Heads up, award travelers! Preferred Hotels is giving away an easy 250 points just for signing up for their email and text alerts. It's a super quick way to pad your account balance. Now, the catch (there's always a catch, right?). These points expire after 24 months of inactivity. The good news is that "inactivity" is defined as not having any stays or redeeming points. It's unclear if signing up for the texts/emails counts as activity, so redeeming is likely required to extend the life of your points. But hey, free points are free points, and it might be worth grabbing them now and figuring out what to do with them later. This offer matters to you because every little bit helps when you're chasing those travel goals!