30% bonus when you transfer Marriott Rewards points to Avios

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This is a very interesting offer which has crept out very quietly under the radar. I haven’t seen any other coverage of it so far.

In 2011, Marriott acquired a Spanish hotel operator called AC Hotels. It has since been working hard to build the company by integrating it into Marriott Rewards.

As the dominant airline in the region, Iberia is proving to be Marriott’s partner of choice for promoting the brand. Two new offers have just been launched specifically for Iberia Plus members.

The first is forgettable. You get 100 Avios for a stay at an AC Hotels property, and 300 Avios if it is for 2 nights or more. Details here.

The second is more interesting. Until 31th (that’s how Iberia writes it!) December, you will receive a 30% bonus when you transfer your Marriott Rewards points into Iberia Plus Avios points.

(Note – the transfer must NOT be to BA, it must be to Iberia Plus. However, once you have opened an Iberia Plus account, you can transfer your Avios across to British Airways. The only snag is that you must wait for the account to be 90 days old before you can do your first transfer out.)

British Airways runs an annual ‘25% bonus when you convert your hotel points to Avios’ promotion, so this offer is not massively better than that. However, it is a little better, and in any event it will be at least 6 months before the BA offer comes round again.

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (December 2021)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card usually comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy credit card

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card? It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status. We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn American Express Membership Rewards points with American Express Gold (20,000 bonus points), the American Express Rewards Credit Card (5,000 bonus points) and – for small business owners – American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus points) and Business Platinum (40,000 bonus points).

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

(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.)

Category

Iberia and Iberia Plus, Marriott Bonvoy

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

thesaver79 says:

1 Dec1 December 06:43

Would this be better than auto conversion (posting directly to BA Avios)

I’m currently staying at a Marriott and have conversion to BA Exec Club set by default. Would I be better off changing the preference to Marriott Rewards and then convert to Iberia?
- Rob says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 07:16
  
  For one stay, you won’t get the minimum 10,000 points required for a manual conversion. It is not clear, due to Iberia’s usual rubbish rules on their English translations, whether auto-posting of individual stays gets the bonus. That said, you’ve nothing to lose by switching auto-convert to Iberia Plus and see what happens.
What's the Point says:

1 Dec1 December 09:23

Slightly related, has anyone had any joy when emailing Iberia Plus (ibplus@iberia.es OR ibplus@iberia.com). Need to update some of my account details so that I can transfer some Avios – things you can’t update directly on their website.

I have emailed them 5 times now in 3 weeks and just get an automated response saying someone will come back to me shortly. Which I am still waiting for them to do….
- Volker says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 10:17
  
  They have probably got only one translator into English (who has probably recently caught the Spanish flu), so there will be some kind of backlog… Well, that is at least the impression I get when following hyperlinks on their English web pages which lead to Spanish only subpages. No fun there indeed.
- Doodles says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 11:53
  
  I have the same problem. I get an auto reply (from clasica@iberia.es) and never hear from them again.They replied to my first email quite quickly but that was early October. I set up an account in the summer following the good advice on this site but it was set up with my name back to front. Now, maybe I made a mistake but the English version of their website really is terrible. So, now I cannot transfer any points to my BAEC as the name doesn’t match. I am also waiting for points from a Hilton stay in October. The points appear on Hilton but not in my Iberia account – will the name not matching be a problem?
  - What's the Point says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 12:36
    
    Glad I am not the only one to suffer from their terrible website! Same here, my name is wrong way round and my DOB is one year out (DOB was probably my mistake though)
    
    I had one Hilton stay (750 points) post very quickly, but the next one was over a month ago and its still not showing in my Iberia account. Hilton have advised me to wait 30 working days before chasing them again.
    
    There is a Spanish phone number to call, but I am loathed to phone them until they at least acknowledge at least one of my emails!
    - Doodles says:
      
      1 Dec1 December 20:20
      
      I was told to send proof of my name so they now have a picture of my passport but nothing has happened yet. Even if they are not going to reply, they could at least update my account. I am also very reluctant to call as I don’t think it will actually get me what I want. I will write again if I finally get a response.
Thunderbirds says:

1 Dec1 December 23:02

I’ve stayed at AC Hotels a number of times and they are standard fayre that will be homogenised into the Marriott fold. If you want something a little more interesting in Spain then try the Parador chain. Some of their hotels are non descript and in odd places but some are spectacular. If you have ever wanted to spent a night in a 15th century castle palace, monastery, convent, 16th century hospital on the road to Santiago, you get the idea, then they are well worth a try.
They have a frequent stayers programme and their web-site is fine.
VS says:

2 Dec2 December 10:24

How can I transfer my existing Marriott Rewards points to Iberia (and take advantage of the 30% bonus)? I can’t seem to find this option on their website, anybody having more luck?
VS says:

2 Dec2 December 10:30

I managed to get to the airlines redemption option (https://www.marriott.co.uk/rewards/usepoints/morerew.mi) , but what I’m not clear about is whether the 30% bonus applies to transfers of existing rewards points, or to this auto-conversion option to Iberia. Thoughts?
- Rob says:
  
  2 Dec2 December 10:45
  
  It appears – despite Iberia’s bad English – to apply to the transfer of existing balances. Don’t blame me if it goes wrong, though, as I don’t know anything else apart from what is on the Iberia website!
What's the Point says:

3 Dec3 December 18:59

For those having problems emailing Iberia, I suggest using their Twitter account.
Instant response, but only to tell me to contact them via the Spanish helpline number.
Bob says:

4 Dec4 December 08:49

I don’t seem to be able to even open an Iberia plus account! It asks for a document number ie passport and then doesn’t let me register, but comes up with a box saying if this number is correct please contact Iberia plus. Yes the number is correct so why do I have to contact them? I’ve emailed 3 times and been knocked off the phone x2 so it doesn’t look promising sounds too good to be true in my case.