Yes, airline miles expire. So do hotel points. But "expire" covers four completely different rules, and most guides flatten them into one vague warning about 18 months. The rule your program uses determines what saving your points actually costs — sometimes nothing, sometimes a small transaction every year, sometimes a countdown you cannot pause.
Here are the four rules, with real examples, and what stops each one.
Rule 1: Never Expire
A short, proud list. Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus, Alaska Mileage Plan, JetBlue TrueBlue, Southwest Rapid Rewards, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles do not expire, full stop. Aeroméxico joined the club in 2023.
How to stop it: Nothing. Enjoy the one genuinely generous policy in the industry — and meanwhile the value of your never-expiring miles quietly ratchets down through award-chart devaluations instead. They take it out of the price, not the balance.
Rule 2: Keep the Account Open
Most bank programs live here. Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou, and Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards exist as long as an eligible account exists. Close the wrong card and the points are gone at statement close. HawaiianMiles does the same at the airline level.
How to stop it: Don't close the account. If you're downgrading a card, transfer the balance into a sibling card first, or move the points to a partner — accepting that partners have their own rules below.
Rule 3: Any Activity Resets the Clock
The most common rule, and the most misread. Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors points expire after 24 months of no activity. Air France/KLM Flying Blue: 24 months. IHG: 12 months unless you're Platinum. Avianca LifeMiles: 12 months of no earning. British Airways and Iberia: 36 months. Wyndham Rewards runs an 18-month inactivity clock plus a separate four-year hard cap on leftover points — two rules for the price of one.
How to stop it: One qualifying transaction per period. Earning a single point, redeeming a small award, or — the classic — transferring 1,000 bank points in resets the whole balance. It costs almost nothing if you set a reminder. This is the rule where people lose six-figure balances because nobody sent them a calendar invite.
Rule 4: Hard Shelf Life
The brutal one. Singapore KrisFlyer, Turkish Miles&Smiles, Emirates Skywards, JAL Mileage Bank, ANA Mileage Club, EVA Infinity MileageLands, and Lufthansa Miles & More miles expire roughly 36 months after they were earned — each mile on its own clock, regardless of account activity. No trick resets it. Usually.
How to stop it: You mostly don't — you route around it. Never transfer bank points into a hard-expiry program until the award seat is found and confirmed. Hold status or the co-branded card where those exempt you (Lufthansa and Emirates both offer exemption paths). And treat every hard-clock mile as inventory with a sell-by date.
| Rule | Programs | The Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Never expire | Delta, United, Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic | None needed |
| Account open | Chase, Citi, Capital One, Wells Fargo | Keep / transfer before closing |
| Activity resets | Marriott (24mo), Hilton (24mo), Flying Blue (24mo), IHG (12mo), LifeMiles (12mo), Wyndham (18mo) | One transaction per period |
| Hard ~36 months | Singapore, Turkish, Emirates, JAL, ANA, EVA, Lufthansa | Burn before transfer; status/card exemptions |
Before You Transfer Anything
Almost every disaster story about expiring miles starts with a bank transfer that printed irreversibly into Rule 3 or Rule 4. Check the program's exact terms first — we keep per-program breakdowns current, for example the Wyndham expiration rules or KrisFlyer's 36-month clock — and match the transfer to a booking, not a fantasy.
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