Marriott Rewards just announced that they are making a change to their loyalty program in which earned Marriott Rewards points will now expire after 24 months of inactivity.
Changes to Delta Medallion Choice Benefits
Starting February 1, 2016, members who do not have qualifying activity in the prior 24 months will forfeit all accumulated points.
If you have not engaged in qualifying activity since January 31, 2014, you have until January 31, 2016 to do so before the policy is enforced*.
The following activities do not count toward maintaining an active status in the Marriott Rewards® program:
- Gifting or transferring points
- Receiving points as a gift or transfer
- Earning points through social media programs, such as #MRPoints
* Lifetime Status members are not affected by this change. However, Marriott Rewards reserves the right to change and modify Lifetime membership benefits at any time.
Bottom Line
The good news is that this change doesn’t go into effect until February 1, 2016, though 24 months is a long time to accrue activity, so while it’s a negative change, I don’t think it will have that much of an impact on most people.
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I just cancelled the Marriott credit card today. Switching to Hyatt. Will burn up the Marriott points over the summer.
Your BoardingArea remarks are good, but they miss an important point. Marriott has continued to devalue their points for these last 3 years. Their credit card gives you a “free” $85.00 night at a category 5. We had used it in Savannah and Stone Mountain (GA) but those are now 6’s and 7’s. We found a Residence Inn in North Florida that was still a 5 and it now is a 6 so can’t use it any more for the “free” night. Their web site lists 9 pages of hotels going down in category and 25 going up–costing at least 5000 more points per night..