After collecting points for a while, you eventually come across this problem. I currently have random point balances with Hilton, Choice Hotels and Wyndham. Not enough points to book a room for a long stay but not so little that I’m willing to let the points expire. Hotel points can go bad if you don’t keep your account active and it’s best to keep track of your points so you don’t lose them. I use AwardWallet to keep track of my points so that doesn’t happen.
If I have enough points for one night, I’ll see if I can use them up when we need a quick, overnight stay. I used points to book a room in Tampa when we went to see Billy Joel in concert in 2014. We just needed a room, and that’s what we got.
I wasn’t a fan of the avocado green painted brick walls at the LaQuinta Tampa Bay Airport, but all we needed was a clean bed.
When I don’t have enough points for even a one-night stay, I have to determine if it’s worth the effort to keep the points alive. I almost always answer yes to that question because it’s usually not that difficult to do. Since rules for each plan differ, I go to the internet to find acceptable ways to have some account activity. There are multiple resources with seemingly endless ways available to keep your points from expiring.
So while the article above does mention leftover points, I always seem to have a use for 1 night in a hotel. It’s more of an issue when I have orphan points that I want to keep from expiring that take a little more effort to manage. More recently, there have been ways to donate your miles to help others, and that’s always a favored option.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
