FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Sneaky Expiration of Starwood Points?
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Old Mar 31, 2011, 7:59 am
  #22  
sc flier
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Lafayette, CO, USA
Programs: SPG Lifetime Plat, AA Gold, UA Gold, DL Silver, HH Gold, Vail Epic
Posts: 9,096
Originally Posted by travelinfoo
Actually this is NOT unique to SPG. Have you checked out the long whiny thread on Hilton's forum about expiration of points? HHonors policy is ONE YEAR, granted awards do count. But they also do not notify.
Nope. I haven't checked out the long whiny thread in Hilton's forum. I would guess that it's similar to this one since the HHonors T&Cs are unfortunately pretty similar to SPG's. (Who stole from who, I wonder?) I have a Hilton HHonors Amex to keep that account moving even if I don't stay with them constantly. Just because Hilton does the same, doesn't make it right.

It's hard to feel sorry for someone who doesn't read the T&C and then complains about it.
I don't feel sorry for someone for failing to read the T&Cs. I do feel sorry for someone who searches the T&Cs for what seems to be reasonable terms ("expire" or "expiration") only to later find that the program instead used the terms "forfeit" and "close." I do feel sorry for someone who is misled by the marketing department to think that no expiration date means that their points will not be taken from them. The folks at SPG have known for years that this is a problem but still fail to fix it properly.

I'm a leisure traveler and I know the terms. I've also had points from other hotel programs expire, all without notice.
If you knew better, I guess it wasn't worth preventing.

In the end, it is YOUR responsibility to keep track of your accounts, not the program's.
I didn't say otherwise. I just believe that the hotel companies should be more responsible to make the terms easier to fully understand.

"there is no Starpoints expiration date for active members."
--Starwood Press Release

SPG has an FAQ for their program. Why is this topic not on it?
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