You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points in many ways, including using a Marriott co-branded credit card and staying at hotels included in the Marriott portfolio. If you’re a frequent traveler who typically stays in hotels, you may wonder whether Marriott Bonvoy points expire.
The answer is yes — they can. To keep your Marriott Bonvoy account active and in good standing, you must earn, redeem or buy points once every 24 months. If your account is inactive for 24 consecutive months, your points will expire. This is standard practice for hotel rewards programs.
The good news is you can take steps to avoid expiring points. There are several ways to keep your Marriott Bonvoy account active. We’ll show you how to check whether your points are at risk of expiring and explain how to ensure your Marriott Bonvoy points remain in your account so you can redeem them when you’re ready.
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How to find out when your Marriott Bonvoy points expire
You worked hard to earn your hotel rewards points, so ensuring you don’t lose them is wise. As mentioned above, you must keep your Marriott Bonvoy account active to avoid losing your points due to expiration.
According to the Marriott Bonvoy program terms and conditions, if your account is inactive for 24 consecutive months, you’ll automatically forfeit any remaining points in your account. To verify whether your points are set to expire soon, you can take the following steps:
- Log into your Marriott Bonvoy account.
- Select your name in the top right menu bar.
- Next, select “activity.”
- If you have points in your account, you’ll be shown recent points earnings and redemptions and the points expiration date.
- If you lost your points due to inactivity, you’ll see an explanation of why and when the points were removed from your account.
In the above screenshot, you can see that my account has no points. All of my points expired in January 2023 due to account inactivity. I’ll show you how you can avoid my mistake.
How to keep your Marriott points from expiring
If you’re actively earning or redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points, you don’t need to worry about them expiring. Performing qualifying activities like this at least once every 24 months will keep your account active.
Here are ways to keep your existing Marriott points from expiring:
Complete a hotel stay
Booking a hotel reservation and completing your stay will earn points and keep your account active. When making a reservation, ensure you’re logged into your Marriott Bonvoy account to get credit for your stay.
Earn points without a hotel stay by making purchases at participating properties
Marriott Bonvoy members can earn points at participating properties by making qualified purchases — even if they don’t stay at the hotel. Restaurant and beverage purchases, spa services, and golf outings are some examples of purchases that may earn you 5 Marriott points per dollar spent.
This option is only available at select hotels. Some purchases may be ineligible to earn rewards (for example, alcoholic beverages, where prohibited by law). You’ll need to link your credit card to your Marriott Bonvoy account to verify your purchases and earn rewards.
Earn points by hosting meetings and events
Marriott Bonvoy members can earn points when they host meetings and events at participating properties. If you need to host a special occasion or work event, making a reservation through your Marriott Bonvoy account can help keep your points from expiring.
Make a purchase with a co-branded Marriott Bonvoy credit card
Marriott has partnered with American Express and Chase to offer travelers several co-branded Marriott Bonvoy credit cards. Making purchases with these hotel credit cards is an excellent strategy to earn points. By earning points, you can keep your points from expiring.
Here’s an overview of the credit cards that earn Marriott Bonvoy points:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card ($0 annual fee)
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card ($95 annual fee)
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ credit card ($250 annual fee)
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card ($250 annual fee)
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card ($650 annual fee)
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® Credit Card ($125 annual fee)
How each card earns rewards varies. You should review the benefits and earn rate of each card so you know what to expect. With these Marriott cards in your wallet, you can keep your Marriott Bonvoy account active by making regular purchases.
Convert miles to Marriott Bonvoy points
Marriott Bonvoy members can convert their airline miles to Marriott Bonvoy points. You can only do this with participating airline partners. This activity can help keep your existing Marriott points from expiring. You can transfer miles to Marriott Bonvoy points with the following airline partners:
- ANA Mileage Club
- Cathay Pacific Cathay
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- United MileagePlus
Transfer your Marriott points to participating airlines
You can transfer your Marriott points to participant airline frequent flyer programs and redeem them for award flights. Marriott partners with 39 airline loyalty programs, so your options are plentiful. While not an exhaustive list, the following airline loyalty program partners are eligible:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- ANA Mileage Club
- Copa Air ConnectMiles
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
Redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points
Redeeming your Marriott points counts as account activity. Are you ready to put your points to use? Here are a few ways you can redeem your points:
Book hotel stays: You can use your Marriott points to book hotel stays at participating hotels in the Marriott portfolio. When you redeem your points for five consecutive nights, your fifth award night is free. If you have a flexible schedule, use Marriott’s PointSavers tool to find the best point redemption deals.
Book experiences through Marriott Bonvoy Moments: You can redeem your Marriott points for sporting events, concerts, and culinary events through the Marriott Bonvoy Moments program.
Book cruises through Marriott’s Cruise with Points program: You can redeem your points for qualifying cruises.
Shop with your points: U.S. Marriott Bonvoy members can redeem their points by shopping for electronics, kitchen appliances, clothes and accessories, fitness equipment, gift cards, and more.
Donate your points: You can donate some points to charities like the American Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, UNICEF, and the National Park Foundation.
Purchase points
Another way to keep your account active is to purchase points. If you’re at risk of losing your points to expiration and have no plans to travel soon, consider buying points. Members can buy up to 100,000 points per year. You’ll pay $12.50 for 1,000 points.
You can purchase points through Marriott’s Buy Points Storefront. Since you’ll be paying money to keep your account active, consider exploring the other strategies listed above first.
These activities won’t keep your points from expiring
It’s worth noting that the following activities won’t help you maintain an active account to avoid points expiration:
- Gifting or transferring Marriott points to other members
- Receiving Marriott points as a gift or transfer
Other reasons why you could lose your Marriott points
You could lose your Marriott points if you voluntarily close your account or Marriott closes it. Here’s how that can happen:
You close your account
If you voluntarily close your account and have unredeemed points, they will be forfeited immediately.
Your account is suspended or closed
Unredeemed points will be forfeited immediately if your account is suspended or closed.
Here are some actions that could result in account suspension or closure:
- Breaking laws, regulations, or rules
- Breaking the rules outlined in Marriott’s website terms of use
- Acting in a fraudulent, abusive, hostile, or inappropriate manner
- Fraudulently claiming benefits through Marriott Bonvoy Events
- Program misuse related to points, Elite Night Credits, award usage, or benefits
- Filing for bankruptcy
- Legal action taken against you by Marriott
Additionally, the Marriott Bonvoy program terms and conditions state that if a member doesn’t maintain an active account status for five consecutive years, their account may be deactivated, and any points will be forfeited.
Keep your points
Earning rewards through the Marriott Bonvoy program is a smart strategy if you’re a traveler who likes to stay at properties that are part of the Marriott brand.
But make sure you understand how the rewards program works and how to keep your Marriott Bonvoy account active and in good standing so you don’t lose your points due to account inactivity or misuse. If you need help redeeming your Marriott points, let point.me guide you.
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