How to keep your airline and hotel points and miles from expiring

1 month ago 13

Although more and more programs have been moving away from points and miles expiring, it's still one of the unfortunate pitfalls of the travel rewards world we love. After all, who wants to let (nearly) free travel go to waste?

Fortunately, there are many ways to keep your accounts active without hopping on an airplane or going on a mattress run. You can often reset the expiration date on your various hotel and airline currencies from the comfort of your desk or couch.

Some airline and hotel programs have even eliminated expiration dates for points and miles. Delta Air Lines and JetBlue have been this way for years, while Southwest Airlines and United Airlines axed their respective points and miles expiration policies several years ago. Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have also done away with their mileage expiration policies.

If you're wondering whether or not your points and miles expire or how to keep them active, you're in the right place. We'll show you when the most popular airline and hotel currencies expire and highlight ways to prevent them from expiring.

When do points and miles expire?

Some loyalty program currencies never expire. Those that do typically expire after one to three years of inactivity, after which you may lose any accumulated balance. If your points or miles are about to expire, some programs make it easier than others to extend their lifespan.

Airline points and miles expiration

Airline programExpiration term

Aeromexico Rewards	No expiration.
Air Canada Aeroplan	Eighteen months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning, redeeming, donating, transferring or converting points). Note that Aeroplan has "paused the expiry of Aeroplan points until November 30, 2025," per the airline's website.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue	Two years from last activity; can extend with activity. To extend miles earned by flying or using cobranded cards, you must fly with Air France, KLM or partners or make a purchase on an eligible card. To extend miles earned with all other partners (car rental partners, hotel partners and experience partners), you must earn miles with any of these other partners. Elite and Elite Plus members are exempt from mileage expiration.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan	No expiration.
American Airlines AAdvantage	Twenty-four months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning mileage credit from any AAdvantage participant or redeeming miles for any AAdvantage award). Miles do not expire for members under 21 and some primary AAdvantage credit card holders.
ANA Mileage Club	Thirty-six months from earning; no way to extend. Mileage does not expire while you have ANA Diamond Service member status.
Asiana Airlines Club Miles	Ten years (12 years for Diamond, Diamond Plus and Platinum members) from earning; no way to extend.
Avianca LifeMiles	Twelve months from last activity; can extend with activity (any miles accrual transaction). Twenty-four months if you hold elite status or the miles were accrued via a cobranded card.
British Airways Executive Club	Thirty-six months from last activity; can extend with activity (collecting, spending, buying or sharing Avios).
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	Eighteen months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning or redeeming miles).
Delta SkyMiles	No expiration.
Emirates Skywards	Three years from earning; no way to extend. Miles do not expire while you hold Platinum status. Miles can be extended within the last 90 days prior to expiration and reinstated within 180 days after expiration for a fee of $20 per 1,000 miles (reclaim up to 50,000 miles each year). Extended and reinstated miles are valid for 12 months.
Etihad Guest	Eighteen months from earning; can extend 18 additional months by flying with Etihad Airways or any partner airline. Platinum and Diamond members are exempt from mileage expiration.
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands	Thirty-six months from earning; no way to extend.
Frontier Miles	Twelve months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning, redeeming or donating miles).
HawaiianMiles	No expiration.
Iberia Plus	Thirty-six months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning or redeeming Avios; transferring does not qualify).
JAL Mileage Bank	Thirty-six months from earning; no way to extend.
JetBlue TrueBlue	No expiration.
Korean Air SkyPass	10 years from earning; no way to extend.
Miles & More	Thirty-six months from earning; no way to extend. Expiration is waived for Frequent Traveller, Senator or HON Circle members (for the duration of their status). Some cardholders of a Miles & More Credit Card may be able to prevent miles from expiring (varies by country).
Malaysia Airlines Enrich	Three years from earning; no way to extend.
Qantas Frequent Flyer	Eighteen months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning or redeeming points; transferring points does not qualify).
Qatar Airways Privilege Club	Thirty-six months from earning. Avios do not expire while you are a Platinum member. Avios can be extended if they are due to expire in the next six months or revalidated if they expired in the last six months for a fee of $0.015 per Avios for online and $0.020 per Avios for offline requests. Extended and revalidated Avios are valid for 12 months.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	Three years from earning. Basic members can extend validity for six months and Elite Silver and Gold members can extend for 12 months for a fee of $12 or 1,200 miles per 10,000 miles extended.
Southwest Rapid Rewards	No expiration.
Miles&Smiles	Three years from earning. You can extend miles due to expire for another three years for a fee of $20 for every 1,000 miles.
United MileagePlus	No expiration.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	No expiration.

As you can see, these policies are all over the map. Some programs count any activity as eligible to extend the expiration date while others don't allow extensions or charge a hefty fee.

The winners here? Aeromexico Rewards, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Delta SkyMiles, HawaiianMiles, JetBlue TrueBlue, Southwest Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. These programs make it easy to not worry about losing your account balances due to a pause in travel.

Related: The best airlines in the US

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Hotel points expiration

Hotel programExpiration term

Accor Live Limitless	Twelve months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning points).
Best Western Rewards	No expiration.
Choice Privileges	Eighteen months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning, redeeming, buying or transferring points or referring a friend to Choice Privileges).
Hilton Honors	Twenty-four months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning, redeeming, buying or donating points or registering for a Hilton promotion).
IHG One Rewards	Twelve months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning or redeeming points). No expiration for elite members.
Marriott Bonvoy	Twenty-four months from last activity; can extend with activity (earning points or miles and redeeming or purchasing points). Points never expire for Lifetime Elite members.
Radisson Rewards	Twenty-four months from last activity; can extend with activity.
World of Hyatt	Twenty-four months from last activity; can extend with activity.
Wyndham Rewards	Four years from earning or 18 months with no account activity; can be extended with activity (earning, redeeming or transferring points).

As with airlines, there's a wide range of policies. While most hotel points (with the exception of Best Western Rewards) do expire, these programs allow you to extend the validity of your points with activity.

How to keep your points and miles from expiring

Now you know when your points and miles expire, but how do you keep them active? Luckily, there are several ways to do this. Here's a list of the easiest.

Try to perform these tasks at least a couple of months before your points or miles are set to expire to provide adequate time for the activity to be posted to your account.

Open a credit card

Some airlines and hotel chains waive mileage expiration for those holding cobranded travel credit cards.

For example, if you hold the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card, you receive automatic IHG Platinum Elite status. And one of the perks of IHG elite status is that points don't expire for current elite members.

However, not all cobranded cards offer this benefit.

Join the dining rewards program

Many airlines and hotel chains have dining rewards programs through the Dining Rewards Network. You can often keep your account active by linking a credit card to a hotel or airline's dining program and earning points or miles when you use that card for dining at over 10,000 participating restaurants.

And don't worry: Most of the time, you'll still earn these points or miles if you order takeout. Just pay the restaurant directly and not through a third-party app like Uber Eats or Grubhub.

We've found that the points or miles usually post within a week of purchase. You can't double or triple dip with the same card in multiple programs, though. You can belong to more than one dining rewards program, but if you enroll the same card in multiple programs, it will only award points or miles to the most recent program you linked.

However, you could, for example, add the Chase Sapphire Reserve® to the Alaska Mileage Plan Dining program and then your American Express® Gold Card to the American Airlines AAdvantage Dining program. If you ask the server at a participating restaurant to split your bill between those two cards, you'll extend the expiration date of your miles in both of those programs.

Related: Best dining credit cards

Shop through the program's shopping portal

This may be the easiest option for most people: Shop through the loyalty program's shopping portal.

Most major hotel chains and airlines offer a shopping portal where you can earn points or miles by starting there and clicking through to a participating merchant before making an online purchase. Any eligible purchase can keep your points or miles active.

We recommend using a shopping portal for all your online purchases. It's easy to rack up rewards with most airline programs, helping you earn points and miles faster for the vacation you're daydreaming about. Use a shopping portal aggregator to ensure you get the most points and miles for your purchases.

Transfer points from a credit card or hotel program

Transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards will keep your points or miles active in many programs. Since any number of points and miles will generally reset the expiration clock, you should transfer the minimum number possible, though most programs require at least 1,000 points or miles when transferring to partners.

Notably, this isn't the case with Air France-KLM Flying Blue. The expiration clock will reset, but only for the points you just transferred.

Don't have a transferable points credit card? Consider changing that now. These programs provide incredible flexibility as you can transfer points to several airline and hotel programs.

You can also transfer points from most hotel programs to keep your airline points or miles active. Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, Wyndham Rewards and others allow transfers to several airline partners. However, note that many hotel programs have less-than-favorable exchange rates, and the transfers can take weeks to process.

Check out TPG's list of the best rewards credit cards to find one that works for you and your spending habits. Remember, keeping your points and miles diversified can protect you from award chart devaluations and airline insolvency and give you more award tickets.

Donate to charity

One of the easiest ways to keep your points and miles active is by donating points and miles to charity.

American Airlines, British Airways and many other airlines offer donation programs. In most cases, the minimum number you can donate is 1,000 points or miles. The points or miles are typically debited from your account immediately, extending the expiration date of your remaining account balance the second you hit the confirm button. This is perfect if your points or miles are expiring in the coming weeks.

Take a flight or complete a stay

Not all loyalty programs count all the above actions as "activity" to extend the expiration date for your points or miles. But for most programs, a surefire way to keep your points and miles active is by taking a flight on the applicable airline (or one of its partners) or completing a stay with the hotel chain.

For most airline and hotel programs, earning and redeeming rewards are considered eligible activities for keeping your account active. Note that paid flights and hotel stays usually don't reset your points or miles expiration date until after the applicable points or miles post to your account (generally, a few days after flying or checking out).

How to reinstate expired points and miles

Of course, all the above suggestions apply to those proactively trying to keep their account balances active. But what happens if your points or miles have already expired?

This may seem like a "too bad, so sad" situation, but all hope may not be lost. A handful of airlines and hotel chains allow you to reinstate your points and miles, typically with a fee. Whether it's worth incurring this out-of-pocket expense depends on the number and value of the points or miles you've lost.

If the above article doesn't cover your program, try calling the program's customer support line. If your points or miles recently expired or you get a really friendly agent, there's a chance you could get your points or miles reinstated for free. Make sure to ask politely and, if possible, call when phone agents aren't busy assisting customers who need to change or cancel tickets or stays.

Bottom line

It is essential to know when your points and miles expire and how to keep them active. While most airline and hotel programs differ in their expiration policies, your account balances in many programs will be at risk without some qualifying activity in a defined period.

Bookmark this page and refer to it whenever you're questioning when your points and miles expire or wondering about the best ways to keep them active. We'll keep it updated with points and mileage expiration news and policy changes. Keeping your points and miles from expiring could mean the difference between flying economy or business class on your next vacation.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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