Up to 35,000 bonus JP miles on stays with Marriott hotels (new members only)

Yesterday, I wrote about Marriott's You Can Fly promotion that awards up to 35,000 bonus JP miles for stays at various Marriott hotels till 31 December 2016. Marriott hotels has been a partner of Jet Airways / Jet Privilege for quite some time now, and the You Can Fly promotion also applies to earning JP miles. So here's a look at this promotion in the specific context of JP miles.

A recap of the promotion

Very quickly, this promotion is open only for new members of Marriott Rewards (after 11 April 2016 in the case of earning JP miles). You earn 1,500 JP miles per stay on your first 2 stays, and 2,000 JP miles per stay for the next 16 stays, for a total of 35,000 JP miles. Your first stay has to be within 90 days of registration. These are bonus JP miles. The base earnings for JP miles are as follows, for spends at different Marriott properties:

• 2 JP miles per US$ on all qualifying charges at: JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance Hotels, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Vacation Club.
• 2 JP miles per US$ on room rate only, at: The Ritz-Carlton, EDITION.
• 1 JP mile per US$ on room rate only, at: Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott, Residence Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites by Marriott, Marriott Executive Apartments.

Should you opt to earn JP miles under this promotion?

This promotion is open only to new members (or new MR accounts) set up on or after 11 April 2016. So that's the first hurdle. If you're an existing MR member, you could always set up a new account, though.

MR offers 10 points per eligible $ spent, or you can earn 2 base air miles per eligible $. Based on my January 2016 points and miles valuations, 1 MR point is worth Rs 0.53 and 1 JP mile is worth Rs 0.72. Without the bonus miles promotion, it is a no-brainer that you should ideally opt for MR points over miles.

However, the promotion changes things, also because the air-miles are per stay and not per-night. Let's assume you do have 18 stays with Marriott hotels (to maximise the airline miles bonus), and also that all the Marriott hotels you stay at allow the full 2 air miles per eligible $ of spend.

Given this scenario, I've the math (I won't bother you with the details), but you'll need to spend at least about $6,530 across 18 stays (or about $362 per stay on average), in order for the MR points values to break even with the value of JP miles you'll earn under this promotion. Below that spend level, I'd say take the miles, and above that level, the MR points.

So, the math says that you should opt for the JP miles instead of MR points. While an award night can cost between 7,500 and 35,000 MR points in India, the average award night in India costs about 13,500 MR points. At that rate, the MR points you earn (as opposed to electing for the airline miles promotion) will probably net you 2 nights tops, at an Indian Marriott hotel.

However, the nearly-39,000 JP miles you earn can get you more value, particularly with last-minute business class seats!

Jet Airways international business class

In fact, 38,000 JP miles is good for a one-way international economy class redemption ticket on partner airlines, to China, South-East Asia, the Middle East or southern Africa.

Side note: remember that it is not normally practical to speculatively stock up JP miles.

But there are exceptions, as always

Even at a spend level more than $6,530, one may choose to earn MR points instead of JP miles. Here's a thought. Say my spend is $6,600, which earns me 66,000 MR points, good for 4 nights at a Category 3 hotel (and 6,000 MR points to spare!). The JW Marriott Bangalore (Category 4) retails for about Rs 15,000 a night, taxes included. I'd rather have that, than 48,200 JP miles that is likely to be less valuable to me.

Or a very different take. If I've already got more JP miles than I'd reasonably expect to use before they expire, I may well choose MR points over JP miles, since that will help me save costs on a stay, as opposed to the potential for the earned JP miles to expire at a later date.

Converting MR points to JP miles

As an aside, you can also convert MR points into JP miles, at the following conversion rates:

• 10,000 Marriott Rewards Points = 1,500 JPMiles
• 20,000 Marriott Rewards Points = 3,500 JPMiles
• 30,000 Marriott Rewards Points = 7,000 JPMiles
• 70,000 Marriott Rewards Points = 17,500 JPMiles
• 125,000 Marriott Rewards Points = 35,000 JPMiles

If you've got a specific JP redemption in mind, and don't mind a substantial loss in value, then by all means, go ahead converting MR points to JP miles. I wouldn't, but YMMV!

Conclusion

On the whole, it appears logical that one should opt for air miles (JP miles) under this promotion, instead of choosing MR points. However, there are indeed very real situations where one may choose MR points over JP miles, as I've explained above.

Readers: What are your thoughts on this promotion? Is it compelling enough for you to go for the JP miles instead of the MR points?