Feb 1, 2026
A loyal customer’s years-long habit of saving up rewards points ended abruptly when a quiet policy change decimated his account balance.
Aaron Braun, a Massachusetts resident and regular at Dunkin’, had been banking rewards points on the chain’s app for years — more than 93,000 in total. He planned to let his kids use them for free breakfasts on their way to school, now that they had driver’s licenses of their own.
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But then the rules changed. Last fall, Dunkin’ updated its rewards policy so that points now expire one year from the last day of the month they’re earned. Braun didn’t redeem his balance in time, and overnight he lost 62,000 points, roughly the equivalent of 100 coffees worth $260 total, according to CBS News Boston.
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“I wrote and said, ‘I’ve been loyal to you, but you’re not showing any loyalty back to me,’” Braun told the local broadcaster in a story published Jan 16 (1). “It’s a local company, I mean, Dunkin’ was founded up here. They’re all over the place, but they started up in Massachusetts.”
It didn’t matter. The points were gone, and Braun says he now makes his coffee at home. Dunkin’ declined to comment, CBS News Boston reports.
Why loyalty points are riskier than they seem
A 2024 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on credit card rewards programs found the most frequent complaints about consumers not receiving promised rewards involved unexpected promotional conditions, devaluation or revocation of points, and redemption problems.
While the CFPB’s report focused on credit card rewards, the Dunkin’ episode highlights a basic but often overlooked truth about rewards programs. Loyalty points are not money, and they often don’t come with the protections consumers associate with cash or bank deposits.
“The rule of thumb I have is you’ve got to use it or lose it,” Deirdre Cummings of consumer advocacy group MASSPIRG told CBS News Boston. “These things can change in a moment’s notice.”
Companies typically reserve the right to alter rewards programs at any time. Points are marketing tools, not contractual obligations, and the fine print almost always allows brands to devalue or eliminate them. In exchange for points, consumers hand over purchasing data and personal information, a trade that Cummings called “free not free.”
Dunkin’ isn’t an outlier. Airlines have repeatedly raised the number of miles needed for award flights. Credit card issuers tweak redemption rates and benefits. Grocery and retail chains regularly adjust point values or expiration rules. The risk sits squarely with the consumer.
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Protect yourself from reward wipeouts
The safest way to think about loyalty points is as short-term coupons with a ticking clock, not as a stash worth hoarding. Stockpiling rewards exposes consumers to the risk that rules will change before points are redeemed.
That doesn’t mean loyalty programs are useless. Used strategically, they can still offer real savings. But consumers should read program change notices carefully, set reminders to redeem points regularly, and avoid letting large balances accumulate. If a reward has value today, there’s no guarantee it will have the same value tomorrow, or any value at all.
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CBS News (1)
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Chris Clark is a Kansas City–based freelance journalist covering personal finance, housing and retirement. A former Associated Press editor and reporter, he writes plainspoken stories that help readers make smarter financial decisions.
