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Today, Marriott sent out emails to its Marriott Bonvoy members and let them know about the good news. The hotel chain will extend free night awards and points set to expire in 2021 once again. Marriott first extended free night awards in 2020 when the Coronavirus pandemic started. This is really generous from Marriott and all the other hotel chains, airlines, and other programs that extended their benefits into the next year. Everyone expected that it should be a normal thing to have their points and awards extended just because they can’t travel. Yes, it’s true that the pandemic is a natural thing and it’s not the traveler’s fault that they can’t travel or use their points or awards. But we all have to remember, it is also not the fault of hotels or airlines that you can’t use your points and awards. That’s why I am really grateful that pretty much all the major brands extended the expiration date of awards, points, and even the membership level of their customers for free.
Free Night Awards
Starting in early May, your eligible free night awards will be extended. The new expiration date will be January 3, 2022. This should give you enough time to use your awards.
Terms and Conditions
¹Starting May 6, 2021 members who currently have a Free Night Award (FNA) with an original expiration date in 2020, or which will expire before January 2, 2022, as part of their co-brand credit card benefit, annual choice benefit, promotions, or travel package will be able to redeem it through January 3, 2022. Free Night Awards with an original expiration date prior to 2020 will not be eligible for the additional extension.
Points Expiration
Marriott is also pausing the expiration of points until March 31, 2022. Normally points expire after 24 months if you didn’t have any activity on your account.
Now, no points will expire until March 2022. However, at that time, points will only expire if you didn’t have any activity in the last 24 months. It’s unclear if the last 24 months (2020 and 2021) count towards that limit or if they are excluded. I highly assume that every month counts in the past two years.
Update
Marriott just confirmed, that if you didn’t have any activity in the last 24 months before March 31, 2022, your points will expire. So make sure you get some activity going in your account.
So if you want to stop your points from expiring, you have to have any activity in your account. Either redeem or earn points. Besides staying at a hotel, you can earn points with their co-branded credit card.
Peter has a passion for Traveling, Photography, and Geocaching. These are the best ingredients for amazing adventures all over the globe. “Traveling is fun, no matter if you stay in a luxury hotel or travel like a backpacker.” Peter shares his experiences on his Blog www.gatetoadventures.com
Some of Peter’s photos are published on corporate websites, in-flight magazines, travel guides, and much more.
