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… except for Starwood Preferred Guest! Between now and 31 March, 2018, British Airways Executive Club is offering a 35% bonus when converting hotel points to Avios. These are the hotel programmes that qualify and the minimum conversions required:
- Club Carlson (MIN 2,000)
- Hilton HHonors (MIN 10,000)
- World of Hyatt (MIN 5,000)
- IHG Rewards Club (MIN 10,000)
- Marriott Rewards (MIN 10,000)
- Shangri-La Golden Circle (MIN 2,500)
You can find details of this promotion on the BA website by clicking here.
It is important to remember that, most of the time, it doesn’t make sense to convert hotel points into Avios. The major hotel chains prefer you to spend those points on a hotel room night that almost certainly would be empty – rather than generate a cost to them from buying miles from the airline. (revisit this post about the economics of IHG Rewards Club)
Hilton Honors 10:1 ratio is shockingly bad, and a 35% bonus makes that little better. IHG Rewards Club’s 5:1 ratio is a bit better, but a 35% bonus only improves that to 3.7:1. So, a bonus of 35% isn’t anything to get excited about.
Of course, if you have a handful of hotel points that are close to expiring, then by all means take this opportunity to convert them to Avios.
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Starwood Preferred Guest is excluded, since that is the only mileage conversion that sometimes makes sense – even though Joe and I frequently bang on about the merits of Alaska miles
However, a Marriott Rewards Hotel + Air Travel Packages is a redemption that can also make sense. I wrote about it last year so I suggest you read up on it here. But instead of receiving 120,000 Avios with the best-value Travel Package, you would receive 162,000 Avios, thanks to the bonus. (you might still be better off with Alaska miles but I know some people are wedded to their 2-for-1 vouchers…)
So, if you have some expiring hotel points, you might want to convert them into Avios this month and receive the 35% bonus…
Andrew McLoughlin says
There was some talk on HFP today by people waiting for a Hotel to Alaska bonus. I’ve never seen one. Whats the chance of that happening?
Craig Sowerby says
Wishful thinking. Never seen one…
AAdvantage do have similar bonuses occasionally, which can be good if you’re looking for Etihad F.
Andrew McLoughlin says
Oh well, I guess Alaska is too good a deal anyway so they don’t need to offer a bonus.
Craig Sowerby says
Precisely.
I know we all love a good bonus but, quite frankly, they are more a sign of panic stations and impending devaluation than being truly good for members. (except I suppose for one-off / rare promos)
hamed solomani says
well if it hasn’t happened before in twenty years, what do you think the chances are?
Andrew McLoughlin says
Probably not high then 🙁
Roger says
AA should have bonus in next couple of months, going by last year’s history.
Adam says
Can I ask what last year’s AA bonus offer was?
Roger says
It was 25% bonus, so you end up with 150K AA miles
Eddy says
Hi, long time bit confused.
I’ve gone through the Alaska’s website many times and I just can’t find any Cathay award availability. The award places on BA.coms website are’nt even showing up. Is there a trick to it? I don’t want to miss out on this deal to find all my points have gone to a program where I can’t book anything.
Craig Sowerby says
You can’t book Cathay Pacific online with Alaska miles. You must call Alaska. Availability is usually the same as you see on ba.com, but it is not guaranteed to be so.
Eddy says
Thanks.