- HelpMeLogin runs no rewards portal, holds no points and cannot restore a balance. Nothing here logs into an account or contacts McDonald's on anyone's behalf.
- The expiry rule is the phishing script. Points really do die on the first day of the month after the sixth month, so a text saying yours are about to go reads as plausible. The Federal Trade Commission published an alert on 7 April 2026 about that exact message. Open the app yourself and look.
- Points are not money and carry none of money's protections. They have no cash value, in the company's own terms, and any it believes were improperly obtained can be voided with the account. Nobody reverses a redeemed Big Mac.
- Reuse a password here and you have reused it on a wallet. These accounts commonly store a payment card for mobile order and pay, which makes a recycled password worth more than the balance alone.
McDonald's rewards pay 100 points for every dollar, which sounds enormous and is not. MyMcDonald's Rewards prices Hash Browns at 1,500 points and a Big Mac at 7,000. Against published US prices recorded in August 2026, that is $2.79 earned by $15 of spending, against $5.99 earned by $70. The cheap rung returns 18.6% of what you spent. The expensive one returns 8.6%. Points die after six months.
All McDonald's guides on this site · McDonald's menu prices — what a redemption is worth · Big Mac price and the range behind it
What you need
9 itemsHow it works
Convert the points into cents first
Divide the item's price by the points it costs. Hash Browns at $2.79 for 1,500 points works out at 0.186 cents a point. A Big Mac at $5.99 for 7,000 gives 0.086. Same currency, less than half the value.
Redeem at 1,500 unless you want that specific item
Each rung above the first pays worse. Saving up is a habit borrowed from airline miles, where holding pays; here it costs, and a six-month clock runs the whole time.
Treat $3 off as the floor
That 4,000-point discount is the one rung priced in dollars by the company, at 0.075 cents a point. Every food tier beats it.
Watch the month end, not the earn date
Anything earned in March survives until 1 September, because the rule runs to the first day of the month after the sixth month. Balances therefore fall in chunks.
Check the restaurant is in the programme
Around 95% of US restaurants belong to independent franchisees, and the terms limit rewards to participating ones. Set your location in the app to see.
If something goes wrong
My points disappeared and I did not spend them
- Cause
- The six-month clock, which empties balances at a month end
- Fix
- Check the earn dates in the app. Anything from March goes on 1 September, and expired points are not reinstated.
The restaurant would not take my reward
- Cause
- Participation is set restaurant by restaurant
- Fix
- Rewards are available at participating restaurants, in the published wording. Set that location in the app and see whether the tier list still appears.
I ordered on a delivery app and earned nothing
- Cause
- Third-party delivery sits outside the programme
- Fix
- Order in the McDonald's app for collection. Delivery fees on app orders do not earn either.
A text says my points expire today
- Cause
- A phishing pattern the Federal Trade Commission has warned about
- Fix
- Do not tap it. Open the app you already have and read the balance. Real expiry lands on the first of a month, never today.
Someone else redeemed my points
- Cause
- Account takeover, usually a password reused from elsewhere
- Fix
- Change the password, remove any stored card, then contact the company. No chargeback exists on points, so speed is the only remedy.
What’s fixed, and what actually varies
The ladder is published nationally and does not move. What moves is whether the restaurant in front of you runs it, and what the redeemed item costs there.
Fixed
- 100 points per dollar on qualifying purchases, in the company's own wording
- Six tiers: 1,500 · 2,000 · 3,500 · 4,000 · 5,000 · 7,000 points
- Expiry on the first day of the month after the sixth month
- No cash value, and no transfer to another person
Varies
- Whether a franchised restaurant participates at all
- What the redeemed item costs there, which decides the conversion
- Which items sit in a tier, since McDonald's may change them
- Whether an app offer stacks with a redemption
Open the app, set your restaurant, read the tier list on that screen. Anything showing as redeemable there is redeemable there, and a list printed elsewhere describes a national default.
How McDonald's compares
Every chain here pays roughly a tenth of spend back. The difference is how badly the top of the ladder is priced against the bottom.
| Chain | Earn rate | Cheapest rung | Return at that rung |
|---|---|---|---|
| McDonald's | 100 points per $1 | 1,500 points — Hash Browns at $2.79 | 18.6% of spend |
| Burger King | 10 crowns per $1 | 200 crowns — Small Fries at $2.79 | 14.0% of spend |
| Wendy's | 10 points per $1 | 200 points — 4 PC. Nuggets at $1.99 | 10.0% of spend |
| Taco Bell | 10 points per $1 | 250 points — Crunchy Taco at $1.99 | 8.0% of spend |
Returns use each company's published tier against published US prices recorded in August 2026. Prices vary by restaurant.
McDonald's has the best entry rung of the four and much the steepest fall above it. Nowhere else here does value per point drop by more than half between the cheapest tier and the dearest.
Why 100 points a dollar is a presentation decision
Points here are granted at ten times the rate of every other chain in this section, and each is worth about a tenth as much. What changes is how a balance feels: a screen reading 6,400 looks like an achievement, while the same customer at Burger King sees 640 crowns and reads it as small change.
Run the conversion and the programme becomes legible. Hash Browns cost 1,500 points, or $15 of spending, and published US prices recorded in August 2026 put that item at $2.79 in a band from $2.69 to $2.99. Call it 0.186 cents a point. A Big Mac costs 7,000 points, or $70 of spending, against a typical $5.99, and that is 0.086 cents. One ladder, and the lower rung pays better than twice as well.
Every step up is a worse trade than the step below it, which inverts the instinct that saving is prudent. A Cheeseburger at 2,000 points and $3.19 gives 0.16 cents, Medium Fries at 3,500 and $3.99 gives 0.114, Large Fries at 5,000 and $4.99 exactly 0.1.
One rung needs no price list. The 4,000-point tier is priced by the company itself, as $3 off an order of $3 or more, which is 0.075 cents a point and the weakest redemption in the programme.
Then there is the clock. Expiry lands on the first day of the month after the sixth month from the day the points were earned, short by loyalty-scheme standards and long enough to feel safe. Someone spending $30 a month reaches 3,500 points in about six weeks. Waiting for 7,000 takes three months and buys a worse deal at the end of it.
Questions people ask
What is a McDonald's point worth?
Between 0.075 and 0.186 cents, depending on the tier you spend it at. The 1,500-point rung is the best and the 4,000-point discount the worst.
How many points for a Big Mac?
7,000, which is $70 of qualifying spend. At a typical published $5.99 that returns 8.6%, roughly half the rate of the cheapest tier.
Do MyMcDonald's Rewards points expire?
Yes, on the first day of the month after the sixth month from the day they were earned. Balances can therefore drop sharply at a month end.
What are all the redemption tiers?
1,500, 2,000, 3,500, 4,000, 5,000 and 7,000 points. Items in each are set by the company and can change, so read the app list.
Does every McDonald's take rewards?
No. A franchisee runs 13,062 of the 13,706 US restaurants, and the terms limit rewards to participating ones. The app shows whether yours is in.
Can I earn points on delivery?
Not through a third-party operator, and delivery fees on app orders do not earn. Order in the app for collection.
Can points be sold or given away?
No. They carry no cash value, and points believed improperly obtained can be voided along with the account. Opting out ends access to the balance too.