Through the end of March 2017, hotel transfers to Southwest will still count toward the Southwest Companion Pass. This means that you are nearing in on your last chance to transfer points and have them help you earn the Companion Pass (instead of earning 110,000 Rapid Rewards the hard way)!
You can transfer points at the following ratios:
- Best Western – 5,000 Best Western Rewards points = 1,200 Rapid Rewards points
- Carlson Rezidor – 2,000 Club Carlson points = 200 Rapid Rewards points, 50,000 Club Carlson points = 5,000 Rapid Rewards points, 100,000 Club Carlson points = 10,000 Rapid Rewards points
- Choice Hotels – 6,000 Choice Privileges points = 1,800 Rapid Rewards points
- Hyatt – 5,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points = 2,400 Rapid Rewards points
- La Quinta – 6,000 La Quinta Returns points = 1,200 Rapid Rewards points
- Marriott – 10,000 Marriott Rewards points = 2,000 Rapid Rewards points, 20,000 Marriott Rewards points = 5,000 Rapid Rewards points, 30,000 Marriott Rewards points = 10,000 Rapid Rewards points, 70,000 Marriott Rewards points = 25,000 Rapid Rewards points, 140,000 Marriott Rewards points = 50,000 Rapid Rewards points, or a hotel + air package
By far, the best way of these to earn the Companion Pass is through Marriott’s Hotel + Air Package. If you have 270,000 Marriott points, you will be able to get a seven night stay at a Category 1-5 Marriott property and 120,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points – enough for the companion pass!
Now, since Marriott and Starwood are joining forces, you can convert SPG points to Marriott if you don’t have enough. SPG points convert to Marriott at a 1:3 ratio, meaning that 90,000 SPG points is enough for the package as well.
Say you don’t have any Marriott or SPG points at all. You can buy 90,000 SPG points for $3,150 (3.5 cents per SPG point). When you complete the transfer, you will get 120,000 Southwest points which we value at about 1.5 cents each. That means that your 120,000 Southwest points are worth around $1,800 – more than half of what you paid for the SPG points! If you were to make enough use of the Southwest Companion Pass within the rest of 2017 and all of 2018, it could be more than worth it for you to buy all of the points necessary to earn the pass before March 31! Not to mention that you will have a seven night stay at a Category 1-5 Marriott property to use too. Better yet if you have enough SPG/Marriott points to earn the pass without buying all of the points.
I have nearly enough SPG points to complete the transfer, so I’m planning to buy the 6,000 SPG points that I’m short in the coming week so that I can redeem a hotel + air package before the deadline of March 31. I even know which Marriott property I am going to use my seven night stay at already!
Do you think it is worth redeeming 270,000 Marriott points for 120,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points and a Companion Pass?
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Delta® Reserve for Business
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