Last updated: October 21, 2026
US Amex Membership Rewards transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at 1,000 points to 1,350 Bonvoy points from October 20 through December 10, 2026. The ordinary ratio is 1:1. Thirty-five percent is the high end of what this corridor usually pays, and it is still a pass for almost every balance that does not already have a room attached to it.
Bonvoy points are the cheap currency in the pair. Membership Rewards are not. Multiplying a 0.75¢ point by 1.35 does not turn it into an airline mile. Transfer only to finish a Marriott award you have already priced and can book. Everyone else should leave the points at Amex.
Before you move points: Run your spending through the credit card rewards calculator. A transfer bonus does not fix a wallet that should be earning a different currency.
The promo, without the fluff
Frequent Miler, One Mile at a Time, Upgraded Points, and AwardWallet all describe the same US bonus, published October 20–21, 2026. Upgraded Points ran a screenshot of the Amex transfer page. One Mile at a Time says the 35% is hard-coded into the ratio, so you can use it as often as you like.
| Detail | What the sources actually say |
|---|---|
| Window | October 20, 2026 through December 10, 2026 |
| Clock | No source we checked published an hour or a time zone. Transfer earlier on the 10th and stop if the screen has reverted to 1:1 |
| Who | US Amex Membership Rewards. The writeups treat it as a program ratio, not an offer you enroll in |
| Base ratio | 1,000 MR → 1,000 Bonvoy |
| Bonus ratio | 1,000 MR → 1,350 Bonvoy |
| How it shows | On the transfer screen, before you confirm. A screen that still says 1:1 means this bonus is not on the account |
| Increments | 1,000 Membership Rewards points. AwardWallet lists that as a term of the bonus |
| Speed | Amex’s note, quoted by AwardWallet, allows up to two days. AwardWallet’s tracker says a typical Marriott transfer now lands in under an hour. One Mile at a Time calls them generally instant |
| How many times | Unlimited, in the One Mile at a Time report |
| Registration | None described |
| Direction | One-way. Amex will not take the points back |
Past Amex-to-Marriott bonuses have sometimes been targeted, and the offer terms sit behind the login. Log in and read the Marriott tile. If it shows 1,350, you have the bonus. If it shows 1,000, you do not. This is the opposite of Chase’s recent Marriott bonus, which kept displaying 1:1 because Marriott posted the extra later. Here the extra is supposed to be in the ratio you see. Do not send points and wait for a 35% that the screen never offered.
The Points Guy’s partner guide lists Marriott as a standard 1:1 Amex partner with instant transfers in ordinary times, and it states the standing rules: the name on the Amex account and the Bonvoy account have to match, you can transfer to your own account or to an authorized user who has been on the account at least 90 days, and transfers do not reverse. The federal excise-tax offset applies to Delta and JetBlue, not to Marriott. Those are program rules. They are not special terms of this 35%.
The Points Guy’s October roundup of current transfer bonuses had not added this row when we checked on October 21. Doctor of Credit had not published a writeup of it either. The dates and the ratio come from the four reports above, which agree with each other and with the Amex screenshot Upgraded Points published.
Other live offers are on the transfer bonuses page.
The only transfer table you need
The bonus is 35% more Bonvoy points, so the same award costs about 74% as many Membership Rewards (1 ÷ 1.35). Amex moves points in 1,000-point steps. Round up to the next thousand and stop.
| Membership Rewards transferred | Bonvoy at 1:1 | Bonvoy with the 35% bonus | Extra Bonvoy points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 10,000 | 13,500 | 3,500 |
| 15,000 | 15,000 | 20,250 | 5,250 |
| 40,000 | 40,000 | 54,000 | 14,000 |
| 63,000 | 63,000 | 85,050 | 22,050 |
| 100,000 | 100,000 | 135,000 | 35,000 |
Upgraded Points used the 63,000-point row as the cost of an 85,000-point award night (63,000 × 1.35 = 85,050). That is an illustration of the ratio, not a rate you can demand. Marriott prices awards dynamically. The points number on the booking screen is the price.
Here is the cash the stay has to save you, after the resort or destination fee the award does not wipe out, before this transfer beats holding the Membership Rewards:
| Membership Rewards transferred | Bonvoy you receive | Cash the stay must save to beat 2.0¢ per MR |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 13,500 | $200 |
| 15,000 | 20,250 | $300 |
| 63,000 | 85,050 | $1,260 |
| 100,000 | 135,000 | $2,000 |
2.0¢ is The Points Guy’s October 2026 valuation for a Membership Rewards point, the value every MaxPoints tool uses. “Cash saved” means the money you no longer spend on the room, minus fees the award still charges. If the stay saves less than the column, you gave away the points.
Why 35% still usually loses
Use the valuations, not the percentage in the headline. The Points Guy’s October 2026 valuations:
- Membership Rewards, spent on a real partner redemption, are worth 2.0¢ each.
- Bonvoy points are worth 0.75¢ each.
That 0.75¢ sits in the band other writers are using. One Mile at a Time is at about 0.7¢. Upgraded Points is at 0.7¢ and values Membership Rewards at 2.2¢. Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Value is 0.73¢, and Stephen Pepper’s point is that 35% on 0.73¢ is still short of a penny. AwardWallet’s recent user redemptions land nearer 0.93¢, which is the optimistic end of the public range.
| Bonvoy value | What 1.35 Bonvoy points return | Per Membership Rewards point |
|---|---|---|
| 0.70¢ (OMAAT, Upgraded Points) | 0.945¢ | About 0.95¢. Upgraded Points’ own sum: 1,000 MR become 1,350 Bonvoy, worth $9.45 against $22 at their 2.2¢ Amex value |
| 0.73¢ (Frequent Miler RRV) | 0.9855¢ | Just under 1¢, which is the Frequent Miler conclusion |
| 0.75¢ (TPG October 2026, the MaxPoints figure) | 1.0125¢ | About 1.01¢ |
| 0.80¢ | 1.08¢ | About 1.08¢ |
| 0.93¢ (AwardWallet user redemptions) | 1.2555¢ | About 1.26¢, against the 2.04¢ AwardWallet cites as its users’ average Membership Rewards redemption |
On the number this site uses, 1,000 Membership Rewards are worth $20 and become 1,350 Bonvoy points worth about $10.13. You keep about half. A 1:1 transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan is worth 1.5¢ per point on the same TPG table, before you have found a single sweet-spot seat. This bonus has to beat that kind of alternative on a room you can already see. A speculative Bonvoy balance does not.
Airline partners stay available for the points you do not move. Amex already transfers to Aeroplan at 1:1, and the 25% Flying Blue bonus is still live through October 31 if a seat is on the calendar. The Amex transfer partners page is the list. A Marriott transfer closes those doors for the points you send. You cannot un-transfer.
Fifth night free helps the stay, and it does not rescue the currency
Marriott drops the cheapest night when you book five consecutive nights on points. Every member gets it. You do not need status and you do not need the co-brand card. You do still pay the resort fee or destination fee on an award stay, including the free night.
Two illustrations, with round numbers, so you can see when the fifth night changes the answer. These are not live quotes. Pull the real cash rate and the real points rate before you move anything.
A stay that beats an average Bonvoy redemption and still loses as an Amex transfer. Five nights at 40,000 Bonvoy points. Fifth night free means you pay 160,000 Bonvoy. At this bonus, 160,000 ÷ 1.35 is 118,519, so you transfer 119,000 Membership Rewards and receive 160,650 Bonvoy. Those 119,000 points are worth $2,380 at 2.0¢.
Suppose the paid rate is $350 a night plus a $40 destination fee. Five nights of cash is $1,950. The award still owes $200 in fees. Cash saved: $1,750. That is about 1.09¢ per Bonvoy point, better than TPG’s 0.75¢ average, and about 1.47¢ per Membership Rewards point. The fifth night and the 35% were both in the math. The transfer still trails a 2.0¢ Amex redemption by about $630 of value.
A stay that can clear the Amex bar. Same 160,000 Bonvoy and the same 119,000 Membership Rewards. Cash rate $700 a night plus the same $40 fee. Five nights of cash is $3,700. The award still owes $200. Cash saved: $3,500. That is about 2.19¢ per Bonvoy point and about 2.94¢ per Membership Rewards point. Peak pricing that did not follow the cash rate is the situation where this bonus can win. It is also a lot of Amex points to move before all five nights are on the screen at that price.
The test is the cash you actually avoid on the dates you can book. A pretty percentage does not survive a soft cash rate, and a strong cash rate still has to be booked before you transfer.
Buying the points is often the cheaper top-off
Marriott’s own sale is the comparison that should stop most transfers. Through November 23, 2026, Bonvoy is selling points with a bonus of up to 55%, which works out to about 0.81¢ a point on purchases of 2,000 or more. The list price with no bonus is about 1.25¢. The sale is targeted, the annual cap for people who were offered it is 200,000 purchased points, and new accounts wait about 30 days before they can buy. The full terms are in the Marriott Bonvoy 55% buy-points bonus. Log in and read the offer on your account. The headline is not the price.
Put the three prices of one Bonvoy point next to each other:
| How you acquire the Bonvoy point | What it costs |
|---|---|
| This transfer, at TPG’s 2.0¢ per Membership Rewards point | About 1.48¢ of Amex value (2.00 ÷ 1.35) |
| Buying at the 1.25¢ list price | 1.25¢ in cash |
| Buying with the 55% bonus on your screen | About 0.81¢ in cash |
A 20,000-point gap is the clean top-off. 20,000 ÷ 1.35 is 14,815, so you transfer 15,000 Membership Rewards and receive 20,250 Bonvoy. Those 15,000 points are worth $300 at 2.0¢. Buying 20,000 points is about $162 if the 55% bonus is on the account, or $250 at the list price. Both cash prices beat the transfer. The sale wins by more.
Run the same comparison on the five-night illustration above. Buying 160,000 points at 0.81¢ is about $1,296. Buying them at 1.25¢ is $2,000. Transferring costs $2,380 of Membership Rewards value. On that stay, even the list price beats moving Amex points, and the $350-a-night version that lost as a transfer (it saved $1,750) can still be a sensible purchase at $1,296 if you were going to pay cash for the room.
Transfer Membership Rewards for the gap when buying is worse in practice: you are over the purchase cap, the account has no sale, the account is inside the roughly 30-day wait before a new member can buy, or you have already decided those specific Amex points have no airline future. “I would rather not spend cash” is a reason. “35% is the best this gets” is not, unless the room is priced and the cash you save clears the table above.
Do not route the points through Marriott to an airline
Aeroplan is paying 15% on Bonvoy conversions through October 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. That does not make Marriott a back door into Aeroplan. Amex already transfers to Aeroplan at 1:1. The arithmetic, including the dispute over whether the 15% hits Marriott’s 5,000-mile bonus, is in the Marriott Bonvoy to Aeroplan conversion bonus.
A 60,000-point Bonvoy chunk is the amount that triggers Marriott’s standing 5,000-mile extra. 60,000 ÷ 1.35 is 44,445, so the Amex transfer that covers it is 45,000 Membership Rewards, which become 60,750 Bonvoy. You would convert 60,000 and have 750 Bonvoy left.
| What you send | Where it goes | Aeroplan you get |
|---|---|---|
| 45,000 Membership Rewards | Direct to Aeroplan at 1:1 | 45,000 |
| 45,000 Membership Rewards | Marriott at this 35% bonus, then 60,000 Bonvoy to Aeroplan | 28,750 on the reported reading, or 28,000 if the 15% skips Marriott’s 5,000 |
| The same 60,000 Bonvoy after October 31 | No Aeroplan 15% | 25,000 (20,000 from the 3:1 ratio, plus Marriott’s 5,000) |
The bonused hotel route gives up about 16,000 to 17,000 Aeroplan points against the direct transfer, and it picks up two clocks: Amex’s Marriott transfer (up to two days, often faster) and Aeroplan’s bonus (up to 8–10 weeks after October 31). After the Aeroplan promo ends, the same detour gives up 20,000 miles. Chase’s 70% Marriott bonus, which made this detour slightly less bad and still a loss, ended October 15. We kept the math in the Chase to Marriott piece so the comparison is on the page. It is not a live alternative.
When to transfer
Move Membership Rewards only when all four of these are true:
- The room is already priced and bookable. A specific hotel, specific dates, a points price on the screen, and a cash rate next to it. “We usually stay at Marriotts” is not a booking. Award prices move. A Bonvoy balance does not lock today’s rate.
- The cash you save clears 2.0¢ per point you transfer, after the fees. Use the table. Then check the buy-points price on the same gap. A stay that beats an average Bonvoy redemption can still lose to both an airline redemption and a points purchase.
- The screen shows 1,350 before you confirm. You are transferring into the Bonvoy account whose name matches, and you can wait if Amex takes the allowed two days. If the award will disappear before the points land, do not transfer and hope.
- You transfer only what that stay needs. Top off. Send the points to the account that will make the booking. One-way.
The clean version of a yes: you are about 20,000 Bonvoy points short of a stay you can book today, buying is capped or unavailable, the cash you save on that gap beats $300, and the Marriott tile shows 1,350. Transfer 15,000 Membership Rewards. Book when the points post. Stop.
When to leave the points at Amex
Leave the balance alone if any of these are true:
- Nothing is on the calendar. The expensive version of this promo is moving 100,000 Membership Rewards on December 10 because the date is coming, then refreshing an empty Marriott search for six months.
- The 55% sale is on your account and you are under the cap. Pay about 0.81¢. Keep the Amex points for a partner that can clear 2.0¢.
- You have an airline seat. Aeroplan at 1:1, or Flying Blue while the 25% is up and the seat is visible, is the job these points were earned for. The Amex Gold and Amex Platinum guides cover where the points come from. This bonus does not change whether those annual fees are worth paying.
- The tile shows 1:1. You were not included, or the bonus has ended. There is nothing to register that will add the 35% after the fact.
- You are still choosing which currency to earn. This is a data point about a weak redemption. Run your spending through the calculator before you build a larger Membership Rewards balance in order to feed it to Marriott.
The verdict
Skip it, unless you are topping off a Marriott award that is already bookable, the buy-points sale cannot cover that gap, and the cash you save clears what those Membership Rewards are worth on an airline partner.
Remember the ratio, because it is supposed to be on the screen: 1,000 Membership Rewards become 1,350 Bonvoy points from October 20 through December 10, 2026. No publisher we checked printed a clock time for the 10th. Transfers are in 1,000-point steps, unlimited in the published reports, and one-way. Amex allows up to two days for the points to show up; recent transfers are often much faster. On The Points Guy’s October 2026 valuations the bonus returns about 1.01¢ per Membership Rewards point, against 2.0¢ for the points you keep. Fifth night free can make a five-night stay less bad. It does not change that result unless the cash rate is genuinely ugly. Buying Bonvoy points, often near 0.81¢ when the 55% offer is on the account through November 23, is frequently the smarter way to fill a small hole.
Find the room. Price the cash rate after the fee. Price the buy-points gap. Then transfer exactly the Membership Rewards that stay requires, and not one thousand more.
Point values of 2.0¢ for Membership Rewards and 0.75¢ for Bonvoy are The Points Guy’s October 2026 valuations, the same ones every MaxPoints tool uses. The 0.70¢, 0.73¢, and 0.93¢ Bonvoy figures are One Mile at a Time, Frequent Miler, and AwardWallet, cited so the range is on the page.
Keep planning. Earning Membership Rewards for a redemption that can actually clear 2¢? Compare the Amex Gold and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, or check which credit card to use for each purchase. Hotel programs also run buy-points promotions; current point sales shows what is on now.
See all active transfer bonuses →
This article reflects the US Amex Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy transfer bonus published for October 20 through December 10, 2026: a base ratio of 1,000:1,000, a 35% bonus hard-coded into the ratio (1,000 Membership Rewards to 1,350 Bonvoy), 1,000-point increments, and no published clock time on the final day. Sources checked October 21, 2026: Frequent Miler, One Mile at a Time, Upgraded Points (including its Amex screenshot), and AwardWallet. The Points Guy’s October transfer-bonus roundup and Doctor of Credit had not covered this bonus when we checked. Point values of 2.0¢ and 0.75¢ are The Points Guy’s October 2026 valuations, the values every MaxPoints tool uses. They are planning figures, not a rate Amex or Marriott guarantees. The Bonvoy buy-points sale of up to 55% (about 0.81¢ at the full bonus, versus a 1.25¢ list price) runs through November 23, 2026 and is targeted. The Aeroplan 15% conversion bonus runs through October 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Award prices, resort fees, transfer times, and buy-points offers change. Confirm the 1,350 ratio on your own Amex transfer screen, and the cash rate, the points rate, and the fees on Marriott, before you move points. Transfers are one-way.
