to airline miles for the first time
In a nutshell
The next time you’re a few thousand miles away from redeeming, whether it’s essential travel or a luxury dream vacation, don’t despair. You may be able to purchase points and miles directly from the program you need to redeem, which might make sense for a small top-up.
It’s always worth checking out any current bonus or discount offers when purchasing points and miles through other channels, like the Bonvoy-to-Emirates offer I found, to save money and ensure you get where you need to go for less.
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