Hotel and airline loyalty partnerships aren't a new thing, and they usually come with a set formula: they're linked together, reward you for staying with them and occasionally give you a discount as well. Japan Airlines has a new partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, and it's different. This one is based on elite status, not points, and significantly alters the real-life benefit for the frequent traveller.

Effective today, members of the two programs can use the Marriott Bonvoy and JAL Mileage Bank accounts to enjoy reciprocal benefits that qualify as elite members in both programs. Annual JAL FLY ON Points deposits for Marriott elite members and instant Marriott Bonvoy elite status matches and accelerated status paths for JAL frequent flyers. No requirement to fly on one side, and no additional hotel nights on the other. The trigger is the connection between the accounts.

The One-Way Annual Flight Gift is for People who Hold a Status

The most obvious benefit for JAL FLY ON Points users of this alliance is the annual deposit, which varies depending on your elite levels at JAL. FLY ON Points are Japan Airlines' status-qualifying points that cannot be used as a currency to redeem airline miles but are used in earning JAL elite status, such as Crystal, Sapphire, JGC Premier and above.

When you are a member of the Marriott family, you will get the following benefits each year:

• Marriott Member (base): 2,000 FLY ON Points
• Silver Elite: 5,000 FLY ON Points
• Gold Elite: 10,000 FLY ON Points
• Platinum Elite: 20,000 FLY ON Points
• Titanium Elite: 30,000 FLY ON Points
• Advance to Ambassador: 40,000 FLY ON Points

But when you start to consider that the number of FLY ON Points it takes to reach JAL Crystal status, which is a meaningful entry level elite tier, is 30,000 per year, the scale of these deposits becomes very significant very fast. By pairing their accounts, a Marriott Titanium member would earn the full 30,000 points just by remaining a member of the hotel program, regardless of whether he or she ever flew on a JAL flight. An Ambassador Elite would earn 40,000 FLY ON Points to step up to Crystal easily and build towards the next level.

The annual deposit may be a significant bonus even at lower Marriott levels, especially for those who occasionally use JAL and are looking for a little extra assistance to get to status.

The JAL Side: Instant Marriott Status Matches

The reciprocal works just as strongly for those who travel with Japan Airlines and have minimal Marriott Bonvoy activity on their records. Depending on your JAL Mileage Bank status level, you might be able to get instant Marriott Bonvoy status or be able to rise to a higher status than you are at now.

The most prominent: JAL Sapphire members get instant Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status, and can move to Gold Elite after 10 nights in six months. JGC Premier members become Gold Elite members and earn 10,000 bonus Bonvoy points after 16 nights in six months. Diamond and Diamond Metal members are immediately upgraded to Gold Elite, will earn 15,000 bonus Bonvoy points after 16 qualifying nights, and will have a quick path to Platinum Elite after just 10 nights in six months.

The simplest JAL Mileage Bankers, who are not at the elite level, can obtain Marriott Silver Elite with just four to six nights within a six-month period, a significantly lower qualification path for Marriott.

It is the Amex Platinum Angle Worth Knowing

With the Amex Platinum card or Amex Business Platinum, there are additional values here that link up with the current value provided by the cardholders. The cards both offer the benefit as cardholders of free entry to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status. The new partnership, in return, means that Gold Elite members earn 10,000 JAL FLY ON Points each year, or about a third of the FLY ON Points required to earn JAL Crystal status before traveling just one flight.

If you're an Amex Platinum holder and fly JAL, even on a regular basis, it's a no-brainer that you can also bank with hotel status you already have courtesy of your Amex Platinum.

What this is Like Compared to Regular Loyalty Partnerships

Most hotel/airline partnerships are very limited in scope stay in a hotel get some airline miles, get on an aircraft with the airline, get some hotel points. The conversions can be average and the rewards depend on certain consumer actions.

The contrast between what Marriott and JAL have created is that the benefit is different than the transaction. Annual FLY ON Points deposits are based on your current level of status and not a stay or flight. Status matches are not based on incremental spending aimed at leveraging a partnership benefit in one program, but on the work done in another.

The resulting structural difference renders the partnership truly additive rather than something you need to make an extra effort to monetize. Loyalty is already being shown to both parties, so there isn't much point in them rewarding you for that loyalty that they already have if you are already a Marriott Bonvoy member.

Also, under the new system, the current point conversion from Marriott to JAL continues Bonvoy points have always been able to be converted to JAL miles, and that will be the same here.

Utilizing the Partnership in the Best Way

This only requires a few minutes through Marriott's travel partner portal and there is little benefit to not doing so. The annual FLY ON Points deposits are also automatic, so you won't have to remember to claim them or do anything special in addition each year.

If you are already a Marriott loyalist, then this partnership is the most efficient way to gain JAL status chasers FLY ON points without flying that is available at the moment. What's the point of even having a small JAL status tier if you only use the airline for occasional travel to Japan or the Narita or Haneda airports on international flights? Irony. So what if you are only using JAL for occasional travel to Japan or through Narita and Haneda airports on international flights? Irony.

The Bottom Line

According to the partnership, Japan Airlines will also be offering an annual ‘elite qualifying benefit deposit' to customers on its redemptions to Marriott Bonvoy, and ‘instant status matching' in both directions will also be available. Each Marriott member will earn 2,000 to 40,000 JAL FLY ON Points a year, depending on their Bonvoy elite tier, and they do not need to fly to earn them. 

For JAL elite members, depending on their JAL tier, they receive instant status matches for JAL and Marriott Bonvoy, and accelerated qualification paths. With Amex Platinum or Business Platinum (which includes free Marriott Gold Elite), it yields 10,000 JAL FLY ON Points per year, with no additional spending. Joining is free, straightforward and will offer long term passive value to anyone with a meaningful standing in either program.