Planning ahead for your Choice Privileges points
Lifetime transfer options and steps to take now for Choice Hotels International points
Choice Hotels Customer Service
Choice Hotels Customer Service
(General customer service)
Under Choice Hotels International's policy, points have no value after death. Every strategy for preserving Choice Privileges points depends on steps taken while the account holder is alive.
How to protect your Choice Privileges points
6 lifetime planning steps for your Choice Privileges points:
- •Book Reward Nights for immediate family (spouse, partner, children, parents, in-laws, brothers, and sisters) — the Rules let them use the room even if you are not occupying it, so long as the guest is named on the reservation
- •Redeem points for gift cards at participating restaurants and retailers
- •Exchange points into an airline or other loyalty program through the Choice Privileges Rewards Exchange (5,000-point minimum per exchange, 1 million points per calendar year)
Family sharing
Choice Privileges has no points pooling and, as of July 13, 2026, no member-to-member transfer of an existing balance. Three lifetime mechanisms do exist under the Rules effective January 1, 2026. First, Reward Nights can be used by family: "A Member may redeem a Reward Night for immediate family members (spouse, partner, children, parents, in-laws, brothers, and sisters) only. Immediate family members can use the Reward Night even if the Member is not occupying the room" — the member redeems their own points and names the guest on the reservation. Second, points can be GIFTED by purchase: a member may buy points into another member's account, subject to a cap of 180,000 purchased or gifted points received per calendar year, and "both your account and the recipient's account must be open and in good standing with the Program at the time of purchase." Note this buys new points; it does not move an existing balance. Third, points can be exchanged into airline and other loyalty programs through the Choice Privileges Rewards Exchange (powered by Points.com), with a 5,000-point minimum per exchange and a cap of 1 million points exchanged per calendar year. Choice announced a true points sharing feature — "Members will be able to transfer points to friends and family" — in its November 4, 2025 newsroom release, described as "coming later in 2026." It does not appear in the Rules effective January 1, 2026 and has not launched as of July 13, 2026; Choice has disclosed no limits, no fees, and no launch date.
Should you save your passwords for your family?
Some people store account passwords so a family member can sign in later. The practice has three practical limits:
- Two-factor authentication often blocks it. Most accounts require a second factor — a code sent to a phone, an authenticator app, a passkey, or a physical key. A saved password alone frequently does not grant access, and the recovery codes that would are easy to lose or let go stale.
- It usually conflicts with the platform's terms. Most operators prohibit account sharing and signing in as another person, including after a death. Stored credentials are not the operator's recognized access path, and using them can violate the terms of service.
- Operators provide other paths. Where an operator offers a designation tool — Apple's Legacy Contact, Google's Inactive Account Manager, a beneficiary designation — that mechanism grants access the operator recognizes. A password manager's own emergency-access or legacy feature passes credentials through a controlled process. Digital assets named in a will or trust give a fiduciary authority under each state's Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA).
Frequently asked questions
Not from an existing balance, as of July 13, 2026. Choice announced in November 2025 that members "will be able to transfer points to friends and family," coming later in 2026, but that feature is not in the Rules effective January 1, 2026 and has not launched; no limits, fees, or launch date have been disclosed. Today there are two ways to put value in someone else's hands: buy points as a gift into another member's account (capped at 180,000 purchased or gifted points received per calendar year, with both accounts open and in good standing), which buys new points rather than moving yours; or redeem a Reward Night for an immediate family member.
Yes. The Rules state that "A Member may redeem a Reward Night for immediate family members (spouse, partner, children, parents, in-laws, brothers, and sisters) only. Immediate family members can use the Reward Night even if the Member is not occupying the room." Name the guest in the notes field when booking through the Program Line, or in the "Special Request" field when booking through your online profile. This is the most direct way to move the value of your points to your family while you are alive.
Listing the Choice Privileges account in an estate inventory identifies it for a fiduciary, who works through the operator's official channels to manage or close it.
There is no beneficiary designation option for Choice Privileges. This account type does not support naming a recipient the way bank or investment accounts do.
Sources
Data sourced from Choice Hotels International primary sources (5 pages reviewed). How we research.
Choice Hotels Customer Service
Choice Hotels Customer Service
(General customer service)
