How to keep airline miles and hotel points alive (2026)

How do you keep your points and miles alive? What counts as a qualifying activity to extend the life of miles? Here are the policies for major US airline and hotel programs, as well as those that partner with credit card issuer transferable points programs

This post has been extensively updated to reflect the latest rewards program policies. However, terms update constantly, so if you see an error, please let us know in the comments so that we can fix it ASAP!

When do airline miles expire and how do you keep them alive?

Airline programs whose miles don’t expire or can be extended with transferable points

Our favorite kinds of points and miles are those that don’t expire. For those that do, being able to extend them with a simple points transfer from a bank currency like Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, or Citi ThankYou Rewards makes it much less irritating.

In the table below, we list both types. In general, programs that allow you to extend validity through transfers are also very flexible about what they consider a qualifying activity; any sort of redemption or earning will reset the clock as well.

There are a handful that have some additional quirks worth explaining. These are noted by an asterisk in the table, with an explanation underneath.

American Airlines AAdvantage

American Airlines miles expire after 24 months of inactivity. Any earnings or redemptions keep them alive, as does transferring points between accounts. Miles do not expire for members under 21 years of age or for AA credit card holders. Once a member turns 21, they must be active within 24 months of their 21st birthday, or else miles will expire. Transfers from Citi ThankYou Rewards (TYP) extend the expiration clock.

Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca miles expire after 12 months of inactivity, but it is easy to keep them active by transferring the minimum amount from Amex, Bilt, Citi, or Capital One. Note that redeeming miles does not extend miles; only earning/transferring miles in.

Avios (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, and Qatar)

Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. Transferring from Amex, Capital One, or Chase, or earning miles through the British Airways or Iberia shopping portals, will extend the life of your Avios. Note that transferring from one Avios program to another does not reset the clock; it changes it to the current expiration date of the account you transfer the Avios to, which can result in a shorter expiration window.

Finnair Avios

Unlike other Avios programs, Finnair Avios expire after 18 months of inactivity at the end of the 18th consecutive month after you haven’t had any activity. Moving Avios from another program (like British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, etc.) to Finnair does not count as activity. So, if you move points into an account that has had 18 months of inactivity, those points will expire quickly. See this post for more details.

Airline programs whose miles require activity to extend expiration

Next up are the airline programs whose points expiration doesn’t reset with transfers. Several of these programs simply require some sort of earning or redeeming, while others make you pay to turn the expiry hourglass over when you’re at the end of your rope.

Again, for those programs that require additional explanation, you’ll find an asterisk in the chart and additional details below.

Emirates Skywards

Emirates Skywards miles expire 3 years after the year in which they were earned at the end of your birthday month. In other words, miles earned in 2026 will expire in 2029 at the end of the month in which you were born. You can pay a fee to extend miles for 12 more months, as long as you do so within 3 months of expiration, but the fee is expensive at $20 per 1,000 miles. You can reactivate miles that have expired in the past 6 months at the same rate, but you can only reclaim up to 50,000 miles each year. Having an Emirates Skywards Credit Card or maintain Platinum status will keep miles from expiring.

Lufthansa Miles&More

Miles expire at the end of the quarter, 36 months from the date of accrual. Miles don’t expire for those with a Miles & More Credit Card, or who have Frequent Traveler, Senator, or HON Circle Member status. If this status is lost or the credit card is closed, mileage expiry will apply again, and miles will remain valid for an additional 36 months, then expire at the end of that quarter.

Singapore KrisFlyer

Singapore KrisFlyer miles expire at the end of the month, 36 months from when they were accrued. In addition, your KrisFlyer account will expire 45 months after your last mile-earning date, or 24 months after enrollment if you don’t make a qualifying transaction. You can pay $12 per 10,000 miles to extend validity for six months, or 12 months if you are a KrisFlyer elite member. Miles don’t expire for PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club members.

Turkish Miles & Smiles

Turkish Miles & Smiles miles expire at the end of year 3 years after they were earned. As an example, miles earned in January will expire at midnight on December 31st (Turkish time) three years later, making them valid for almost four years. Miles earned in December of the same year will expire at the exact same time, making them valid for just over three years. Members can pay a $20 fee per 1,000 miles to keep them active.

Airline miles whose expiration cannot be extended

Lastly, there are a handful of airline rewards programs whose miles can’t be extended by any method whatsoever. Unfortunately, they include three of our favorite Asian programs: ANA Mileage Club, EVA Infinity MileageLands, and JAL Mileage Bank.

If transferring to any of these programs, it’s advisable to have a plan in place and ready to go. In the case of orphaned miles, setting regular email reminders or using a service like AwardWallet can be a helpful way to make sure they don’t disappear out from under you.

When do hotel points expire and how can you keep them alive?

In general, hotel programs are much more straightforward than most airline programs. Elite status often pauses expiration, and all activity, including paid and award stays, credit card purchases, partner earnings, and point purchases, will reset the expiration date. Along those lines, although it’s often a poor value, points transfers from the various transferable currencies will do the trick, the only exception being I Prefer, the loyalty program of Preferred Hotels and Resorts.

ALL Accor

Points expire 365 days from accrual. To keep your Accor Live Limitless points alive, you’ll need to check out from a qualifying point-earning stay at least 7 days before points are set to expire. You can also earn points through bars and restaurants with their dining programs.

I Prefer (Preferred Hotels and Resorts)

Points expire 24 months from the date of last activity. Preferred Hotels makes this especially difficult to track, as they don’t list the expiration date on your account. You quite literally have to call and ask them! Any non-transfer activity on the account will reset the 24-month expiration date, including award stays.

Wyndham Rewards

Wyndham Rewards points expire 4 years after accrual or after 18 months of inactivity. The 18-month counter can be extended with any activity, including points earned from paid stays or the Wyndham Rewards shopping portal, points transferred from Capital One or Citi, or award redemptions. You can also extend the expiration of up to 30,000 points per year by transferring them to Caesars Rewards, then back to Wyndham.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.