When do Marriott points expire? Here’s what you need to know
Regardless of how you prefer to earn Marriott points, be it by earning intro bonuses on Marriott cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express® Card or the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card, or by earning points with a Marriott partner (or both!), you’ll want to be sure you’re familiar with Marriott’s points expiration policy. It would stink to earn all those points and have them vanish before you can use them.
Officially, Marriott points expire after 24 months if you have not earned or redeemed points in that time span. Fortunately, there are plenty of easy ways to make sure that does not happen.
Almost any activity in your account will ensure your points stay alive for another two years (I’ll share a few exceptions later in the post). You don’t even have to stay with Marriott to make sure your points remain active. This is nice to know given we’re still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s a list of qualifying activities that will reset the clock on your Marriott points:
How to prevent Marriott points from expiring
Earn Marriott points from credit cards
Having a Marriott credit card and using it at least once every 24 months will ensure you earn points and keep your account active.
You can earn Marriott points directly from cards with welcome bonuses like:
- Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express® Card: Earn 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new card to make $3,000 in purchases within your first three months of card membership.
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express® Card: Earn 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of account opening.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card: Earn 30,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months of card membership.
You can also earn Marriott points indirectly by transferring points from flexible rewards programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards.
If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points. With Amex Membership Rewards, the transfer ratio is 1:1, also in increments of 1,000 points. You can earn Amex Membership Rewards points with the following cards:
| Personal cards | Business cards |
| American Express® Gold Card | The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | American Express® Business Gold Card |
| American Express® Green Card | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express |
| Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express |
The information for the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card and the Amex Green Card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Stay at Marriott hotels
This is pretty obvious, but earning points from a paid stay will count as activity in your account, as well as redeeming points for an award stay.
Marriott hotel brands include:
- AC Hotels by Marriott
- Aloft
- Autograph Collection Hotels
- Courtyard by Marriott
- Delta
- Design
- EDITION
- Element
- Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott
- Gaylord Hotels
- JW Marriott
- Le Meridien
- Marriott Executive Apartments
- Marriott Hotels
- Marriott Vacation Club
- Moxy Hotels
- Protea Hotels
- Renaissance Hotels
- Residence Inn by Marriott
- Ritz-Carlton
- Ritz-Carlton Reserve
- Sheraton
- Springhill Suites by Marriott
- St. Regis
- The Luxury Collection
- TownePlace Suites by Marriott
- Tribute
- Westin
- W
There is one important exception. Marriott stays booked through third-party sites, like Orbitz or Expedia, will not earn Marriott points. Don’t count on a stay booked this way to extend your points’ validity.
Transfer Marriott points to airlines
One of the best ways to use your Marriott points is to transfer Marriott points to airlines through one of 40+ airline partners.
Redeeming points this way will count as activity in your account and keep your miles from expiring. Most airlines have a 3:1 transfer ratio, and when you transfer 60,000 Marriott points, you’ll get a bonus 15,000 Marriott points added to your transfer. So you’ll get 20,000 miles for airlines with a 3:1 transfer ratio, plus an additional 5,000 bonus miles (from the 15,000 Marriott point bonus).
Transfer United Airlines miles to Marriott
Marriott and United Airlines have a partnership called Rewards Plus. Through this you can transfer United Airlines miles to Marriott at a 1:1 ratio. This qualifies as activity in your Marriott account.
Earn Marriott points with partners
You can earn Marriott points with travel partners Hertz and Cruises Only.
With Hertz, you’ll earn 2,000 Marriott points for rentals of two or more days, and 500 Marriott points for one-day rentals. With Cruises Only, you can earn 3 Marriott points per $1 spent when you book through its Marriott partner site.
Book an activity through Marriott
You can earn Marriott points by booking activities like tours and culinary experiences; those Marriott points will keep your account active.
Book a Marriott event or meeting
When you book a wedding, conference or other event through Marriott, you can get 2 points per $1 (up to 60,000 Marriott points per event).
Donate Marriott points
Keep your points active and do good at the same time. You can donate your Marriott points to various organizations, like the American Red Cross, World Wildlife Fund and the Children’s Miracle Network. Check out all your donation options here.
Redeem Marriott points for gift cards
You won’t get a very good value, but you can redeem Marriott points for gift cards to popular retailers like Amazon, Bath and Body Works and Target.
Purchase Marriott points
This should be a last resort, but if your points are expiring and you have no other option for earning or redeeming, you can buy Marriott points at a rate of $12.50 for 1,000 points.
What will not keep your Marriott points active?
Most earning and redeeming activities in your Marriott account will reset your points expiration date for another 24 months, but there are a few that will not qualify.
- Gifting or transferring points to other Marriott members
- Receiving points as a gift or transfer (transferring Marriott points to airline miles or transferring United Airlines miles to Marriott WILL reset the clock, though)
- Earning points through social media, like #BonvoyPoints
Bottom line
Marriott points expire after 24 months of inactivity. But there are plenty of ways to keep your account active like by earning Marriott points from credit cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express® Card, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card or Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express® Card.
By transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards cards. Or by staying at a Marriott hotel. Just keep in mind, there are a few activities that will not reset your points expiration date, like receiving points as a gift or transfer
Luckily, because there are so many other ways to keep your Marriott points alive, this shouldn’t be an issue for most.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
Earn 75,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
Enjoy up to $300 in statement credits each year of Card Membership for eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
Earn 6 Marriott Bonvoy points for each dollar of eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy Hotels. 3 points at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines. 2 points on all other eligible purchases.
Receive 1 free Night Award every year after your Card account anniversary. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points) at a participating hotel. Certain hotels have resort fees.
Enjoy unlimited airport lounge visits when you enroll in Priority Pass™ Select membership.
No Foreign Transaction Fees.
$450 annual fee.
Terms Apply.
See Rates & Fees
Intro APR on purchases
N/A
Regular APR
15.74%-24.74% Variable
Annual Fee
$450
Balance Transfer Fee
N/A
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