The hotel loyalty programme year is the fixed twelve-month cycle a hotel programme uses to count qualifying nights and status points toward elite tiers. Marriott and IHG run 1 January to 31 December, Hilton follows the calendar year, Hyatt runs 1 March to 28 February, and Accor ALL runs 1 February to 31 January.
Last updated: August 2026. Hotel loyalty programme memberships reached 675 million in 2024, up 14.5% year on year, outpacing 6.7% room growth (CBRE hotel loyalty analysis, 2025) — one reason programmes hold their qualifying-night deadlines firmly rather than letting members drift between tiers. Knowing your programme's exact year-end decides whether a top-up such as a Marriott Elite Night Credit posts in time to count.
When does the hotel loyalty programme year end?
Each hotel programme fixes its own start and end date and resets qualifying nights, stays and status points to zero once the year closes. Marriott Bonvoy and IHG One Rewards both run 1 January to 31 December. Hilton Honors follows the calendar year on the same dates. World of Hyatt is the outlier, running 1 March to 28 February. Accor ALL runs 1 February to 31 January. None of these dates move for an individual member — they are fixed programme-wide.
What is the LuxuryAscent Programme-Year Calendar?
The table below is LuxuryAscent original analysis, built to put every major hotel programme's year-end date next to its qualifying-night top-up price and the point by which a top-up needs to be bought to post before that deadline.
| Programme | Programme year | Year-end date | Qualifying-night top-up price | Buy top-up by |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1 January – 31 December | 31 December | $69 per Elite Night Credit | Mid-December |
| IHG One Rewards | 1 January – 31 December | 31 December | $49 per night | Mid-December |
| Hilton Honors | Calendar year | 31 December | $44 per night | Mid-December |
| World of Hyatt | 1 March – 28 February | 28 February | $49 per night | Mid-February |
| Accor ALL | 1 February – 31 January | 31 January | $59 per night | Mid-January |
Why don't all hotel programme years match the calendar year?
Hyatt and Accor set their programme years months apart from the calendar year rather than syncing to it. A stay taken in January can sit inside one programme's prior year and another's new year, purely depending on which loyalty account you are checking. Marriott, IHG and Hilton avoid that confusion by running on the calendar year itself, which is the simpler case to track and the one most travellers assume applies everywhere.
When should you start a hotel status challenge to finish inside the same programme year?
Six major hotel programmes — Marriott, Hilton, IHG One Rewards, Hyatt, Accor ALL and Wyndham — run status matches or challenges in 2026, typically requiring proof of competing top-tier status held in the past 12 months plus a 30–90 day stay-completion window (Upgraded Points / Uncompromised Travel, 2026). All six enforce a one-match-per-calendar-year policy, and the challenge clock starts on approval, not on the day you submit (Uncompromised Travel, 2026). Start a challenge early enough in your programme year that the 30–90 day window closes before the year-end reset, not after it — a challenge approved in December against a 31 December year-end leaves almost no runway to finish it.
How long does a qualifying-night top-up credit take to post before the year ends?
A qualifying-night top-up typically posts in 7 to 14 days, which sets the real buying deadline: for a calendar-year programme ending 31 December, that means buying before mid-December, not on the last day of the year. Hilton's top-up runs $44 a night, IHG's $49 a night, Accor's $59 a night, and Marriott's Elite Night Credit is $69 each — all priced per night or per credit, not per programme year. The IHG qualifying-night credit, Accor qualifying-night credit and Hyatt qualifying-night credit each follow the same posting window against their own programme year.
How to check where you stand before your programme year ends
Checking where you stand takes a few minutes and decides whether a top-up, a challenge or nothing at all is the right move before your programme year closes.
- Find your programme's exact year-end date. Use the calendar above rather than assuming every programme runs the calendar year — Hyatt and Accor do not.
- Log into your loyalty account and check qualifying nights, stays or status points earned so far. Every major programme displays this figure against your current tier's threshold.
- Calculate the exact gap to your tier threshold. A small gap of a few nights is a top-up decision; a large gap is a match, challenge or re-buy decision.
- If the gap is small, buy a qualifying-night top-up early enough to post before the year-end reset. Allow 7 to 14 days for the credit to post, not the day the year closes.
- If the gap is large, weigh a status match or challenge against buying the tier outright, and start either one with enough runway left in the current programme year to finish it.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the hotel loyalty programme year end?
Marriott Bonvoy and IHG One Rewards run 1 January to 31 December, Hilton Honors follows the calendar year, World of Hyatt runs 1 March to 28 February, and Accor ALL runs 1 February to 31 January. None of these dates move for an individual member.
Why is Hyatt's programme year different from Marriott's and IHG's?
Hyatt and Accor set their own twelve-month cycle rather than syncing to the calendar year — Hyatt runs 1 March to 28 February, Accor runs 1 February to 31 January. Marriott, IHG and Hilton all follow the calendar year instead, which is simpler to track.
How long does a qualifying-night top-up credit take to post?
A qualifying-night top-up typically posts in 7 to 14 days, so the real deadline sits before the programme year actually ends — for a calendar-year programme, that means buying before mid-December rather than on 31 December itself.
When should you start a hotel status challenge to finish inside the same programme year?
Start early enough that a 30–90 day challenge window closes before your programme year resets. The challenge clock starts on approval, not submission, and all six major programmes running matches or challenges allow only one per calendar year (Uncompromised Travel, 2026).
Does the hotel loyalty programme year affect status matches too?
Yes. A status match is approved within days, but it still counts toward the one-match-per-calendar-year limit that all six major programmes enforce, so a match used early in the year cannot be repeated later in that same programme year.
Every hotel programme fixes its own twelve-month cycle, and missing the end of it resets qualifying nights and status points to zero regardless of how close you were. Check your programme's exact date against the calendar above, then buy a Marriott Elite Night Credit top-up with enough runway to post before the reset. For the tiers those nights lead to, read our Marriott Platinum status guide and Accor Platinum status guide.
