Do Airline Miles Expire? 2026 Policy Guide

Few experiences in personal finance are as disheartening as logging into a frequent flyer account to discover that a balance of 80,000 miles earned over years of travel has vanished overnight due to inactivity. While several major carriers have modernized their programs by eliminating expiration dates completely, dozens of prominent international and domestic loyalty programs still aggressively expire miles if you do not register qualifying account activity.

Airline Mileage Expiration Policies Compared

Understanding which programs keep your miles indefinitely and which enforce ticking clocks is vital for protecting your loyalty balances.

Airline Loyalty Program	Expiration Policy	Clock Reset Mechanism	Key Conditions & Exceptions
Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles)	Never expire	No action required	Points remain active indefinitely
United Airlines (MileagePlus)	Never expire	No action required	Points remain active indefinitely
Southwest Airlines (Rapid Rewards)	Never expire	No action required	Points remain active indefinitely
American Airlines (AAdvantage)	24 months of inactivity	Any earn or redeem activity	Primary AAdvantage credit cardholders are exempt from expiration
Alaska Airlines (Mileage Plan)	24 months of inactivity	Any earn or redeem activity	Accounts can be locked or points reinstated for a fee
Air France / KLM (Flying Blue)	24 months of inactivity	Qualifying flight or co-branded card spend	General partner earning resets only non-flight miles; flight miles require a flight
British Airways (Executive Club)	36 months of inactivity	Any earn, spend, or transfer	Moving 1,000 Avios into the account fully resets the 36-month clock
Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer)	36 months (Hard Expiration)	Cannot be reset by activity	Miles expire exactly 36 months after being earned, regardless of spending
Avianca (LifeMiles)	12 months of inactivity	Any qualifying accrual activity	Very short window; requires annual attention

Rolling Inactivity Clocks vs. Hard Expiration Dates

The single most dangerous misconception in award travel is confusing a rolling expiration clock with a hard expiration policy:

• Rolling Inactivity Clocks: Programs like American Airlines, British Airways, and Alaska Airlines specify that miles expire only if your account experiences zero activity over 18 to 36 consecutive months. Registering a single qualifying transaction extends the entire existing balance for another full cycle.
• Hard Expiration (The Singapore / Emirates Model): Programs such as Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Emirates Skywards operate on fixed chronological expiration. Miles expire exactly three years from the date they are earned, regardless of how often you fly or how many points you earn. For these programs, transfer bank points only when you have an immediate booking ready.

5 Inexpensive Methods to Reset an Expiration Clock

If you have an impending mileage expiration date on an activity-based account, execute one of these simple micro-transactions to extend your balance:

1. Make a Micro-Purchase via Shopping Portals: Log into the airline’s shopping portal, click through to a merchant where you already shop (e.g., buying a $5 digital item or book), and earn 1 to 2 miles. Once credited, the clock resets.
2. Transfer 1,000 Bank Points: Transfer the minimum allowable increment (1,000 points) from Chase, Amex, Capital One, or Citi into your airline account.
3. Buy a Cup of Coffee via Dining Programs: Link your credit card to the airline’s dining rewards program and purchase a beverage at a participating local cafe.
4. Donate a Small Mileage Increment: Many airlines allow members to donate 500 to 1,000 miles to charity directly through their website, which registers as qualifying redemption activity.
5. Purchase 1,000 Miles: As a last resort, buy the smallest points package offered by the airline ($25 to $35) to save a balance worth thousands of dollars.

Keeping transferable points in bank reward currencies protects you from both unexpected devaluations and ticking expiration clocks. Learn how to acquire miles on the ground in our guide to earning miles without flying, avoid transfer traps in our guide to avoiding points transfer mistakes, and explore versatile partner networks in our transfer partner reference.