How to keep your points and miles from expiring

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the latest information.

While more and more programs have been moving away from point expiration, it is still one of the unfortunate pitfalls of the travel rewards game that we love. After all, who wants to let (nearly) free travel go to waste? As the travel industry recovers, you may be wondering how to keep miles and points from expiring if you’re not planning to fly or stay at a hotel soon.

Fortunately, there are many ways to keep your accounts active that don’t require hopping on an airplane or going on a mattress run. More often than not, you can reset the expiration date on the various hotel and airline currencies from the comfort of your desk or couch.

Even better, some airline and hotel programs have completely gotten rid of points expiration. Delta and JetBlue have been this way for years, while Southwest and United axed their respective points expiration policies several years ago. Most recently, Alaska and Hawaiian have done away with their mileage expiration policies.

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

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When do points and miles expire?

Loyalty program currencies normally expire after one to three years of inactivity. So, if you go 12 or 36 months without earning (or in some cases, redeeming) points or miles in some way, you may lose any accumulated balance. Some programs vary from this rule by imposing either more restrictive expiration policies or more lenient ones.

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

Related: What exactly are airline miles, anyway?

Hotel points expiration

Like airlines, there’s a wide range of policies, ranging from completely flexible (Best Western points never expire) to more restrictive. However, all of these programs allow you to extend the validity period of your points with activity.

Related: The inside scoop on how much hotels get paid when you redeem points

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 post to your account.

Open a credit card

Some airlines and hotel chains waive mileage expiration for those holding their cobranded travel credit cards. For example, if you hold the IHG Rewards Premier 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. For example, simply having the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® in your wallet does not keep your miles active. However, even a small transaction on the card will add a mile to your AAdvantage balance and extend your expiration date at the end of your billing cycle.

Related: Credit cards that can help you earn airline elite status

Join the dining rewards network

Many airlines and hotel chains have dining rewards programs through the Dining Rewards Network. In short, link a credit card to a hotel chain's or airline's dining program and earn airline miles or hotel points when you use that card for dining at over 10,000 participating restaurants. You can keep your account active by signing up for the loyalty program’s dining program and going out for a meal at a partner restaurant.

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

We’ve found that the points usually post within a week of purchase. Just be aware that you can’t double or triple dip with the same card in multiple programs. 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 to the most recent program you linked.

However, you could (for example) add the Chase Sapphire Reserve to the Alaska Airlines dining program and then your American Express® Gold Card to the American Airlines 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 those programs.

Related: The best credit cards for dining

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 have a site where you earn miles by starting there and then clicking through to a participating merchant before making an online purchase. Any eligible purchase can keep your miles active.

We recommend using a shopping portal for all your online purchases. It’s an easy way to rack up points with most airline programs, giving you an easy way to stock up on points and miles for the vacation you’re daydreaming about. Use a shopping portal aggregator to ensure you’re getting the most points for your purchases.

Related: The beginners guide to airline shopping portals

Transfer points from a credit card or hotel program

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

Don’t have a transferable points credit card? You should consider changing that fact now; these programs provide incredible flexibility as you can transfer points to several different airlines and hotels.

Further, you can also transfer points from most hotel programs to keep your airline miles active. Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, Wyndham Rewards and others allow transfers to several airline partners. However, note that many of these 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 diversified can protect you from award chart devaluations and airline insolvency, and give you more award tickets to choose from.

Related: Get more from your points with these transfer bonuses

Donate to charity

One of the easiest ways to keep your points and miles active is by donating miles to charity. American, United and many others offer donation programs, and generally speaking, the minimum number you can donate is 1,000. 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 miles are expiring in the coming weeks.

Related: How to donate points and miles to help Ukraine

Take a flight or complete a stay

Suppose the program terms allow for an extension in mileage expiration due to activity. In that case, you can keep your points and miles active by taking a flight on the applicable airline (or one of its partners) or by completing a stay with the hotel chain in question.

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

How to reinstate expired points

Of course, all of the above suggestions apply to those who are 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.

If your airline or hotel program isn't discussed in the article I linked above, try calling the customer support line for the program. If your points recently expired or you get a really friendly agent, there’s a chance you could get your miles reinstated for free. Make sure to ask politely and — if possible — call when phone lines aren’t busy assisting customers that need ticket changes and cancellations.

Whether incurring this out-of-pocket expense makes sense depends on the value of the points or miles you’ve lost. But it could very well be worth it for large balances in these programs.

Bottom line

Knowing when your points and miles expire and how to keep them active is essential, especially if you’re unsure about when you'll travel next. While most airline and hotel programs differ in their expiration policies, your account balances in almost all 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 miles expire or wondering about the best ways to keep them active. We’ll keep it updated with mileage expiration news and updates. Finally, remember: Saving your expiring miles could mean the difference between flying economy or business class on your next vacation!

Additional reporting by Kyle Olsen.

Featured photo by MStudioImages/Getty Images.