When Do Airline Miles Expire? (2024)

Aer Lingus AerClub Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. Any earning or spending activity within this period will reset the expiration clock, meaning as long as you post something to your account once every three years, your Avios balance will be active and available.

Air Canada Aeroplan points expire after 18 months of no activity. However, any qualifying activity—including earning, redeeming or transferring points—will reset the clock and extend the life of your miles by another 18 months. Additionally, if you have the Aeroplan® Credit Card, your points will not expire as long as the card is kept open. If you hold Aeroplan elite status, your miles will not expire while you maintain status.

If your miles do expire, Aeroplan offers a handful of ways to reinstate them as long as you take action within six months of the expiration date. You can buy back your miles, take a qualifying flight with Air Canada or get an Aeroplan credit card.

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Best Value Airline Rewards Programs in 2024 - NerdWallet7 Ways to Maximise your Frequent Flyer PointsAre frequent flier programs even worth it if you don’t fly often?

Up to 3x Reward Rate

Earn 3x points for each dollar spent on grocery stores, dining at restaurants including takeout and eligible delivery services, andRead More

Welcome Bonus

Earn 70,000 points

Annual Fee

$95

Regular APR

21.74% - 28.74% Variable

Credit Score

Good, Excellent(700 - 749)

Editorial Review

The solid reward-earning potential of the Aeroplan® Credit Card makes the card an excellent option for those loyal Air Canada passengers who also regularly spend on food and travel.

Pros & Cons

• Excellent rewards earning
• No foreign transaction fees
• Travel benefits including perks for Air Canada flyers

• $95 annual fee
• Lacks non-travel-related benefits

Card Details

• Earn 70,000 bonus points
• Earn 70,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
• $95 Annual Fee
• Redeem points for both international and domestic flights with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
• Fly to another continent and travel the world with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
• Earn 3X points for each dollar spent at grocery stores, on dining at restaurants, and Air Canada directly. Earn 1X point for each dollar spent on all other purchases.
• 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month – up to 1,500 points per month.
• Member FDIC

Earn 70,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

Flying Blue miles have a complicated expiration policy: Miles earned through flying are treated differently than miles earned through partner activity (such as converting credit card rewards or crediting hotel stays).

Miles earned from flying expire after two years, but may be extended by taking another flight and crediting those miles to Flying Blue. Flights operated by Air France, KLM or partner airlines qualify. Miles expiration is also extended by two years when you make a purchase with an eligible co-branded credit card. If you’re an Elite or Elite Plus Flying Blue member, your miles do not expire.

Miles earned through partner activity also expire after two years and will be extended by any type of activity in your account, including but not limited to flying. However, partner activity will not extend the validity of miles earned by flying.

Read More: Best Hotel Rewards Credit Cards

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles never expire so long as your account remains open and in good standing.

ANA Mileage Club miles are divided into four groups. The expiration policies vary between them. Group one—miles earned through flying—expire after 36 months. The other three groups—miles accumulated “through campaign”—will have varying exploration policies, but this will not apply to most consumers.

There is no way to extend them for most members. Expiration is paused for Diamond Service members, with the clock resuming if and when they lose Diamond status. Million Miler members will never have miles expire during their lifetime.

American Airlines AAdvantage miles are valid for 24 months. Any type of qualifying activity will extend the life of your miles for another two years.

Customers under the age of 21 are not subject to mileage expiration. However, the 24-month policy will apply as soon as they reach 21 years old, even if the miles were earned as a child.

AAdvantage® credit card holders are exempt from mileage expiry as long as the card account is open.

Avianca LifeMiles have one of the shortest expiration policies among frequent flyer programs. For general members, miles are valid for just 12 months after the last miles accrual activity (for elite members, 24 months). Those who hold Avianca credit cards also have 24 months prior to expiration.

Mileage extension is tricky with Avianca since only mileage accrual is regarded as eligible activity that lengthens the validity period. Using miles does not extend the expiration date. Avianca states that transfers from partner programs is not a valid accrual. However, a transfer from another member counts. This means that the easiest ways to extend your miles without flying, is to either purchase miles, have another member transfer miles to you or credit your hotel stay or car rental to LifeMiles.

Emirates Skywards miles expire at the end of your birthday month three years after they were earned. For example, if you flew in June 2023 and your birthday is in August, your miles would expire on August 31, 2026.

Activity in your account does not extend your miles’ validity, but you have the option to pay to extend them an additional 12 months.

Etihad Airways Guest Miles have different expiration dates based on your elite status. For Silver and Gold members, miles expire 18 months after last activity. Qualifying activities include earning, spending and buying miles. The first qualifying activity in a month resets the expiry date, so that’s something to keep in mind when calculating the exact expiration.

Etihad Platinum Guest members are not subject to miles expiration as long as their status is valid.

EVA Air miles expire 36 months after they are earned. This countdown starts from either the travel date or when you transfer miles from a partner’s points system. Once expired, miles are automatically canceled.

To keep your miles active, use any Award Miles within 36 months and take an EVA Air or UNI Air international flight within 12 months before they expire. If your miles do expire, you can buy them back within six months. The first expired miles get reinstated first, and the cost is $10 per 1,000 miles, in multiples of 1,000. You can reinstate up to 150,000 miles per year, and reinstated miles are good for 12 months.

Frontier Miles expire after 12 months of inactivity. To keep your miles active, make sure to earn or redeem miles within that period. Activities that count include purchases on your Frontier Airlines World Mastercard®*. If your miles are about to expire, you can either accrue more or use them for redemptions​.

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles do not expire.

Qatar Airways Avios expire 36 months after your last activity, whether earning or spending. Expired Avios can be reactivated anytime during the next 12 months for a fee. This extends the expiry date by 36 months.

There’s no expiration for Qatar Platinum members as long as status is maintained.

Southwest Rapid Rewards do not expire.

United MileagePlus miles never expire.

Virgin Atlantic Points do not expire.

Most airline loyalty programs extend the validity of your miles with account activity. Typically any type of activity—earning or redeeming—can reset the clock and establish more time before having to commit to using your entire stash of miles. In some cases, you may be able to qualify by earning or redeeming a single mile.

Traditionally, flying and crediting flown miles to your account was the obvious answer to how to extend your frequent flyer miles. Today though, you’ll need to be careful before assuming this is the best choice: some basic economy fares no longer earn miles.

Other activities that may extend your miles include:

• Crediting hotel or rental car reservations to your airline account
• Redeeming some of your miles toward award flights
• Redeeming miles toward other awards, such as hotel reservations or magazines subscriptions
• Making purchases on an airline-branded credit card
• Transferring flexible credit card rewards to your airline account
• Transferring miles to or from another member’s account
• Shopping through an airline shopping portal
• Joining an airline’s dining network and making a restaurant purchase
• Donating miles to partner organizations
• Buying additional miles

There may be other ways to extend the life of your miles in addition to these.

For any type of points activity, don’t procrastinate. Qualifying activity must fully post to your airline account before expiration in order to extend the life of your miles, regardless of the transaction date. With a few exceptions, many of these transactions could take days or weeks to post to your account.

If you are concerned about your miles expiring, you can use an app like AwardWallet to track and warn you when your expiration date is creeping up.

Since every frequent flyer program sets its own policies on mileage expiration, it’s important to keep an eye on dates to ensure you can redeem rewards before they expire. Luckily, it’s usually easy to confirm dates in your online account. More importantly, it’s often easy to extend miles if you need more time to solidify travel plans before cashing in your rewards for another trip.