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It’s impossible to get away from the fact that yesterday’s news out of Marriott was pretty unpalatable for most of us and the repercussions will probably rumble on for some time. Still, there’s a tiny silver lining to the noxious plumes of black smoke billowing off the dumpster fire that is the Bonvoy program – members will get their statuses extended again and will have a little more time in which to use up some of their benefits too.
Bonvoy elite status extensions (again)
Marriott has said that it is once again extending the elite statuses of all Bonvoy members for a further year which will mean that anyone with Bonvoy status right now will be able to continue making the most of their Bonvoy benefits through February 2023.
What this means is that, a little incredibly, members who earned their status in 2019 will now be enjoying the benefits of that status through February 2023 even if they haven’t set foot inside a Marriott property in 2020 or 2021.
Likewise, anyone who somehow managed to earn Marriott status in 2020 will enjoy the benefits of that status for at least another 14 months.
Free Night Awards will be extended
Bonvoy members who currently have a Free Night Award with an expiration date between 3 January and 29 June 2022 will see that expiration date extended to 30 June 2022 (if you have an FNA expiring on 29 June you’re probably not going to be overwhelmed by Marriott’s generosity here).
This extension will apply to Free Night Awards earned from Marriot Bonvoy co-branded credit cards, the annual choice benefits, promotions, and travel packages.
Marriott has not said if the upgrade certificates given to holders of the Ritz-Carlton Card will have their expiration dates extended but as I currently have 9 of these sitting in my account, I’ll report back with anything I notice once the FNA extensions have been processed.
Update 12 November: Select Ritz-Carlton upgrade certificates have now had their expiration dates extended.
Suite Night Awards will be extended
Suite night awards may not be the easiest upgrade instruments to use but at least Bonvoy members are getting a little more time to use them.
All suite night awards with an expiration date of 31 December 2021 will have that expiration date extended to 30 June 2022.
Bonvoy points will continue not to expire
Marriott Bonvoy points usually expire following 24 months of inactivity but that policy has been repeatedly suspended during the pandemic. As things stood over the weekend, expirations were set to resume from 1 April 2022 but that is no longer the case.
Marriott has now confirmed that Bonvoy Points will now not expire before 31 December 2022.
To be clear, if your account contains Bonvoy Points and has been dormant for 24 months or longer come 31 December 2022, Marriott will expire all of your points. The good news is that, outside of staying at a Marriott property, there are a number of easy ways to generate some points activity in a Marriott Bonvoy account:
- Use a Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit card to make a purchase (a purchase of just $1 will be good enough).
- Transfer points into your Honors account from Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards (if you’re only transferring to keep a balance alive make sure you only transfer over the minimum number of points).
- Register a credit card (any credit card) with Marriott’s “eat around town” dining rewards program and dine at a participating eatery and pay with your registered credit card.
- Buy the minimum number of Marriott Bonvoy points allowed.
There’s no real reason that you should ever allow a Marriott Bonvoy points balance to expire and now that Marriott is temporarily pausing expirations through 31 December 2022, Bonvoy members have plenty of time to generate the required activity.
Bottom Line
Marriott has confirmed that all Bonvoy members will be able to continue enjoying their elite status benefits for a further 14 months with status extension being handed out through February 2023.
In addition, Marriott is extending the expiration dates of Suite Night Awards and the expiration dates of select Free Night Award certificates to 30 June 2022 as well as extending the pause of points expirations to the end of 2022.
All in all, I guess this is good news, but when considered alongside the huge devaluation announced yesterday I doubt that it’s good enough news to make more than a handful of people noticeably happier with Marriott.
