Which Airline Miles and Hotel Points Expire?

When it comes to award travel, there’s little more frustrating than logging into your frequent traveler account with big plans for an exciting trip only to find that your miles have expired. It happens from time to time, especially if you haven’t flown for a while.

This is why we’re going to lay out which airline and hotel points and miles expire right here, right now: so you never have to watch your frequent flyer miles disappear again.

Domestic airlines frequent flyer miles expiration

Here’s a run-down on how long you can hold onto frequent flyer miles before they become obsolete if you primarily fly with U.S. domestic airlines.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards, the shared rewards program with Hawaiian Airlines, offers points that never expire.

» Learn more: Do Alaska miles expire?

American Airlines

American Airlines AAdvantage miles expire after 24 months of inactivity, but all you have to do to keep them is earn or redeem miles with an airline partner at least once every two years.

On the upside, travelers under 21 are exempt from this expiration date, as are active primary AAdvantage credit cardholders.

» Learn more: Do American Airlines miles expire?

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles never expire, so rest easy knowing whenever you’re ready to travel, your points will be waiting for you.

» Learn more: Do Delta miles expire?

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines Frontier Miles expire in 12 months, unless you have qualifying account activity. This includes earning miles via flights or spending on the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®, redeeming miles or donating unused miles to participating charities.

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue TrueBlue points never expire. Plus, you can pool your points with other members or pay with a combo of points and cash to put miles to use faster.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards don’t expire, so keep them until you’re ready to use them.

Spirit Airlines

Spirit Airlines Free Spirit points expire in a brief 12 months if there’s no earning or redeeming activity on your account.

That said, if you won’t be flying with the airline, you can sign up for the Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard®, which will keep miles from expiring as long as the card is open.

United Airlines

United Airlines MileagePlus miles never expire. So you can focus on maximizing rewards instead. Use United's miles pooling feature to book your next trip faster.

» Learn more: Simple steps to keep your miles from expiring If you’re not traveling

International airlines with mileage expiration dates

Here are some of the most popular international airlines with miles that do expire:

• Air Canada Aeroplan: Aeroplan points expire after 18 months if the account is inactive. Qualifying activity includes earning, redeeming, donating and transferring points.

• Air France/KLM Flying Blue: The Flying Blue miles expiration date is two years if there is no account activity, unless you’re a Silver, Gold, Platinum or Ultimate elite status member. If the latter, the miles don't expire.

• Air New Zealand Airpoints: Airpoints Dollars expire four years after they are earned.

• ANA Mileage Club: Miles expire 36 months after they are earned, unless you have active ANA Diamond Service member status.

• British Airways Avios: 36 months if your account is inactive.

• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles: 18 months after no account activity.

• Emirates Skywards: Three years after miles are earned, they will expire on the last day of your birthday month.

• Etihad Guest: 18 months for Bronze, Silver, and Gold members. Platinum members’ points never expire.

• Finnair Plus Avios: 18 months if the account is inactive.

• LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass Miles: 36 months from the date of your last flight.

• Lufthansa/Swiss Airlines Miles & More: Miles & More miles expire after 36 months (on the last day of the quarter). No expiration for Frequent Traveller, Senator or HON Circle Members and holders of the Miles & More credit card in certain countries, including the U.S.

• Qantas Club Points: 36 months if the account is inactive.

• Qatar Airways Avios: 36 months after they are earned.

• TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go: Three years after they are earned; some bonus and promotional miles expire one year after they are earned.

• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles: Three years after they are earned; the expiration date can be extended for three years by paying $20 for every 1,000 miles.

Do hotel points expire?

If you’re also concerned with keeping your hotel points in play, here are the major hotel loyalty programs and how long their points are valid.

Marriott

Marriott Bonvoy points expire after 24 months of inactivity. To keep them from disappearing, earn points via stays, redeem them, or purchase points once every two years.

» Learn more: Do Marriott points expire?

Hilton

Hilton Honors points expire after 24 months of account inactivity. On the upside, you can book a room with cash and points if you need to use up points before they expire.

» Learn more: Do Hilton points expire?

Wyndham

Wyndham Rewards points expire on a rolling system with each batch of points earned during a stay expiring four years after that stay. However, if there’s no activity (points earning, booked stays or points transfers) on your account for 18 months, all of your points will expire.

Choice

Choice Privileges Rewards hotel points expire after 18 months of account inactivity, which includes qualifying stays, point redemption for free nights, purchasing points and referring friends who sign up for the program and book a stay.

You can also keep your account active by using the Choice Privileges® Mastercard® and earning points that way.

IHG

For entry-level members, IHG One Rewards points expire in a short 12 months. To keep points from expiring, earn or redeem them for stays or with one of IHG’s partner programs.

However, points for those with elite status with the program never expire. One way to enjoy immediate elite status: sign up for any of the IHG One Rewards credit cards.

Hyatt

World of Hyatt points expire after 24 months of inactivity.

To keep your account active, you’ll need to earn or redeem points on stays, transfer points, combine them with another member or purchase points outright.

Sign up for a Hyatt credit card, though, like World of Hyatt Credit Card or World of Hyatt Business Credit Card and points never expire.

Do credit card points expire?

What about travel points and miles earned with credit cards? Do those expire? Every issuer is different, but generally, as long as your account is open and in good standing — and you have qualifying activity within the policy's time period — credit card points don’t expire.

» Learn more: Do credit card rewards, points and miles expire?

Airlines with miles that don't expire

The airlines with miles that don't expire are Alaska, Hawaiian, Delta, United, Southwest and JetBlue.

Ways to keep your points from expiring

Various programs count different activities as qualifying, so read the fine print before you rely on any of these tactics.

The AmEx and Chase option

If you have a credit card that earns American Express Membership Rewards points or Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, you can transfer points to your airline of choice, which would keep the account active and extend the life of expiring points or miles. Although it would be nice to transfer just one mile, you’ll likely need to transfer a minimum of 1,000 points into your account. AmEx is known for running transfer bonuses to hotels.

Consider low and no-fee cards

There are even some low-fee and no-fee rewards credit cards that allow point transfers. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card only has a $95 annual fee and earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.

Credit card offers can vary, so if you’re in the market for one of these cards, check out their welcome bonuses to make sure you’re maximizing the offer.

» Learn more: Chase vs. AmEx transfer partners

Other card and loyalty programs

Keep in mind that Chase and AmEx aren’t the only credit card companies with rewards programs that allow point transfers to airlines and hotels. Citi ThankYou points and Capital One miles can also be transferred to airlines.

If you’ve collected hotel points that you have no use for, consider transferring them to an airline if you have expiring miles. Some of the hotel rewards programs that allow point transfers to airlines include:

• Marriott Bonvoy.

• World of Hyatt.

• Hilton Honors.

• IHG Rewards.

• Wyndham Rewards.

The number of miles you receive in your frequent flyer account will depend on the transfer ratios of each hotel program.

Some airlines aren’t transfer partners of many programs (or any at all), in which case you can extend the validity of your miles by applying for a co-branded credit card.

For example, American Airlines is only a transfer partner of Citi ThankYou and Marriott. A great way to keep your American Airlines AAdvantage miles active is to apply for a co-branded credit card.

One of our favorite cards is the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® because it has an annual fee of $99, waived for the first 12 months, providing you with a great opportunity to try the card. The welcome offer is: Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.

» Learn more: Ways to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles

Don't let your points expire

Depending on the airline or hotel, frequent flyer miles or points can expire after a period of inactivity.

To keep that from happening, keep an eye on your accounts, sign up for email alerts if the company offers them. Also, know how to — and if you can — keep them from disappearing if you aren’t planning a trip in time. That way you always have miles on hand for your next big trip.