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Do redspottedhanky points really expire on 31 Dec? If so, redeem NOW

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Earlier in the year, a lot of Head for Points took part in the Fantasy Wimbledon competition run by train ticket booking website redspottedhanky.com.  The HfP team shared over £1,100, paid as redspottedhanky loyalty points.

What I didn’t know – until Simon mentioned it a few days ago in the comments to another post – is that RSH loyalty points expire at the end of every year.

At least, that is what the rules say:

All points and e-vouchers created from loyalty points will be valid for one calendar year from 1st January – 31st December. If you do not collect and redeem your points or e-vouchers by the end of the calendar year they will not be carried forward to the following calendar year.

Now, I don’t know if this is enforced or not.  However, just in case, I redeemed all my points (1291 for myself and 1708 for my wife) for redspottedhanky e-vouchers.

You can redeem for any amount.  The website does not make it clear, but there is no minimum and no maximum.  1291 points got me a £12.91 e-voucher.

The voucher arrived in my RSH account within 24 hours, as promised.  The expiry date was 31st December 2020, so one part of the rules above – that ‘e-vouchers created from loyalty points’ expire in the year that the points were issued – clearly does not apply.

I honestly don’t know if my points would have expired or not on the 31st.  However, I wasn’t prepared to take the risk!  If you still have some RSH points, you may want to do the same.

PS.  I understand that the points from the Fantasy Formula 1 game will be awarded in early January.  This, apparently, was to stop them expiring immediately on 31st December, which is how this issue came up ….

Comments (25)

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  • pazza2000 says:

    To confirm; if you already have a RSH account the loyalty points will be automatically transferred across as per the email addresses matching? Passed on the Wimbledon game although should have a few points accumulated across the Fantasy GP & Football games.

  • Trevor says:

    Having redeemed my points for an e-voucher this morning, the voucher is already showing in my account, with expiry 2020. A bit confused though – is it really valid til then, or til the end of the this year as per the T&C, i.e. next week?!

    I’ll be buying the tickets before year end to be sure. Like with the points though, may try leave a few pennies over to establish true expiry.

  • Clive J says:

    Got an e-mail about this , only have about 90 points so will transfer to RSH credit. Spent the Wimbledon points but have the F1 and football to come.

  • sarah gorman says:

    I’ve been trying to redeem my points over the last three days but it keeps saying ‘loyalty site’ not workng? Has anyone else had this?

  • Simon says:

    Looks like the points do expire every year as the account I left one point in is now showing as zero, the e-vouchers I redeemed with my points seem to be fine, they are still showing in the e-voucher section with an expiry date of 2020.

    • Rob says:

      Thanks Simon, very useful.

    • Trevor says:

      I can confirm that I have had exactly the same result as Simon on one account. On another account, even the 16 points I earned on 31st from a booking were credited and removed! Luckily voucher remains.

  • Jonathan says:

    Just discovered that 200 RSH points (the total I had) have been removed from my RSH loyalty account on 2 Jan 2014. My account now shows zero points. I received no email or other warning from RSH. Poor show from RSH; they should carry them over or convert them to RSH e-vouchers automatically.

    • Trevor says:

      To be fair, their T&Cs do state annual expiry, you had a week’s warning via this blog, and how many other programs give you ample warning that your points are going to expire, let alone randomly convert your soon-to-be gone points into an unspecified voucher or gift card from their redemption options just to be sure you don’t lose out?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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