Concerned about your Marriott Bonvoy points expiring before you have a chance to use them?
As with most loyalty programs, Marriott points are use them or lose them — but you should have plenty of time to complete an activity that keeps your points and account active.
Here's what you need to know about Marriott's point expiration policy and how to keep Marriott Bonvoy points from expiring.
When Do Marriott Points Expire?
As a general rule, Marriott Bonvoy points expire after 24 months of account inactivity. That means if you don't perform qualifying activities for 24 consecutive months, your points will be forfeit.
According to the Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions, you must earn miles or points in the Marriott Bonvoy program or redeem points at least once every 24 months to keep your point from expiring.
Unlike some loyalty programs, certain points activities do not count toward maintaining an active account status.
Note that any award stays you redeem before your points are forfeited will remain valid even if the award wasn't fulfilled yet.
This isn't likely to affect many people as it would mean booking a stay more than 24 months in advance.
Not all Marriott Bonvoy points expire, though. Marriott Bonvoy members who achieve Lifetime Elite Membership never need to worry about points expiring.
Points do not expire if you have any of these Marriott Bonvoy accounts:
- Lifetime Silver elite status (250 lifetime nights and 5 years elite status)
- Lifetime Gold (400 lifetime nights and 7 years of Gold elite status or higher)
- Lifetime Platinum (600 lifetime nights and 10 years of Platinum elite status)
How to Keep Marriott Points From Expiring
Fortunately, Marriott Bonvoy gives you a full two years to earn or redeem Marriott points before your points expire.
There are also plenty of activities that qualify as account activity. You don't even need to stay at a Marriott hotel to keep your Marriott Bonvoy points from expiring.
If you aren't very active in the Marriott Bonvoy program, make sure you opt into Marriott Bonvoy rewards communications. You will receive notification in the form of an email to give you a warning when your points are at risk of being forfeited.
Here are the ways you can keep your Marriott Bonvoy account active and continue earning points toward free Marriott stays.
Book a Marriott Stay
The most obvious way to keep your account active is booking and completing a paid stay at a hotel or resort in the Marriott Bonvoy program.
Note: simply booking and then canceling your reservation won't count as a qualifying activity; you need to actually complete a qualifying award or paid stay.
You can book and complete a stay at any property in the Marriott Bonvoy program. You can learn more about participating brands in the full guide to Marriott's hotel brands.
Use a Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card
Simply keeping a Marriott Bonvoy credit card open isn't enough to keep your Marriott account active. But, using your card for any purchase to earn Marriott points will be enough to keep your points from expiring.
The easiest way to keep your Marriott Bonvoy points active is by using one of the Marriott Bonvoy cards to make a purchase.
Here are our recommended Marriott credit cards that will earn points with every purchase:
Earning points with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card
- Current Bonus: The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card offers 75,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.
- Benefits: This card earns 6x points at Marriott hotels and 2x points on all other purchases. The most valuable perk of the card is the annual free night (worth up to 35,000 points) at a Marriott hotel. You'll also get automatic Marriott Bonvoy Silver status by just having the card. And if you spend $35,000 on your card each account year you will get Gold status. This card also gives you 15 nights of elite credit each year.
- Annual Fee: $95
- Learn More →
Earning points with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card
- Current Bonus: The Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card offers 30,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.
- Benefits: This card earns 3x points at Marriott hotels, 2x points on travel purchases, and 1x points on all other purchases. The card gives you automatic Silver status with Marriott Bonvoy and 15 nights of elite credit each year you keep the card.
- Annual Fee: $0
- Learn More →
Earning points with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card Terms Apply; Rates and Fees
- Current Bonus: The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card Terms Apply; Rates and Fees offers Earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points and 1 Free Night Award after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
- Benefits: With this card, you'll get a free night certificate each cardmember anniversary, $300 Marriott Bonvoy statement credit each year, automatic Gold Elite status, and 15 elite night credits. Other great benefits the card comes with are airport lounge access with Priority Pass Select, $100 property credit when you stay 2+ nights at The Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis, and $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck fee credit. This card earns 6x points at Marriott hotels, 3x points at U.S. restaurants and on airfare booked directly with airlines and 2x points on all other purchases.
- Annual Fee: $450
- Learn More →
Earning points with the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card Terms Apply; Rates and Fees
- Current Bonus: The Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card Terms Apply; Rates and Fees offers 75,00 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.
- Benefits: Each cardmember anniversary, you will get a free night certificate worth up to 35,000 points. Other perks are automatic Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status, Marriott Gold Elite status when you spend $35,000 in a year, and 15 elite night credits each year. This card earns 6x points at Marriott Bonvoy properties, 4x points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, U.S. mobile service providers, and on U.S. shipping purchases, and 2x points on all other purchases.
- Annual Fee: $125
- Learn More →
The Marriott Bonvoy credit cards (and The Platinum Card® from American Express Terms Apply; Rates and Fees, for that matter) also offer automatic Marriott elite status, but elite status is separate from point expiration.
Convert Marriott Points to Airline Miles
You can keep your Marriott account active by transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to an airline partner but there is a minimum you must transfer.
With most airline programs, the transfer ratio is 3 Marriott points to 1 mile and you generally need to transfer at least 3,000 points.
You can learn more about converting Marriott points to miles in the guide to redeeming Marriott points.
Transfer Points or Miles to Marriott Bonvoy
As an alternative to converting Marriott points, you can also keep your Marriott points from expiring by transferring miles or points from other programs into Marriott Bonvoy.
This includes Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Diners Club Rewards, and more than 40 airline partners.
If you have any of these Chase credit cards you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy:
Plus if you have any of these cards in combination with a premium Ultimate Rewards earning credit card listed above, you can also transfer points to Ultimate Reward's transfer partners:
From American Express, these cards earn Membership Rewards points that you can transfer to Marriott Bonvoy:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express Terms Apply; Rates and Fees
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express Terms Apply; Rates and Fees
- American Express® Gold Card Terms Apply; Rates and Fees
- American Express® Business Gold Card Terms Apply; Rates and Fees
- American Express Green Card
- Business Green Rewards Card from American Express
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
Earn Marriott Points
You can keep your Marriott points from expiring by earning Marriott points with partners or through Marriott.
Here are some options:
- Rent a car with Hertz
- Book a cruise through CruisesOnly.com or Cruise with Points through Marriott
- Earn points for dining through the Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy program
- Book activities through Marriott Tours & Activities
- Book a package with Vacations by Marriott
- Sign up for TravellingConnect cell phone roaming service
Learn more about ways to earn points in our full guide to earning Marriott Bonvoy points.
Other Ways to Keep Marriott Points from Expiring
If none of the above options work, you can still keep your Marriott account active with these options:
- Buy Marriott points
- Book a Marriott event
- Donate Marriott Bonvoy points
- Redeem points for gift cards
- Refer-a-Friend to a Marriott Bonvoy credit card
Activities that Don't Keep Your Marriott Points from Expiring
There are several points activities that won't count as a qualifying activity to keep your account active. Some of these are counterintuitive so make sure you know which activities will and won't count to keep your points from expiring.
- Social media programs (Marriott sometimes offers social media promotions to earn bonus points such as answering trivia questions on Twitter or sharing a post on Facebook)
- Gifting/transferring points
- Receiving points as a transfer or gift
- Registering for a Marriott promotion
- Booking a reward stay
- Stays at a Marriott Vacation Club property as an owner, even when earning elite credit (The exception is if you make a purchase that earns Marriott points during your stay)
How to Reinstate Marriott Points
Marriott Bonvoy currently does not offer a way to reinstate expired Marriott points. Hilton Honors and other programs, on the other hand, allow you to reinstate your points for a fee.
According to Marriott Bonvoy's terms and conditions, forfeited points will only be returned if they were forfeited in error.
FAQ
When do Marriott points expire?
Marriott points expire after 24 months of inactivity on your account.
How do I keep Marriott points from expiring?
You can prevent Marriott points from expiring by:
- Staying at a Marriott hotel
- Using a Marriott Bonvoy credit card
- Converting Marriott points to airline miles
- Transferring miles or points from another program into Marriott Bonvoy
- Earning points with partners
- Booking Marriott events
- Donating points
- Buying Marriott points
How do I find out when my Marriott points expire?
You need to check the date of your last Marriott activity to determine when your points expire. You can also call Marriott customer service to verify when your points will expire without qualifying activity.
Can I reinstate my Marriott points if they expired?
Unfortunately, Marriott Bonvoy policy is points cannot be reinstated once they expire.
