Hotel Loyalty Programs Have $11 Billion in Unredeemed Points

Seven of the world’s largest hotel groups collectively owed their loyalty members roughly $11.6 billion in unredeemed points at the end of last year, according to a Skift analysis of their most recent financial filings.

Marriott alone owes guests nearly $4 billion in free stays and other perks. Hilton owes almost $3 billion. 

Not a Bad Kind of IOU

These loyalty “liabilities” have ballooned in recent years, driven by an explosion in co-branded credit card deals and a surge in loyalty program enrollment. 

Yet hotel executives don’t consider these liabilities problematic in the way traditional debt can be. 

One reason is that travelers keep racking up points faster than they redeem them, and they typically don’t cash in all the points they earn. At Marriott, the gap between points earned and points redeemed widened by $473 million last year.

Complicated Accounting

What’s happening is straightforward, even if th