Bits: donate Avios to earthquake relief, 40% bonus on Marriott points, Homes & Villas bonus

News in brief:

Donate Avios to earthquake relief and IAG will match you

Via the BA Better World charity arm, British Airways Executive Club members are being offered the chance to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) using Avios.
 
The DEC is raising funds and working with local partners to help those whose lives have been devastated by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Your Avios are valued at 0.8p when you donate them. Until 31st March, IAG Loyalty will match your donation up to a total contribution of £200,000.

You should run the maths based on your marginal tax rate before doing this. The lack of Gift Aid usually makes Avios donations poor value for both sides, but with 100% matching from IAG Loyalty I think it does make sense to give points and not cash even for higher rate taxpayers. It comes down to how high you personally value an Avios vs the 0.8p rate here.
 
You can make your donation here.

Get a 40% bonus buying Marriott Bonvoy points

Marriott Bonvoy has launched a new deal if you buy their hotel points.

Via this page of the website, you will get a 40% bonus on all points purchases by 3rd April. The minimum purchase is 2,000 points.

We have seen 50% bonuses recently for larger purchases, so this is not the best offer ever. That said, you can be sure that nothing better will appear until well after 3rd April so if you do want to book a stay, it is better than nothing.

The annual purchase cap has now been raised to 100,000 points.  With the bonus, this means that you could pick up 140,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

At the top end you are paying $1,250 (£1,040) for 140,000 points.

My rule of thumb is that a Marriott Bonvoy point is worth 0.5p so this offer is not great at 0.74p per point. 

However, you might find it worthwhile if:

• you are topping off your account before making a points booking, or
• you are close to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and want to make a transfer into airline miles (you get a bonus of 5,000 airline miles when you transfer 60,000 Bonvoy points into 20,000 airline miles), or
• you are planning a stay at a property where you know you will get outsized value

The page to buy is here. The offer runs to 3rd April.

Note that new members of Marriott Bonvoy must wait 30 days before they can buy points.

Earn 10,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points with Homes & Villas

Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy is offering a very palatable 10,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points if you book a home or villa rental by 11th March 2023.

This is on top of your base points of 5 per $1 spent plus any Bonvoy status bonus.

You need to book via the Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy website for a stay completed before 14th May 2023.

You need to book for a minimum of four days to trigger the bonus. Points or ‘cash and points’ bookings do not qualify.

You also earn your standard points and elite night credit

You earn at the same rate as Marriott’s long stay hotel brands. This means 5 points per $1 spent.  You do not earn points on booking fees, taxes, cleaning fees and extra add-ons during your stay.

If you have Marriott Bonvoy elite status, you also earn a tier bonus:

• Silver Elite: 5 points per eligible dollar plus 10% bonus
• Gold Elite: 5 points per eligible dollar plus 25% bonus
• Platinum Elite: 5 points per eligible dollar plus 50% bonus
• Titanium Elite: 5 points per eligible dollar plus 75% bonus
• Ambassador: 5 points per eligible dollar plus 75% bonus

Gold Elite members and higher also receive a welcome gift:

• Ambassador Elite, Titanium Elite, Platinum Elite: 1,000 points
• Gold Elite: 500 points

You also earn elite night credits for each night you stay. These nights count towards your annual status renewal but do not count towards lifetime status.

The Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy home page is here.