We previously covered that Air Canada points can be transferred to Marriott points, but the ratio was a pretty poor 1:1. Over the past few days, the partnership has added something new: elite status can now be matched between the two programs. Through the links below, Marriott Ambassador and Titanium members can receive Air Canada 25K status. In the other direction, Air Canada 75K and 50K members can directly receive Marriott Gold status.
In addition, Marriott points transfers to Air Canada are now eligible for an extra 15% transfer bonus, which stacks on top of the existing bonus of 5,000 points when transferring 60,000 points.
Recently, Air Canada Aeroplan announced that Aeroplan Elite members can now transfer points to Marriott points at a 1:1 ratio, with a minimum transfer of 500 points, a daily maximum of 100,000 points, and a weekly maximum of 250,000 points.
While it is always nice to see another redemption option, in most cases this is not a very good deal. Aeroplan points have many high-value uses and can easily be redeemed at 1.5 cents or more per point in value, especially for many premium-cabin international partner awards. By comparison, we value Marriott points at under 1 cent each. In fact, Marriott sometimes sells points for less than 1 cent apiece. Even at full price, Marriott charges only 1.25 cents per point. So trading 1 Aeroplan point for 1 Marriott point is generally a poor use of Aeroplan points. In most cases, you are better off keeping your Aeroplan points and simply buying Marriott points when you need them.
