My thoughts on the ‘25% bonus Avios for hotel transfers’ promo

If you are a British Airways Executive Club member, you will have been emailed this offer. Convert points from major hotel schemes to Avios by 13th January and get a 25 per cent bonus.

If you collect at avios.com, you won’t have had the email. However, you can still convert to a BAEC account and move your Avios across to avios.com

So, is this a good deal or not?

In general, a 25 per cent bonus is not enough – for any promotion – to make a bad deal a great deal. 50 per cent, yes. 25 per cent is rarely a game changer.

In general, hotel points are best redeemed for hotel stays. Let’s look at the points needed for a top category redemption, say £250 a night.

Hilton – 50,000 points = 5,000 Avios
Hyatt – 22,000 points = 5,500 Avios
Marriott – 40,000 points = 12,000 Avios
Priority Club – 50,000 points = 10,000 Avios
Carlson – 50,000 points = 8,000 Avios
Starwood – 30,000 points = 35,000 Avios

Apart from Starwood, who have a very good conversion ratio, you are clearly better leaving large stashes of hotel points where they are.

However, for a small amount, it is a different game. A couple of years ago I tidied up some of my small hotel balances by converting a lot to Avios, often topping up first from Amex Membership Rewards and didn’t regret it. If you will never earn enough for a free room, you might as well convert and a 25 per cent bonus is a good excuse.

The other thing to remember is that the hotel chains convert to many programmes, often over 20. You may get 25 per cent bonus via Avios, but perhaps topping off another account may be more useful? If you had a huge volume of hotel points, you may be able to get enough points from scratch in, say, the American Airlines programme for a tax-free UK to US redemption. Avios are not always the answer.

Final thought. You can transfer PC points to someone else for $5 per 1000, Hilton points for $25 per 10,000 and SPG points for free if you share an address. Perhaps a transfer to someone who can use a larger total for a hotel room is a better deal than Avios, even with the bonus.

Hotel offers update – December 2021:

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Want to buy hotel points? There is currently a special offer running with IHG Rewards (80% bonus to 4th January 2022) and World of Hyatt (30% discount, equivalent to a 43% bonus, to 30th December 2021).