Marriott Rewards® points will now expire
 

We want to make you aware of a program policy announced today:

Starting February 1, 2016, members who do not have a qualifying activity in the prior 24 months will forfeit all accumulated points. If you have not engaged in a qualifying activity since January 31, 2014 you have until January 31, 2016 to do so before the policy is enforced.

We make it pretty easy to maintain active status in the Marriott Rewards program. Qualifying activities include:

• Make a paid (or redemption) stay at any of our 3,800+ participating hotels worldwide
• Redeem points
• Make a purchase through a Marriott Rewards credit card
• Earn points with one of our program partners
• Purchase points
• Hold a qualifying meeting or event through the Rewarding Events℠ program


The following activities do not count toward maintaining an active status in the Marriott Rewards program:

• Gifting or transferring points; however, converting Points to Miles or Miles to Points does count toward maintaining an active status
• Receiving points as a gift or transfer
• Earning points through social media programs, such as #MRPoints


For full details and updated terms, please visit:http://www.MarriottRewards.com/PointsPolicy

While it has been a nice feature/benefit that Marriott didn't "expire" points/accounts, it is nice that we've been given a heads up that that is about to change.

Agree, especially since it's an 11 month advance notice. But now for the negative - it was an advantage Marriott had over most of the other chains, so one less thing that makes Marriott better/unique.

Cheers.

Lifetime Status members exempted!
 

At the site linked in post 1, it says:

I just have to wonder - is there an accounting reason behind this type of a policy? With capacity controls on award rooms, the balance of outstanding points should be irrelevant to Marriott in the real/operational/business world.

This is removing a competitive differentiator - what value does it provide to Marriott to offset this marketing negative?

That's good to see. There have been several USAirways "Lifetime/Million Miler" members that have lost their miles/account history due to inactivity.

I agree that this was a definite differentiator Marriott had, but I suspect that they are hoping to pull in a few more stays/activity from folks that otherwise wouldn't throw anything Marriott's way otherwise. For example, maybe it might drive someone to at least give Marriott one night a year or similar just to make sure the account doesn't get deactivated. At the very least, it may cause folks to at least "think" of Marriott every now and then if only to make sure their accounts aren't expiring. And if someone is "thinking" about Marriott maybe a few will ultimately act on those thoughts.

Luckily purchasing points still counts, so if someone really wants to keep their points but doesn't want to spend too much they can spend $12.50 every 2 years to buy 1,000 points.

Cheers.

Might also be a way of tidying up all the outstanding points that have accumulated in the accounts of deceased MR members.

Points are carried on the balance sheet as a liability, albeit hidden in a category like GS&A.

Absolutely. Hotels and Airlines must carry some amount on the balance sheet as a liability for future redemptions. Even with capacity controls in place. Once this deadline passes they'll have a huge accounting windfall (on paper).

Will the Marriott website be updated so that it shows us when our points will expire if there is no activity?

This is sad. Not that it affects me, but it differentiated Marriott from other chains. Some of my colleagues who very infrequently stay at hotels are using Marriott because I recommended it to them for this very reason.
Oh well, another benefit of MR down the drain.

I don't think its that big of a deal. Its almost impossible not to have activity once every two years. Plus all of that record keeping for dormant accounts must have been a pain.

I am not an accountant, but wouldn't Marriott have to carry those points as a liability? They get to write them off now. Rightfully so.

Y'know, my gut reaction is to be irate about this change, but every time I think about it I come to the same conclusion as you. If one actually cares about earning and using MR points, it's not hard to earn one or use one at least once every 24 months.

Excellent point. Would be nice if one month before point expiry an email is sent out to remind the member, with ways to keep the points alive.