• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Globetrotting Teacher

Experience the World Point by Point

  • Destinations
  • Miles and Points
    • Miles & Points Guides
    • Travel Hacking Basics
    • Student Course Log-In
  • Credit Cards
    • Travel Rewards Credit Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Business Credit Cards
  • New York City
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Resources
    • Travel Gear
  • About
    • Work With Us
    • Blogging Tools I Use

Updated on July 12, 2019 By Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie 34 Comments
This post contains affiliate links which earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please read my Disclosure and Privacy pages for more info. Additionally, The Globetrotting Teacher has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. The Globetrotting Teacher and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Mistake

The Worst Travel Hacking Mistake and Proven Ways to Avoid It

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links that earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Globetrotting Teacher has also partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. The Globetrotting Teacher and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Please read my Disclosure to learn more.

Updated on July 12, 2019

The Worst Travel Hacking Mistake and Proven Ways to Avoid It
You can pin me to your Pinterest Board.

You’ve made the leap into travel hacking and have begun earning miles and points for travel. Congratulations!

Maybe you’ve opened a few travel rewards credit cards and earned the sign-up bonus after meeting the minimum spend. The travel goal you set from the beginning is starting to come into focus.

Italy
A trip to Italy using miles and points! Credit Unsplash

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 heart beat 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 Google search airline and hotel loyalty program expiration dates. “Of course, airlines and hotel loyalty programs have their own rules about miles and points and when they expire,” you mutter to yourself in a clench-mouthed whisper.

Here’s the information to know about airline loyalty programs and their expiration dates.

Alaska Earn or spend 1 mile every 24 months
American Earn or redeem miles on American or a partner once every 18 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 20 months on Air France or any Skyteam partner
Hawaiian Earn or redeem miles once every 18 months
Jet Blue Do not expire
Southwest Earn at least 1 mile every 24 months
Spirit Earn at least 1 mile every 3 months
United Earn or use miles at least once every 18 months
   
Hilton Stay, earn, or redeem once every 12 months
Hyatt Inactive accounts may be deleted and all points forfeited if there is 12 months with no activity
Marriott Earn or redeem points once every 24 months
IHG Earn or redeem points once every 12 months

You also promise yourself to finally sign up for AwardWallet, one of the easiest ways to track many of your miles and points balances, as well as when they’re set to expire.

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.

You begin to think about your loyalty accounts and all the proven ways to reset the expiration date on your balances. 

Turks and Caicos Beach
How about using your miles for a trip to the Caribbean?

1. You can 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. The same goes for paying for an upcoming flight or hotel stay. The miles and points you earn for paying cash will deposit into your loyalty account and reset the expiration date.

store Shopping Stock

2. 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.

dining program
Dining out at a participating will extend the life of your miles and points.

3. You can dine at 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 begin anew.

rental car photo
Did you know you can earn airline or hotel miles and points for renting a car? Photo by Atomic Taco

4. You can take advantage of the airline’s or hotel’s 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. With United’s partners, for example, you can order flowers from FTD, sign up for Directv, book a rental car, order wine, and even take surveys to earn miles and points.

Every time these miles and points are earned, the life span of your loyalty account refreshes itself.

5. You can make a purchase with your co-branded airline or hotel credit card. 

If you’re in the habit of collecting miles and points, it’s pretty likely you have a few airline or hotel credit cards. Use your co-branded card 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.

chase sapphire preferred
Transfer Ultimate Rewards Points earned with a card like the Chase Sapphire preferred to one of their airline or hotel partners to keep your loyalty account active.

6. You can transfer points from a credit card to a loyalty program. 

If you have transferable points with a travel rewards program like Chase, 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 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.

Photo by Artist in doing nothing.
Don’t spend a lot of money buying points! Use as a last resort to save miles and points from being lost. Photo by Artist in doing nothing.

7. 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.

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.

How have you kept your miles and points from expiring?

Like this post? Please share it on social media using the share buttons below.

Other Posts You're Sure to Love

  • Which Travel Rewards Credit Cards to Look at Right Now (January 2021)Which Travel Rewards Credit Cards to Look at Right Now (January 2021)
  • 15 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make as a Points and Miles Beginner15 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make as a Points and Miles Beginner
  • United Basic Economy: How to Overcome It (and Even Benefit!)United Basic Economy: How to Overcome It (and Even Benefit!)
  • How to Get to South Africa with Points and MilesHow to Get to South Africa with Points and Miles
  • 223shares
  • Facebook57
  • Twitter0
  • Pinterest166
  • LinkedIn0
  • Reddit0
  • Flipboard

Filed Under: Miles and Points Tagged With: miles, points, travel hacking

Affiliate Disclosure

The Globetrotting Teacher is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Additionally, The Globetrotting Teacher has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. The Globetrotting Teacher and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Comments & responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hannah says

    October 27, 2015 at 9:49 am

    I’ve never got into miles as I don’t fly frequently with one carrier, I just choose the cheapest!

    Plus I don’t like the idea of opening lots of credit cards!

    But travelling with miles sounds like a system that works for some!

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      October 27, 2015 at 3:53 pm

      I understand, Hannah. There are so many travel rewards to be had, though. They’re hard to pass up.

  2. Heather Cole says

    October 27, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    The only time I ever built up a few miles I lost them because I didn’t realise they’d expired (and didn’t realise I could stop this from happening!). Next time I’ll be more savvy, thanks for the post, always good to learn new ways to save money!

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      October 27, 2015 at 5:36 pm

      Oh no, Heather! Sorry to hear you lost your points, but glad you know better now!

  3. Ria says

    October 27, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    honestly..I never use or collect any miles and etc:D bus started to think that need to do that:) so some ideas from this post will be really useful:)

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      October 27, 2015 at 7:15 pm

      There’s a lot to gain by earning miles and points for travel, Ria. Glad the post was useful!

  4. Lesley says

    October 31, 2015 at 2:01 pm

    Great tips! We use our miles and points as frequently as possible, especially since we both travel for work.

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 1, 2015 at 3:56 pm

      Earn and burn, Lesley! That’s the way to get the most from your miles!

  5. Nic from Roaming Renegades says

    October 31, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    I have never used miles before, I always think it would be a great idea to save money in the long run if you can keep it organised. I think because there are so many budget airlines that we use that don’t do points and the other airlines are so much more expensive we haven’t yet given it a go. It’s good to know more about how it works though!

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 1, 2015 at 3:55 pm

      Great, Nic. I’m glad to help you learn more about miles and points. 🙂

  6. Sarah says

    October 31, 2015 at 2:57 pm

    Wow, there are some very useful tips here, beyond the basic point that points and miles can save a ton when flying. This is helpful to those of us who want to travel more, without breaking the bank. Thanks for compiling this useful information.

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 1, 2015 at 3:54 pm

      Thanks, Sarah! I hope you’re able to make use of some of the tips! 🙂

  7. Paula McInerney says

    October 31, 2015 at 9:10 pm

    We are absolutely terrible at letting miles expire and not using them properly so this is an excellent article for us.

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 1, 2015 at 3:52 pm

      I’m so glad, Paula! With just a small effort, you can easily extend the life of your miles and points!

  8. Toni | 2 Aussie Travellers says

    November 1, 2015 at 5:17 am

    The US schemes are way more generous than the ones in Australia, I collect a few points here and there down here but never enough to do anything really interesting. I definitely would hate to see the hard earned points expire, going to have to check on that in the morning.

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 1, 2015 at 3:47 pm

      Do check, Toni. Points are their own currency with a lot of benefits. It would be a shame to lose them.

  9. Carly Moore says

    November 1, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    I’m gonna go check my Icelandair Points right now to see if they expire!

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 1, 2015 at 5:46 pm

      Good thinking, Carly!

  10. melody pittman says

    November 1, 2015 at 8:40 pm

    Nice to see all the perks and ways to use them in one post. I participate in many of the programs but the goals are so unattainable it seems pointless to me. Case and point, I switched credit cards over to Princess and I use my card to pay for EVERYTHING. I can basically cruise with Princess for well under $1000 and after saving points all year, i have about 1/10th enough points for a simple cruise.

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 1, 2015 at 9:04 pm

      I understand your frustration, Melody. I always suggest getting a credit card that has transfer partners because the points you earn come with the flexibility to use with a variety of hotel and airlines. Have you looked into earning airline miles for each dollar you spend when paying for a cruise?

  11. Himanshu says

    November 2, 2015 at 12:08 am

    Yet to understand this system. Your tips would certainly help me. Thanks for this.

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 2, 2015 at 12:23 am

      Glad the tips are helpful for you to learn, Himanshu.

  12. Mar says

    November 2, 2015 at 6:07 am

    I recently had a conversation with my boyfriend about this. He was claiming that his miles were about to expire, how could they I wondered? Mine never did since I always use them. You really don’t want to go through all the effort to then lose them! Great table you put together!

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 2, 2015 at 3:35 pm

      You never want your miles and points to sit too long, Mar. Hopefully he can use one of these tips to reset the expiration date on his points.

  13. evankristine says

    November 2, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    Thanks for the info this is very helpful indeed!

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 2, 2015 at 3:36 pm

      Fantastic!

  14. Tami says

    November 3, 2015 at 12:58 am

    I would be so upset if I had gone to all the trouble to earn extra miles and then not been able to use them! I’ve been reading so many travel hack blogs, trying to figure out how to earn myself more miles without going crazy keeping track of everything. You have some great tips here!

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 3, 2015 at 2:31 am

      Thanks, Tami! Travel hacking takes some time and effort and you absolutely don’t want to have all that wasted. Let me know if you have any questions about getting started with this hobby. 🙂

  15. Shailender Kumar says

    November 8, 2015 at 11:02 am

    I never really thought seriously about this miles business, but after reading your post I can say that we need to be little smart and lot of saving can be made. Thanks for this post.

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 11, 2015 at 11:43 pm

      So glad it was useful, Shailender! 🙂

  16. Rick @ ITR says

    November 27, 2015 at 12:19 pm

    Just an observation – Not a Criticism!

    This word “hacking”seems to have caught on really well with bloggers. Guess it sounds really cool. But are you losing reader because of it? In a word, YES! While it may be a cool word for bloggers understand when they use it, It is a different story when you ask the average person, or traveler what the word means. The overwhelming majority of people still think the word has to do with shady Internet types who do it to hack into the accounts or people and governments.

    Readability is based on a person being able to read and understand what they read. Let’s use what I call “real people words”, when we write. After all, are we just writing for other bloggers, or are we writing for the general public.

    To Your Success

    Rick Stoneking

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      November 27, 2015 at 12:52 pm

      Totally a fair point, Rick. The word hacking can certainly be seen as shady. The use of miles and points for travel is playing by the rules set by the hotels, airlines, and credit cards who offer such perks and is certainly not shady. But, I also think the term “hack” has become more mainstream and accepted overall. You can find everything from travel hacks to life hacks, to cooking and budget hacks online. I think the more this word is used, the more people understand its nuances. I do appreciate your point and will certainly keep it in mind. Thanks for the time you put into reading and commenting on the post.

  17. Anne Slater-Brooks says

    December 22, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    I earn probably upwards of 70% of my airline rewards using the Avios shop. It’s shopping I do anyway and can earn up to 12 points per £1 but I also earn for the spend because I’ve used my credit card. A £1000 could potentially earn me 13000 points, enough for a short haul flight in Europe.

    Reply
    • Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says

      December 23, 2015 at 5:07 pm

      Shopping portals are so valuable! I do the same, Anne, most often with Chase, United, or American airlines. I also love some of the deals they offer, like bonus miles for back to school shopping or 30 points per dollar to send my mom flowers on Mother’s Day! Everyday purchases add up and earn free flights and hotel nights before you know it! 🙂

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About Me

Hi, I'm Jackie, the Globetrotting Teacher. Travel has been life-changing for me whether I'm traveling solo or with my favorite travel partner, Peter my husband! Learn more about my travels and how I use miles and points to travel around the globe. About Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

TGT Holiday Deals!

12-must-have-gifts-sidebar

Search the Site

Get Started with Points and Miles!

12-must-have-gifts-sidebar

New Chase Freedom Flex!

Earn $200 after spending $500 in 3 months!
Earn 5% on groceries up to $12k in the 1st year, quarterly bonus categories (up to $1,500 each quarter), & for travel booked in the Chase Travel Portal
Earn 3% on drug stores & dining
Earn 1% on all other purchases

This is an excellent offer(!)
for anyone wanting to earn cashback and/or travel rewards points from their everyday spending!

Learn more about the
Freedom Flex!

Footer

Disclosure

As an Amazon Associate, The Globetrotting Teacher earns from qualifying purchases.

The Globetrotting Teacher has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. The Globetrotting Teacher and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

[Disclosure]

[Privacy Policy]

Copyright

All photos & content are copyrighted & belong to Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie at The Globetrotting Teacher unless otherwise cited and may not be reproduced or used elsewhere without permission. DMCA.com Protection Status
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Like every website with social media buttons, commenting, affiliates, and analytics embedded, The Globetrotting Teacher uses cookies. Please click ok to accept and/or visit my Privacy Policy to learn more. OK Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.