About Points Expiration

Many people have built up large balances of hotel points and airline miles through credit cards and other methods. Managing all of those balances can become a major headache, and letting points expire by accident can be a huge loss. This article summarizes the expiration rules for miles or points from some major airlines and hotel groups for readers’ reference.

If you simply have too many accounts, AwardWallet can be a great way to deal with mileage expiration. AwardWallet will remind you when your miles are about to expire.

First, here are a few common types of expiration rules:

  • Expire xx time after being earned: This depends only on when the points were earned. Each batch of points has its own expiration date, and it usually cannot be extended through account activity.
  • Expire after xx time with no account activity: Usually this means the account must have points posted or redeemed. Qualifying activity can extend all points in the account, though you need to check what types of activity count.
  • Do not expire until xx time after flight activity: This means you must actually fly with that airline in order to extend the miles.

Airline Miles

United Airlines United MileagePlus

UA miles never expire.

American Airlines AAdvantage

If there is no activity in your mileage account for 18 consecutive months, all miles will expire. Miles that expired in or after December 2002 can be reinstated for a fee by calling 1-800-882-8880; see this page for details.

Tips to prevent expiration:

[2020.4 Update] Be cautious about using car rental receipts that are not your own to extend mileage expiration. Many users reported today that AA directly shut down their accounts, most likely because they used improper car rental receipts. As many people know, if airline miles are about to expire, you can upload a car rental receipt dated before the expiration date to the airline to earn miles, and then all of your miles will no longer expire. But not everyone happens to have a qualifying rental receipt, so some people started buying other people’s receipts, or even fabricating receipts, as a low-cost way to extend their miles. Buying the miles back directly is much more expensive, and the cost depends on how many miles expired. A rental receipt might cost only a bit over $10. My suggestion is that when your miles are close to expiring, just buy a magazine or donate 1000 miles instead. If I remember correctly, this guy was also one of the earliest cases reporting that AA shut down accounts for abusing credit card codes to get multiple welcome bonuses.

Delta Air Lines Delta SkyMiles

Delta SkyMiles never expire.

Alaska Airlines Alaska Mileage Plan

Alaska miles never expire. However, Alaska Airlines reserves the right to close any account with no activity for 24 months. After the account is closed, the miles will be deleted. Within one year after closure, you can call AS and pay $75 to restore the account and the miles. Cardholders of Alaska Airlines credit cards are not affected.

Tips to prevent expiration:

JetBlue JetBlue TrueBlue

JetBlue points never expire.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards

They do not expire, but if the account is closed, the points are gone.

British Airways Avios

If there is no activity in your mileage account for 36 consecutive months, all miles will expire, and there is no paid extension option. However, there are DPs claiming that if the miles expired only recently, you may be able to call and receive a conditional reinstatement offer, such as generating account activity within the next three months.

Air Canada Aeroplan

If there is no activity in your mileage account for 18 consecutive months, all miles will expire. After expiration, you can call 1-800-361-5373 or 1-514-395-0300 and pay a fee to reinstate them.

ANA Mileage Club

Any ANA miles will expire 36 months after they are earned, and cannot be extended.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Miles earned after January 2020 follow an 18-month inactivity expiration policy. As long as there is qualifying activity during that period, the expiration will be automatically extended, with the new expiration date pushed back 18 months from the date of the activity.

Miles earned on December 31, 2019 or earlier expire 36 months after they are earned and cannot be extended.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue miles expire 20 months after your last qualifying flight and cannot be extended. Qualifying Flights include flights on all SkyTeam airlines and other Flying Blue partner airlines. Award tickets do not count.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Miles expire 36 months after they are earned, regardless of any later activity. Within one year after expiration, you can pay online to extend them. Non-elite members can extend for 6 months, while elite members can extend for one year. The cost is $12 per $10,000mi. Extending by phone costs more. Note that this is a one-time option; each account can only extend once.

Korean Air SkyPass and Asiana Airlines Asiana Club

Due to pressure from the Korean government, Korean Air and Asiana miles expire only after 10 years from when they are earned, making them among the most generous programs aside from those whose miles never expire. However, they cannot be extended. If you are an Asiana Club elite member, you get an additional 2 years.

Avianca LifeMiles

If there is no activity for 12 consecutive months, LifeMiles miles will expire. You can donate 500mi to extend them.

Others

  • Frontier Miles: expire after 12 months of no account activity
  • Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles: do not expire
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards: do not expire
  • Spirit Airlines Free Spirit: expire after 12 months with no earning or redemption activity
  • Aeromexico Rewards: do not expire
  • Aegean Airlines Miles + Bonus: do not expire as long as the account remains active, but you need to fly once every five years to keep it active
  • Aer Lingus AerClub Avios: expire after 36 months of no activity
  • Finnair Plus: expire after 18 months of no activity
  • Iberia Plus: expire after 36 months of no activity
  • Lufthansa Miles & More: expire 36 months after being earned.
  • TAP Portugal Miles & Go: expire 36 months after being earned.
  • Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles: expire 36 months after being earned.
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: do not expire
  • Air Asia BIG Points: expire 24 months after being earned
  • Emirates Skywards: expire 3 years after being earned
  • Etihad Guest: expire after 18 months of no account activity. Platinum members’ miles do not expire
  • EVA Air Infinity MileageLands: expire 36 months after being earned
  • Malaysia Airlines Enrich: Miles expire 36 months after they are earned
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer: Miles expire after 18 months of account inactivity
  • Qatar Airways Privilege Club: Miles expire after 36 months with no earning or redemption activity
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: Miles expire 36 months after they are earned
  • Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus: Miles expire 36 months after they are earned
  • Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer: Miles expire after 36 months with no earning or redemption activity

Hotel Points

Hilton Honors

If you do not stay at a Hilton hotel for 12 consecutive months and there is no points activity in your Hilton account, all points will expire, except for holders of Hilton co-branded credit cards.

Marriott Rewards

Points in accounts with no activity for 24 consecutive months will all expire. Note that the following activities do not count:

  • Transferring or gifting points between two people’s accounts,
  • Transferring points to or from your own SPG account,
  • And points earned through Social Media Programs.

Although the t&c do not mention transfers to or from Ritz-Carlton accounts, it is still not recommended to try.

World of Hyatt

Hyatt points do not expire, but accounts with no activity for 24 months will be closed, and all points in them will be deleted.

IHG

Points in accounts with no activity for 12 consecutive months will all expire.

Wyndham Rewards

Points in accounts with no activity for 18 consecutive months will all expire. However, even if there is activity every 18 months, points will still expire four years after they were earned.

Other

  • Accor points: Expire after 12 months of account inactivity
  • Radisson Rewards points: Expire after 24 months of inactivity. Incoming point transfers can extend validity
  • Best Western Rewards: Do not expire
  • Brilliant by Langham: Expire after 24 months of inactivity
  • Choice Privileges: Expire after 18 months of inactivity
  • OneKeyCash: Expire after 18 months of inactivity
  • Sonesta Travel Pass: Expire after 24 months of inactivity

How to Keep Them Alive

Many miles and points can be reinstated after expiration by paying a fee, but of course nobody wants to pay that, so you should plan ahead before they expire. The most natural way is to create activity in your loyalty account by taking a flight or staying at a hotel. But for most loyalty programs, there are much cheaper ways.

  • If you have a co-branded credit card, miles earned from card spending will generally extend their validity
  • Airlines and hotels usually have many partners. For example, renting a car or staying at a partner hotel can earn miles. Even after miles have expired, submitting a car rental receipt may bring the points back to life
  • Buy a small number of points through the official website.
  • Transfer a small number of points from accounts such as UR, MR, TYP, or SPG.
  • Earn points through shopping rebate portals.
  • Donate a small number of points.

Of course, for airlines whose miles expire based on when the miles were earned, these methods will not help. The only thing you can do is plan ahead. Do not wait until your miles expire and regret it later.

AwardWallet

If you simply have too many accounts, then AwardWallet is a great way to deal with mileage expiration. AwardWallet will remind you when your miles are about to expire.