Points Miles and Bling (blog) contains referral or affiliate links. The blog receives a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your continued support. Credit Card issuers are not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details, current product information, and Terms and Conditions, click the link included.
American Express Canada has brought back its popular Membership Rewards (MR) to Marriott Bonvoy transfer bonus, offering a 30% bonus on all transfers completed by January 31, 2026. On the surface, this is one of those promotions that immediately grabs attention because it improves what is otherwise a fairly average hotel transfer option. But as with most points promotions, the real question isn’t whether the bonus is attractive, but whether it actually makes sense for how you travel and redeem.
Amex MR to Marriott Bonvoy 30% transfer bonus
Under normal circumstances, transfers from Amex MR to Marriott Bonvoy happen at a rate of 5:6, or 1 MR point becomes 1.2 Bonvoy points. During this promotion, that same transfer receives an additional 30% bonus, bringing the effective ratio to 1:1.56. In practical terms, transferring 1,000 Amex MR points now yields 1,560 Marriott Bonvoy points.
To initiate the transfer, simply log into your Amex account and proceed through the ‘transfer points’ tab. Transfers can take up to 2 days to process, and, as usual, the name and address details on both accounts must match to avoid delays or failed transfers.
Marriott Bonvoy 30% transfer bonus
From a pure math perspective, this is about as good as an MR-to-Bonvoy ratio gets. If you asked me where Amex MR really shines, hotel transfers would not be at the top of the list. The strongest use of MR points remains airline transfers for international premium cabin redemptions, particularly with partners like Air Canada Aeroplan and British Airways Avios, both of which transfer from MR at a clean 1:1 rate. In those ecosystems, it’s still very realistic to extract outsized value per point by booking long-haul business or first class flights, something that a 1.56 hotel conversion can’t compete with on a cents-per-point basis.
That doesn’t mean this promotion should be dismissed outright. Where it starts to make sense is in targeted, intentional scenarios like topping up an existing Marriott Bonvoy balance for a specific redemption. If you’re already close to an aspirational hotel stay, think over water bungalows in the Maldives or Saudi Arabia, this bonus can reduce the number of Amex MR points you need to move over. In those situations, the bonus helps to bridge the gap without forcing you into a much larger transfer than necessary.
Another angle where this promotion becomes more interesting is when you look beyond Marriott stays altogether and consider Bonvoy as an intermediary. Marriott Bonvoy has over 30 airline transfer partners, many of which are not directly accessible from Amex Membership Rewards. Bonvoy points transfer to most airline programs at a 3:1 ratio, with a bonus of 5,000 airline miles for every 60,000 Bonvoy points transferred. When you layer the current Amex bonus on top of that structure, the math becomes more nuanced.
For example, transferring Amex MR points to Bonvoy during this promotion and then converting those Bonvoy points to Emirates Skywards (for example) can unlock airline redemptions that would otherwise be off-limits to Amex MR in Canada. A transfer of 60,000 Bonvoy points yields 25,000 Emirates miles, opening the door to Emirates Business Class awards. While this isn’t necessarily the most efficient way to earn airline miles, it can be strategically useful if Emirates is central to a specific trip you’re planning and you lack other earning avenues within that program. The same logic applies across Bonvoy’s broader airline partner list, where flexibility rather than raw value becomes the main appeal.
Transfer bonuses don’t magically create value on their own. They simply change the math. For members with no immediate hotel or airline redemption in mind, moving MR points speculatively into Bonvoy remains risky, especially given the ongoing devaluations and dynamic pricing on the hotel side.
The smartest way to approach this promotion is to start with the redemption, not the bonus. Check award pricing, confirm availability, and understand exactly what you’re trying to book before initiating any transfer. Used selectively, the 30% bonus can absolutely make sense. Used impulsively, it’s far more likely to dilute the value of your Amex Membership Rewards rather than enhance it.
Featured Image Credit: Marriott Bonvoy
