You realize how valuable your hard-earned miles and points are from the moment you use these travel rewards to book a flight or hotel night,
If you’re like me, the thought of losing any of them because of a pesky expiration date is a nightmare scenario. Honestly, it’s the worst miles and points mistake anyone can make, especially when there are quick and easy ways to reset the clock.
So, I’ve put together this guide to make sure you know how to keep your miles and points alive and well for your next trip.
Imagine This Scenario
You log in to your loyalty account, giddy at the sight of your miles and points balance. Suddenly, though, your eyes glimpse a small bit of information. You pause, then squint and lean into the computer screen. Your heartbeat quickens and you swallow hard as the reality sets in.
You’re on the brink of making the worst travel hacking mistake.
How did you not realize that your miles and points were set to expire?!?
You begin to search airline and hotel loyalty program expiration dates.
You discover that, of course, airlines and hotel loyalty programs EACH have their own rules about miles and points and when they expire!
Airline Loyalty Programs and Their Expiration Dates
| Air Canada/Aeroplan | Earn or redeem miles every 18 months |
| Air France/KLM | Earn or redeem miles every 24 months; Silver status or higher? Miles never expire |
| Alaska | Never Expire |
| American | Earn or redeem miles on American or a partner once every 24 months |
| British Airways | Collect, spend, purchase, or share at least 1 Avios every 36 months |
| Delta | Do not expire |
| Flying Blue / KLM | Take at least one flight every 24 months on Air France or any Skyteam partner |
| Hawaiian | Never Expire |
| Jet Blue | Never Expire |
| Southwest | Never Expire |
| Spirit | Earn or redeem at least 1 mile every 12 months |
| United | Never Expire |
| Hilton | Stay, earn, or redeem once every 24 months |
| Hyatt | Inactive accounts may be deleted and all points forfeited if there is 24 months with no activity |
| Marriott | Earn or redeem points once every 24 months |
| IHG | Earn or redeem points once every 12 months |
With the time that’s passed, your frustration has turned to determination. You’re going to save your miles and points, without having to pay any of those pesky loyalty account reinstatement fees.
8 Proven Ways to Reset Your Miles and Points Expiration Date
1. Use your miles and points or pay for a flight or hotel stay.
Seemingly the most obvious on the list, but still important to mention.
If you book award travel with your miles and points for an upcoming trip, your miles and points typically don’t expire.
It’s important to check the terms but, generally speaking, you can redeem your miles and points BEFORE they expire for future travel.
Just be careful because if you have to cancel your trip, you could face problems getting your miles and points redeposited into your account.
2. Take a flight or complete a hotel stay.
If you pay cash for a flight, you’ll earn miles for the flight. Do that before your points and miles expire so the miles you earn are deposited into your account.
The same is true for hotel stays. If you pay for and complete the stay, you’ll earn points.
In both cases, the miles and points you earn are desposited into your account within a few days and will successfully reset your expiration date.
3. You can shop through a shopping portal.
Many airlines and hotels have shopping portals where you can earn miles or points for making a purchase at any of the thousands of merchants. You already shop at many of them, so why not earn for travel, too?
Once you make a purchase, the miles and points will be deposited directly into your loyalty account and the expiration date will reset.
4. You can dine at or order out from a participating restaurant in the dining program.
Similar to shopping portals, airlines and hotels have dining programs where you can earn miles and points every time you dine at a restaurant in the rewards network.
Join the dining program for free and start earning! Every time you dine at one of the restaurants, your miles and points earned will be deposited directly into your loyalty account and the expiration clock will reset.
5. Make use of travel partners.
Shopping portals and dining programs aren’t the only way to earn miles and points. There are often many other airline and hotel partners that allow you to maximize your earnings.
For example, you might be able to earn miles and points by ordering flowers, renting a car, ordering wine, or even taking surveys.
Every time these miles and points are earned, the life span of your loyalty account refreshes itself.
Sometimes these partner offers aren’t the most amazing value. But if you’re about to lose a ton of valuable miles and points, it’s worth it to check out these offers and use one if necessary.
ProTip: You might even be able to donate some miles to a charity partner to immediately reset your expiration date. This is one of the quickest reset options on this list!
6. Make a purchase with a co-branded credit card.
If you’re in the habit of collecting miles and points, you probably have a few airline or hotel credit cards.
Use your co-branded card for the airline or hotel program you want to extend to make a purchase for something small. Even spending just $1 will succeed in pushing back your loyalty program’s expiration date and save your miles and points.
7. You can transfer points from a credit card program to a loyalty program.
If you have transferable points with a travel rewards program like Chase, Capital One, Citi, or American Express, you have access to their travel transfer partners.
The points you earn with these credit card companies don’t expire unless you close your card.
If your miles and points are set to expire in a hotel or airline loyalty account, transfer the smallest increment allowed from your Chase, Citi, or American Express account into the airline or hotel program you wish and it will reset the expiration date on your account.
ProTip: You can even transfer Marriott points to a ton of airline partners to save your miles from expiring!
8. You can buy miles or points.
While obviously a last resort, airlines and hotels do sell miles and points in set increments. If none of the above options work for you and the only choices you have are to buy miles and points or to let your entire stash expire, then buy the smallest amount possible.
Spending the money is better than losing miles and points that could’ve been used for a free flight or hotel stay.
Bottom Line
Your loyalty accounts are intact. Your miles and points have been saved. Take a moment to smile, but remember jet-setting off for some free travel courtesy of your miles and points will be even sweeter.
What questions do you have about keeping your miles and points from expiring?
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