bpauker

I saw posts over in the Delta Forum and in SPG - credit is due to the original posters. Here's the Delta offer: https://www.delta.com/marketing/maxmiles/index.jsp

Transfer 120k MR points as part of a travel package, and you'll get 300k Skymiles... Sounds like it could be a good deal.

Herkguy

Wow I read it originally as a 50% bonus on the miles, which was still awesome...now I see it's 150%!!! Just looked and two first class round trips to hawaii in may on their low teir days would be 250K miles! You can do that with miles to spare on only one travel package!!

annerj

Seems like a really good deal to me!

I've never done a travel package before (I don't stay that many nights anywhere) but even if I used the hotel cert for less nights I like the math behind this.

goldenbear

Are you sure it's not a 150% bonus on miles earned when one's marriott account is set to earn delta miles instead of earn marriott points? Or for that matter earn the 150% bonus on any partner (credit card, car rental, hotel) set to EARN delta miles? The way I read it, you can't just transfer from MR to Delta to get the 150%, but if anyone completes the travel package transfer and get a 150% bonus, I'm sure we'll hear about it.

The first person who tries might end up with only 120k Delta Miles and the 7 night marriott cert... so I'd say the guinea pig should be someone already wants to get a travel package and Delta miles anyway. At least I wouldn't try without some confirmation from Delta (MR is probably not going to know anything about a Delta promotion).

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I did re-read the rules on Delta, and it sounds like it might actually work:

[QUOTE]Convert Partner Points to Miles:
Club Rewards from Diners Club International; Banco Santander Brazil—SuperBônus Program; HSBC Clube de Beneficios; Hertz #1 Awards; Choice Privileges; EA$Y CHOICE; Hilton HHonors; Hyatt Gold Passport; Sirius by Jumeirah; Marriott Rewards; Priority Club Rewards; Radisson goldpoints plus; Sofitel Compliments Points; Sol Meliá MaS Rewards; Starwood Preferred Guest; Taj Inner Circle; Wyndham Rewards.[/QOUTE]

It's appears to be for more than just earned miles (though I bet Delta intended it to be just earned miles). Marriott does offer conversion from Marriott Points to Delta Miles at 125k points for 50k miles. With this promotion bonus of 150%, that would be a 1:1 conversion from MR to Delta. If Delta processes miles from Marriott the same whether they come from travel packages or straight point conversion... it really could work.

It also looks like signing up for a Delta Sky Miles CC and even a Starwood CC could net some nice sign up bonuses if Delta counts those as 'base' miles, but that's not really marriott related!

Just Passing Thru

That just sounds too good to be true.

I can't imagine that DL intends for MR travel packages to qualify for the bonus. MR Concierge, do you have any information on this, please?

MileageGoblin

Dang! Why can't AA do this!

annerj

"converting partner points into miles" So are we thinking this includes travel packages?

annerj

No doubt!

bpauker

I'm assuming it will. What is are the miles portion of a travel package if not "converting partner points into miles"? Seems like it would work. I'm nailing down some hotel plans before I pull the trigger on this.

Herkguy

"Pulled the trigger" this morning. Should take 48 hours for the points to transfer...not sure if I will get the 150% bonus right off the bat or at the end of the promotion (or at all!!) I will keep you guys posted.

BTW, I was able to buy the package without booking any hotel rooms, I now have a 7 night category 7 e-cert to use when I feel like it (within the next year).

Just Passing Thru

You can convert MR points directly into miles; I feel relatively sure that that route would work. I'm not so sure that the travel-package route will.

Don't get me wrong -- I was planning on booking a travel package in the next month or two anyway, and I'd be pleased as punch if I got a 150% spiff on the miles portion of the package. I'm just not confident that those miles will receive the bonus.

annerj

UGHH

I wish we knew for sure. Again I don't ever use 7 nights and dont forsee doing it in the future but I could do one of these for the bonus miles and "Extend" one of our vacations up to 5 or so nights.

ohmark

As primarily a Northwest traveler (with a lot of miles) and with a Delta Skymiles account (with a few miles), I'm considering whether it makes sense for me to utilize the offer considering that Delta has announced the programs will be combined before the end of 2009.

One question for Delta flyers here, do these miles earn MQM's (otherwise known as EQM's)? I know that generally (except for a recent Worldperks Visa offer) these offers don't earn elite qualifying miles on Northwest, but I'm not so sure on Delta.

As to whether the offer includes travel packages, why wouldn't it? The offer says specifically "converting partner points into miles." How does anybody interpret this to mean that travel packages (the airline portion of which simply converts points to miles) are excluded or even might be excluded?

Just Passing Thru

Because the airlines giveth and the airlines taketh away.

Seriously, what seems sensible and reasonable to the average customer (or even the average FTer) might not necessarily seem reasonable to an airline. And as far as "converting partner points into miles" goes, MR already offers that option -- to *directly* convert MR points into miles. That could be the *only* sort of transfer activity that DL intends to reward.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/moreairmi.mi

Again, please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the travel package route shouldn't work -- I'm just saying that I'm doubtful. I've developed a rather broad streak of skepticism regarding generous travel offers in the last few years.

We may very well get that 150% bonus on travel package miles. I'm just saying that I'd like to see some confirmation that MR travel package mileage gets the bonus, too. But frankly, I don't expect that I'll actually see any confirmation until the bonus miles post to my SkyMiles account.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, so please be gentle with your flames and brickbats.

GUWonder

Why? Because AA is not sleazy enough to play with a fleecing machine like the DL 3-tier award chart and not so desperate as to do this to try to get a rush of cash in before year end.

This promotion might work for people who earn as fast as they burn or are otherwise very good at extracting extraordinary value out of frequent flyer miles, but most people collecting DL miles are going to learn the hard way what the transformation of SkyMiles into SkyLessMiles means.

I am playing this promotion and those active posters on FT ought to generally capable enough to extract near maximum value out of this promotion, but for the ordinary customer, next year is going to be ugly -- very ugly -- when it comes to award ticket redemption (attempts). [The economic environment being bad and getting worse should help with award availability, but with DL's 3-tier award chart that's not a guarantee.] People might not find this such a great deal when they have to pay the higher and highest level award prices instead of just the standard level award price that Delta calls "low" pricing.