Are you planning to travel for a holiday this summer? If the answer is yes, you may wish to take your American Express credit card with you on your adventures. That’s because Amex has partnered with Marriott to offer you a big bonus of Avios when you spend at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
Here is everything you need to know about this new offer.
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What is the new Amex bonus Avios offer?
If you are a British Airways Amex cardholder, you will get 5,000 bonus Avios when you spend £200 or more with Marriott Bonvoy.
Marriott Bonvoy is Marriott International’s loyalty program that allows you to earn and redeem points for stays at Bonvoy’s brands. These include the Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, Sheraton, JW Marriott, Moxy, Element and Renaissance Westin hotels, among many others.
The programme is free to join and once you do, you stand to earn desirable member benefits, including an opportunity to earn points towards free nights, discounted rates, and free Wi-Fi.
Once you rise, with Marriott Bonvoy status you stand to access even more benefits, including late checkouts, enhanced room upgrades, lounge access and complimentary breakfasts among others.
There are more than 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels across 30 brands and 131 countries.
However, the new 5,000 bonus Avios offer for UK BA Amex cardholders is limited to participating hotels in Europe. More specifically, it’s limited to participating hotels in these countries.
- United Kingdom
- Austria
- Belgium
- Finland
- Germany
- France
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- the Netherlands
As a result, if you intend to travel outside Europe, the offer may not be beneficial. The complete list of hotels for which the offer is valid can be found here.
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Who can participate in this bonus Avios offer?
The offer is open to British Airways Amex and British Airways Amex Premium Plus cardholders. However, it will be limited to the first 30,000 cardholders who register.
To register, log in to your Amex account on the American Express app or website, navigate to the ‘Offers’ section, and once you’ve found the Marriott bonus Avios offer, click on the ‘save to card’ option.
It’s worth noting that the bonus can only be earned once on each card. Other offer terms will apply.
How long does the bonus Avios offer last?
The offer runs from 30 June to 31 August 2021.
What are Avios worth anyway?
Avios are basically a way to turn your everyday spending on your credit card into flights with British Airways and its sister airlines, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus, or other rewards like car hire, hotel stays and even wine.
As for what Avios are worth, it varies from person to person and usually depends on what you redeem them for and how much the equivalent purchase would cost in cash. As a general rule, Avios tend to be worth most when spent on flights.
Frequent flyer and travel website, Head for Points, says that their value bottoms out at 0.5p per Avios. This is what you get when you redeem Avios for non-flight rewards. However, Avios can be worth 1.5p or more when redeemed against flights if you are savvy with how you use them.
According to the Amex website, here is how much your Avios could be worth if redeemed through the BA Executive Club programme:
- 20,000 Avios – One return flight from London to Athens.
- 15,000 Avios – One return flight from London to Barcelona.
- 9,000 Avios – One return flight from London to Berlin.
You can find out more about all other Amex offers, as well as terms and conditions, on the Amex website.
