Airline miles expiration rules and chart
Probably the biggest concern about accumulating miles from different frequent flyer programs is ether expiration date. That is why if you plan you vacation and you want to save some money — you have to be strategic with your miles and points. I f you will not be accurate — you will simply lose your rewards.
Originally published at www.milesfortrips.com on January 20, 2015.
Airline miles expiration rules
So, different airlines — different rules and regulation in terms of loyalty programs.
Lets see which companies are more loyal to their members.
American Airlines
Q: What Are “Miles with Expiration Deferred” and when do they expire?
A: Miles with Expiration Deferred are the miles currently available for redemption. Your AAdvantage miles do not expire as long as you have qualifying account activity at least once every 18 months. Qualifying account activity is defined as any AAdvantage mileage accrual or AAdvantage award redemption. Your online AAdvantage Account Summary displays the number of Miles with Expiration Deferred and the earliest date that they could expire. This date is extended for another 18 months every time that you have qualifying account activity.
Q: How can I keep my miles active so they don’t expire?
A: All you need to do is earn or redeem miles on American Airlines, American Eagle, or an AAdvantage participant at least once every 18 months, and your mileage expiration date will automatically be extended for an additional 18 months from the date of your most recent account activity.
Delta
Under the SkyMiles Mileage Expiration policy, miles do not expire. Delta reserves the right to de-activate or close an account under the following circumstances:
- Fraudulent activity occurs
- A member requests an account closure
- A member does not respond to repeated communication attempts regarding the status of his/her account
- A member resides in or relocates to a country where membership is prohibited under applicable law
- A member violates the terms of this Membership Guide and Program Rules
United
Mileage expiration
- Mileage accrued in a member’s account shall be maintained in the account until it is redeemed for an award or until it expires, whichever occurs first.
- Mileage accrued shall only be subject to expiration on the last day of the eighteen (18) months after the last account activity in the member’s account. Activity includes flying, using your MileagePlus credit card and more (see rule 10). In cases where mileage is for any reason removed from an account, such as for the redemption of awards, and later returned, the return of the mileage to the account shall not count as account activity.
Hawaiian Airlines
Earned mileage will expire when a member does not earn or redeem miles for 18 consecutive months from the last date of member activity.
How can I keep my miles from expiring?
Any earning or redemption activity will prevent your miles from expiring for 18 months. If your miles are about to expire, you can prevent them from expiring by:
Can I purchase additional miles to keep my miles from expiring?
Yes. Purchases may be made in increments of 500 miles, with a minimum requirement of 500 miles. Purchases may be made online or by phone.
Southwest
Points don’t expire as long as you have flight or Partner earning activity every 24 months.
Alaska Airlines
As long as you keep your account active* — that is, as long as you earn or spend at least one mile every 24 months you’ll keep all the miles that you earn. Spend them as soon as you have enough for a one-way domestic ticket, or save up for a First Class ticket to a far-flung destination. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to accrue miles, they’ll be there when you’re ready to use them.
* If no mileage is credited to your account during the first 9 months after opening, or if your account is inactive for longer than 2 years, the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™ reserves the right to delete your account and reassign the number. If mileage has been deleted from your account, you can reinstate it for up to one year by paying a $75 fee.
JetBlue
Points don’t expire as long as you earn points by flying JetBlue at least once in a 12-month period.
Virgin America
As an Elevate member, you can retain all of your Elevate points as long as you have earning or redemption activity posted on your own Elevate account at least once every 18 months. The expiration of your points will extend for another 18 months with any qualifying activity posted on your own Elevate account such as flights on Virgin America, completed reward travel, or through earning points with a Virgin America Visa® credit card or other Elevate partner.
Lufthansa
Award miles remain valid for 36 months from the date of the activity and expire — if they have not been used — at the end of the quarter. Members who hold the Frequent Traveller, Senator or HON Circle Member status or who have a German Lufthansa Miles & More Credit Card* are not affected by this mileage expiry deadline.
(*For customers with an international Miles & More Credit Card special terms and conditions apply.)
The miles due to expire at the end of the current quarter and at the end of the next quarter are shown on your online statement.
You will receive a summary of all the miles which are due to expire at the end of the current quarter about two months in advance in your online newsletter.
As an illustration take the following example: you flew from Frankfurt to New York on 12.12.2012. The miles you earned for this flight will expire after 36 months at the end of the next quarter, i.e. on 31.12.2015.
KLM/Air France
As a Flying Blue member you have 20 months to use your miles vie KLM/AIRFRANCE or through partners.
British Airways
Your Avios stay with you as long as you collect, spend, purchase or share at least one Avios every 36 months — any longer and your Avios will expire and be removed, so remember to take action before those three years are up.
Singapore Air
KrisFlyer accounts which have activity are valid for 36 months from the end of the month in which the last activity occurred, after which the membership accounts will expire. KrisFlyer accounts which do not have any activity for a period of 18 months since enrolment will expire after that period of 18 months.
Emirates
Your Skywards Miles are valid for three years from the date your earning activity is completed. Within the calendar year that Skywards Miles are due to expire, they will be removed from your account at the end of the month in which you were born.
For example, if you earned Miles in June 2012 and your birthday is in August, these Miles will expire on 31st August 2015.
You can set automated messages from your My Account pages to remind you when Skywards Miles are due to expire.
Cathay Pacific
- An Asia Miles membership account which has not recorded any activity for a period of 36 months will be suspended and closed without notice, once all remaining mileage credits have expired.
- Members may terminate their membership at any time by giving written notice to AML and returning their membership card, at which time any outstanding mileage credits will be cancelled.
- AML may also terminate the membership of a member at its complete discretion and in such circumstances will provide the member with three to six months notice of termination. Upon expiry of the notice period, all unused mileage credits will be cancelled.
Bottom line
If you need to know specific airline rules and regulations — just check the website for terms and regulations.
Once again, we have to be strategic — dod not apply for credit card if you do not know where you will spend or if you know — you do not fly a lot. Unless you can spend your miles other ways : like shopping portals, car rentals, hotel stays.
But I would recommend spending miles and points on reward flights — as in this case they have the biggest value.
Originally published at www.milesfortrips.com on January 20, 2015.
