Hilton Now Lets You Reclaim Expired Points

New clause in terms and conditions allows for accounts to reclaim expired points.

If you have stayed at a Hilton hotel in the past 18 months just to let your earned Hilton Honors points expired, a new policy could help you get them back at least one time. According to an update in the Hilton Honors Terms and Conditions, the program now allows guests to request their points be reinstated.

The new policy allows up to one million points to be reinstated if they expire. However, guests must pay attention to when that expiration takes place: Points can only be reinstated within 18 months of their expiration. All other points are lost permanently. Other restrictions include needing a valid e-mail address, and points reinstated do not count towards elite tier qualification.

Another key provision of the new policy is: “Only one reinstatement action is permitted per Hilton Honors account.” Travelers who collect Hilton Honors points can have their point balanced reinstated one time only, which means future requests may not be honored by the hotel giant.

The new policy is one of many changes for Hilton’s loyalty program in 2017. In February, Hilton announced the rebranding of Honors, while adding more benefits including cash and points bookings and family accounts to pool points. In November, the company announced an exclusive partnership with American Express, dropping all co-branded credit cards with Citi before 2018.

Hilton’s changes put their loyalty program in line with increased competition from other hospitality giants, including Marriott. Hilton previously received frequent traveler scorn for proposing a 7-day cancellation policy.

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