Accumulating airline miles to redeem for future travel is a smart move, whether you’re an occasional traveler or a frequent flyer. After all, why not earn rewards for trips you're already taking? These rewards might be called miles, points, or Avios, depending on the airline, but they all work similarly.
Flying is the most popular way to earn miles, but you can also rack them up through travel rewards credit cards, shopping, dining partnerships, and more. However, many frequent flyer programs have strict rules on mileage expiration dates. Once they expire, those hard-earned rewards are typically gone for good, though some airlines allow you to reinstate expired miles for a fee. Thankfully, several U.S.-based programs don’t have any expiration dates to worry about.
U.S. Loyalty Programs With No Mileage Expiration
U.S. airlines lead the way with programs that offer miles that last forever. Here are six programs where your miles never expire:
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: Miles don’t expire, but accounts inactive for 24 months may be locked. Alaska Airlines customer service can reinstate your account and return your miles at no fee.
Delta SkyMiles: SkyMiles never expire.
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles: HawaiianMiles never expire.
JetBlue TrueBlue: TrueBlue miles never expire.
Southwest Rapid Rewards: Rapid Rewards points never expire.
United MileagePlus: MileagePlus miles never expire.
Other Major U.S. Airline Loyalty Programs
While most U.S. airline programs don’t have mileage expiration policies, there are three notable exceptions:
American Airlines AAdvantage: Miles expire after 24 months of inactivity. However, primary AAdvantage credit cardholders won’t have their miles expire, and neither will members under age 21.
Frontier Airlines Frontier Miles: Miles expire after 12 months of inactivity.
Spirit Airlines Free Spirit: Miles expire after 12 months of inactivity.
Tips to Prevent Miles From Expiring
With varying rules and conditions, it’s important to check with each airline program, especially those outside the U.S., to ensure you understand the requirements for keeping miles active. Some airlines will notify you if you're miles are about to expire if you have a valid email address on your profile and have opted to receive communications.
It is usually easy to keep your account active and extend the expiration by redeeming miles, transferring miles, or engaging in a program in some way before the expiration. You don’t need to fly to meet an ‘activity’ requirement to prevent miles from expiring.
If you don't have upcoming travel plans or the airline's credit card, a great way to keep your account active and earn some points is through a purchase on the airline's shopping portal. You can learn if your preferred airline has an online shopping portal on their frequent flyer program's website. Before making an online purchase, you may also search for the retailer on the free Cashback Monitor website, which lists all the travel programs whose shopping portals allow you to earn points/miles. You may find both domestic and international airlines and some hotel chains that have shopping portals to earn miles/points. Even if you have a frequent flyer program, you may need to enroll or enable their shopping program so that the points can be tracked and attributed to you.
American Airlines will automatically extend the mileage expiration date to 24 months from the date of your most recent qualifying activity. This activity can include flying or accruing mileage credit with participating dining partners, shopping portals, car rental companies, credit cards, and other service providers in the AAdvantage program.
If you have a credit card with its own points currency, like Chase Ultimate Rewards, CaptilOne, or Amex Membership Rewards, transferring points into an airline frequent flyer program typically counts as “activity.”
Reactivating Expired Miles
If your airline miles have already expired, some airlines allow you to reactivate them for a fee. For example, American Airlines determines the reactivation fee based on the number of miles to be reactivated and requires that this be done within two years of the expiration date.
By staying proactive and understanding the policies of your loyalty programs, you can ensure that your miles remain active and ready for your next adventure.
Comments