My wife questioned my loyalty program expertise when I told her this week she lost all her Marriott Rewards points due to no Marriott Rewards activity in the past 24 months.
We’re sorry, but your points expired on 02/01/16. Our records show no account activity for at least 24 months.
I had not thought about Marriott Rewards for Kelley in more than two years. Nearly all our hotel stays are booked through my hotel loyalty member accounts.
Back in 2013 we earned free night rewards through Kelley’s account during the Marriott Rewards MegaBonus 2013 offers when two stays earned one free night. Last week I thought it would be a good idea to plan for two hotel stays with Marriott to earn a free night certificate in Kelley’s account with the Marriott Rewards MegaBonus 2016 promotion. MegaBonus seems to be the most lucrative hotel promotion we currently have for our accounts.
My wife’s 3,055 Marriott Rewards points expired February 1, 2016.
3,055 Marriott Rewards points are worth only about $15 to $30, Not a big loss. I certainly have lost far more valuable points and miles currency in the past from both hers and my accounts.
How to Keep Your Marriott Rewards Points from Expiring
Earn or redeem points at least once every 2 years to stay active and retain your points.
To retain your points, keep your account active by doing one of the following at least once every two years:
- Make a paid (or redemption) stay at any of our 4,000+ participating hotels worldwide.
- Redeem points.
- Make a purchase using a Marriott Rewards Credit Card.
- Earn points with one of our program partners.
- Purchase points.
- Hold a qualifying meeting or event, including earning points through the Rewarding Events Program.
My Marriott Rewards last qualifying activity was June 19, 2015 when I had a Marriott hotel stay in Anaheim on a Disneyland trip. My points are set to expire June 19, 2017. Marriott MegaBonus activity over the next three months will keep my account points safe until 2018.
Loyalty Program Tracking Software
Please leave a comment if you have a program to recommend for keeping track of your loyalty miles and points.
Some people use tracking software to manage all their frequent flyer accounts. I did that more than a decade ago when I had millions of miles and points across 20+ different loyalty programs, but I am no longer obsessed with these things. I regularly earn and redeem miles and points across the loyalty programs I participate in these days and most of my accounts are maintained at a relative low balance as I balance paid travel with reward travel throughout the year.
If I am not traveling, earning and redeeming points and miles, it is due to not having the discretionary spend in my budget for travel. During the financial recession of 2008-10 Kelley was diagnosed with cancer and underwent nine months of chemotherapy treatment and radiation. She could not work. Loyalty Traveler was making very little money during those years. We probably lost close to 300,000 frequent flyer miles that expired due to no activity in our accounts. Concentrating on life and death matters pushed miles and points travel issues to a low priority at the time.
Ironically, 2009-10 included more luxury hotel stays than we ever had before or since when hotel rates plummeted and hotel loyalty promotions offered unprecedented bonus offers for free nights. Kelley mentioned the other day how she remembers our first stay at the St. Regis San Francisco as the most comfortable bed she ever slept in. She remained horizontal in that bed for 24 hours after a chemotherapy session. Perhaps our next stay at the St. Regis will earn Marriott Rewards points?
Marriott was our go to brand in Denver when the Fairfield Inn was the closest hotel to the hospice center her mother lived in for the last two years of her life. I even earned Silver elite in Marriott Rewards from those Denver trips.
Marriott Rewards and Starwood Hotels merging in the coming year will likely mean I’ll be more focused on these programs for my hotel stays. I wonder if my stay at Starwood’s SLS Las Vegas, Tribute Portfolio this week will eventually count as Marriott Rewards qualifying activity?
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