When your Starwood Preferred Guest points expire, and how to stop it

I receive regular emails from readers asking ‘How can I stop my Starwood Preferred Guest points from expiring?’ or ‘When do my Starwood Preferred Guest points expire?’.  This new series looks at the major hotel loyalty programmes and shows you how to keep valuable points intact.

SPG is the loyalty scheme for Aloft, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, St Regis, Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin, The Luxury Collection, St Regis, W and Westin.

Whilst Starwood was acquired by Marriott in 2016, SPG will not be integrated into Marriott Rewards. A new combined programme will launch in January 2019.

If you need to refer to this article in the future, there is a link to it on our ‘Hotel Promos’ page in the Starwood Preferred Guest section. This also includes details of current SPG promotions.

When do Starwood Preferred Guest points expire?

According to clause 4.2 of the Starwood Preferred Guest terms and conditions:

Starpoints earned or otherwise obtained by an SPG Member will forfeit without notice if the SPG Member becomes Inactive. An SPG Member is considered “Inactive” if during a 12-month period: (a) the SPG Member has not had a Stay at an SPG Participating Hotel; (b) the SPG Member has not earned or redeemed any Starpoints; or (c) the SPG Member’s account has been cancelled. The forfeiture of Starpoints does not apply to SPG Members who have achieved SPG Lifetime Gold or SPG Lifetime Platinum Status, as well as Vistana Owners to whom the obligations in Section 11 apply.

What do they mean by ‘earning or redeeming’?

The key point is that YOU DO NOT NEED TO STAY AT A HOTEL TO KEEP YOUR POINTS ALIVE. You simply need to have some activity go through your account over a rolling 12 month period.

If you have 1,000 or more Starwood points there is – at the moment – a very easy way to keep them active. Simply transfer your points to Marriott Rewards and then transfer them back.

You may remember from my article on stopping Marriott Rewards points from expiring that this is not meant to work in reverse! You cannot save your Marriott points by transferring them to Starwood and immediately moving them back.  (Actually, it does seem to work – but the rules clearly say it should not, so you are taking a risk.)

It DOES work for SPG, however. This is the easiest way to get another 12 months life for your points, which will probably take you to the 2019 merger of the two programmes anyway.

If you have fewer than 1,000 Starwood points, which is the minimum Marriott transfer, you need another option. There are various ways of achieving this if you live in the UK:

Earning points

Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points into your account

Buy Starwood Preferred Guest points

Take out the UK Starwood Preferred Guest American Express credit card which comes with 10,000 SPG points (Starwood / Marriott Bonvoy American Express review)

Eat or drink at the restaurant of a Starwood hotel for $10 or more – you can earn points without being a registered guest

Credit a Hertz or Sixt car rental to Starwood

Spending points

If you have 2,000 points, book and then cancel a Category 1 redemption on a weekend night (but, at the moment, it is easier just to transfer to Marriott Rewards and back)

Transfer points into an airline loyalty scheme. The minimum transfer depends on your status level in the programme – it is 2,500 points for non-status members.

Redeem for an SPG Moments experience day

Redeem points towards the cost of a cash flight with SPG Flights

Donate points to the American Red Cross or Unicef – the minimum is just 500 points which makes this the lowest cost way to guarantee your points are safe

Transfer points to someone who shares your home address

Starwood also has various gift voucher redemptions (Avis, Amazon etc) but these require a US or Canadian mailing address.

As you can see, there is no excuse at all for letting SPG points expire! If you want to track the expiry dates of all of your miles and points, I recommend signing up to AwardWallet for free. It keeps all of your points balances, including non-travel loyalty schemes, in one place and updates them automatically. If you pay for the premium version it also tracks your expiry dates and emails you when points are about to expire.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 70,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (June 2025)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 15th July 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This would convert into 25,000 Avios or into 40 other airline schemes. It would also get you at least £300 of Marriott hotel stays based on our 0.5p per point low-end valuation. Other T&C apply and remain unchanged. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card

60,000 points (to 15th July) and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed The Platinum Card from American Express in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• The American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• The American Express Business Gold Card (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• The American Express Business Platinum Card (50,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.