O rbucks is the name of the currency used in the frequent travel loyalty program of Orbitz Rewards; and they can be quite valuable when redeem them for hotel reservations, as they are used instantly and can save money on the room rate of a hotel — but beware of Orbucks earned through a promotion, as they expire within 60 days.
I received an e-mail message earlier today warning me that some of my Orbucks were going to expire in 20 days. Wondering how that could be as I had recently earned them, I checked — and sure enough, I have $30.00 in Orbucks which will expire 20 days from today.
Here is the expiration policy of Orbucks, depending on how they were earned:
Expiration of Orbucks
Non-Promotional Orbucks: Except as otherwise provided in these Orbitz Rewards Terms and Conditions, all non-promotional Orbucks earned through the purchase of Eligible Bookings and through the Best Price Guarantee, other than Orbucks earned pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Orbitz Rewards Visa Card, expire at 11:59 p.m. Central on the 365th day after they were earned. Once Orbucks have expired, they cannot be reinstated under any circumstances.
Promotional Orbucks: Orbitz Rewards may periodically conduct promotions that offer Orbucks to Orbitz Rewards members. Orbucks earned from Orbitz Rewards promotions expire according to the terms and conditions of the applicable promotion, and may not be refundable if You cancel a Redeemable Hotel reservation to which the promotional Orbucks were applied. Orbucks earned through promotional activities are equal in dollar value to Orbucks earned through Eligible Bookings. Promotional Orbucks will be credited/ debited to Your account in accordance with their terms & conditions upon completion of the promotional activity.
Refer a Friend Orbucks: Orbucks earned through the Refer a Friend program expire at 11:59 p.m. Central on 183rd day (which is approximately six months) after they were deposited in Your account.
Orbucks Earned Pursuant to Orbitz Rewards Visa® Card program: All Orbucks earned through the Orbitz Rewards Visa® Card program are subject to the expiration provisions of the Program Terms for Orbitz Rewards Visa® Card. Please see the Program Terms for full details.
You may view the expiration date of all earned, unexpired, and unredeemed Orbucks in the “My Orbucks Activity” section of “My Account.” Expiration occurs at 11:59 p.m. Central on the date listed. If Your account is deactivated, Orbitz reserves the right to expire all of Your Orbucks.
Apparently, I must have placed a purchase on Orbitz in conjunction with a promotion — and it was not purposely — whose Orbucks expire in 60 days; so I suppose if I lose the $30.00 in Orbucks, it is not such a big deal…
…and Orbucks can only be used on hotel and resort properties booked through Orbitz; so I will have to find a place to stay in the future if I want to use them within the next 20 days.
Sure enough, the terms and conditions of some of the offers listed here where you can earn promotional Orbucks contain the following phrase:
Promotional Orbucks expire if not redeemed within 60 days of issuance.
From what I can tell, the only way I can avoid the expiration of those Orbucks is to sign up for an Orbitz Rewards Visa Card; but I do not have a desire to sign up for that credit card at this time — although I might think about it…
…so I will ask you: what should I do about my $30.00 in Orbucks — try to use them or let them expire?
Meanwhile, I still believe that it does not make sense for frequent travel loyalty program miles and points to expire; but if you earn and redeem Orbucks — or even if you were thinking about doing so — I just wanted you to be aware of the expiration policies of them.
