Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Five UK Marriott hotels, mainly country clubs, are to leave the chain

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Five UK Marriott hotels are leaving the chain in two weeks, despite being included on the new points pricing list from August.

These are:

  • Sunderland Marriott
  • Newcastle Marriott Gosforth Park

  • Hollins Hall Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Shipley
  • Meon Valley Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Southampton
  • Sprowston Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Norwich

The last day that these hotels will operate under the Marriott brand is 18th July.

These hotels were recently for sale – I don’t know if a deal was concluded.  The removal of the Marriott branding is being described as a positive to give the buyer a clean sheet.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2025)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

Comments (376)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Ian says:

    Still no points for me. I booked 7 flights early on the Saturday before 8am. Rather annoying, I can see the flights I’m interested in disappearing fast. Opened my IB account last year.

  • Eric the Half a Bee says:

    Booked 10 flights on the Sunday afternoon. All 90,000 Avios arrived yesterday evening and redeemed straight away.????

  • Jeff says:

    I contacted Avios and they can’t manually combine the Avios either. Get the same sort of error message as trying to do it yourself. They say there is a problem with the ‘source’ account (ie IB) – everything is blocked, not just the 90k.

  • xcalx says:

    Anyone know how long first time transfers from Amex to IB actually take it says 4 days.

  • James says:

    So, did x10 bookings for me and the other half, both old Iberia cards. Mine have posted, there’s hasn’t. Anyone else have more than one person on the each booking? I read the T&C’s debunked on HFP and it explicitly said this was allowed.

    • Rob says:

      It was VERY clear in what IB sent me that, yes, this was OK.

      • James says:

        Thanks Rob, seems to be a common thread on here that secondary passenger’s points haven’t posted?

      • james says:

        Update – Partner’s points have just posted. Pleasantly surprised how seamless it was..

    • xcalx says:

      Yeah 5 x 2 person bookings 45k in one account 36k in other so 1 x 9k missing leaves me 6500 short of the booking I need. Just done an Amex to IB transfer as no CMA available.

  • OverTheHorizon says:

    I booked 10 flights via a longstanding IB+ account which has been reasonably active (flights, car hire, transfers) over the last year.

    81k points posted yesterday, no idea where the remaining 9k are !!

    But as there seems to be plenty of redemption availability on the routes/dates I want to travel, I am going to be patient for now, wait for Rob’s article, and spend an hour or two at the weekend finding something.

    • Nik says:

      I booked 3 flights, but so far have only received 18,000 Avios.

    • Alistair says:

      Same. 10 booked, only 81000 avios posted.

      Only difference I can see is that the first booking I made was priced in euros where the next 9 were sterling. Don’t know why the difference – perhaps language setting cookies – but doesn’t seem to be outside the Ts&Cs…

  • Third Passport says:

    Just had an email from Miles & More that my miles are protected (from expiring) until 30 June 2019. While they are looking to establish a suitable new partnership in the UK.

    • meta says:

      Same here. But I already knew that since Lufthansa confirmed on Twitter 2-3 weeks ago. Rob, can you now share more details from your call with Miles&More or is that it?

      • Rob says:

        My understanding is that discussions with a new issuer are more advanced than the email suggests. I don’t have a name though.

        • Stephan says:

          In a hypothetical scenario that Lufhansa reaches an agreement with Creation or whoever before 30/6/19 and you decide to get that card, will the miles expire irrespective on 30/6 or non-expiration rule from MBNA years will continue? In other words, do we need to clear the account before 30/6 so that we don’t lose any miles or not?

          • Rob says:

            You only need to clear miles over 3 years old on 30th June. The exact number will begin to appear on your account from 1 April.

            A new card would need to be up and running well before 30th June so you could apply and miles could start being sent across.

        • meta says:

          That’s good to know. Thanks. Fingers crossed.

        • Thomas Howard says:

          Do you know if any of the other airline programmes are launching cards or have American and Emirates given up on the UK?

          • Rob says:

            Not that I’ve heard but there are of course various ways of earning AA and Skywards miles off a UK card.

  • Tom says:

    Avios.com have confirmed there is currently an issue with the transfer tool. It has been raised with their technical team, and they are working to fix the problem…

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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