McDonald's raises rewards points needed for free menu items

McDonald’s just made its loyalty program feel tighter at the exact moment customers are already sensitive about value. In early May 2026, the company raised the points needed for several MyMcDonald’s Rewards redemptions, turning a free McChicken, Cheeseburger or Sausage Biscuit from 1,500 points to 2,000, and pushing medium fries and 6-piece Chicken McNuggets from 3,000 to 3,500.

For crew members and managers, that kind of change is more than a marketing tweak. It can turn the front counter and drive-thru into a referee’s table, with more customers asking why the same order now costs more points, more confusion over app redemptions, and more time spent explaining a less generous offer while the line keeps moving. A free Big Mac or Happy Meal now costs 7,000 points, up from 6,000, which means customers need about $70 in spending to unlock the top-tier reward, since McDonald’s says members earn 100 points for every $1 spent.

The company still frames the program as a way to earn free food, and its U.S. FAQ says customers can start redeeming at 1,500 points. But the math got tougher twice this year: McDonald’s shortened points expiration from 12 months to 6 months, effective January 1, 2026, then raised redemption thresholds in May. Points now expire on the first day of the month after the sixth month from when they were earned, a setup that gives customers less time to bank rewards before they disappear.

The loyalty changes land against a wider fight over value. McDonald’s first-quarter 2026 results, announced May 7 in Chicago, showed global comparable sales up 3.8%. The company also said systemwide sales to loyalty members topped $38 billion over the trailing 12 months, a sign that the app remains central to traffic even as the company sharpens the terms. Leadership has been leaning on value and menu innovation, but the latest rewards hike suggests McDonald’s is also trying to protect margins by making free items harder to reach.

That trade-off may be good for the spreadsheet and bad for the counter. Customers already frustrated by years of menu-price increases since 2019 are likely to see the loyalty shift as another small cut in the deal, and the burden of absorbing that disappointment falls to the workers handing over the bag. For a chain built on speed, every extra complaint in the line is another drag on service time, and another test of how much guest trust McDonald’s is willing to spend.