Airlines have dramatically changed their policies on the expiration of loyalty program points. Previously, almost every plan required some activity in your account to keep your points active. There’s been a shift, and most programs now have points that never expire.
Airlines’ miles that do not expire:
- Alaska + Hawaiian
- Delta
- JetBlue
- Southwest
- United
Note: HawaiianMiles is now aligned with Alaska’s combined program (including 1:1 transfers), and miles/points are positioned as never expiring as long as the account is open.
Here are the other U.S. airlines’ mileage expiration policies, from the shortest to the longest, and any changes they’ve made to their point expiration rules.
FRONTIER AIRLINES – Frontier Miles
You must have accrual activity at least once every 12 months to keep your Frontier Miles from expiring.
Miles in a Member’s account do not expire so long as the Member generates accrual activity every twelve months; this includes any purchase activity on the FRONTIER Airlines World Mastercard. Unredeemed mileage accumulated in your account will expire at the end of the twelve-month period after a Member’s last accrual activity data. If your miles are about to expire you have the following options:
a. Accrue: Earn miles prior to your miles expiring by making a purchase on Flyfrontier.com, your FRONTIER Airlines World Mastercard or using one of our other earn partners.
b. Use: You can redeem your miles. If you have 10,000 miles or more, you may have flight options with Frontier Airlines. For other redemption options you may be able to redeem with our partner Mags for Miles. c. Donate: You can donate your unused miles to non-profit charitable organizations. The donation is not tax deductible, but you’ll be donating to a great cause and this option is completely no cost to the member. For assistance in donating your miles, please contact us at (801) 401-9000.
SPIRIT AIRLINES – Free Spirit
Spirit has made some customer-friendly changes to the Free Spirit program. Previously, Free Spirit points could expire after just 3 months of inactivity, but now the program uses a more reasonable 12-month activity window. In addition, cardholders of the Spirit co-brand credit card miles never expire as long as their account is open.
ALLEGIANT AIR – Allways Rewards
Allegiant has a program called Allways Rewards, which awards points for buying airline tickets.
Points in the Allways program expire after 24 months of inactivity unless you have an active Allegiant credit card.
Points expire after 24 months of inactivity. Activity is defined by making a booking while being logged in to your Allways account, or booking over the phone with your Allways ID Number and completing travel.
If you are an active Allegiant credit cardholder, your points will not expire as long as your card account is open. However, all accrued points in a member’s account will be forfeited if the member’s Allways account is closed for any reason.
AMERICAN AIRLINES – Aadvantage
To keep your Aadvantage miles active, you need to earn or redeem miles at least once every 24 months.
Unless otherwise stated, if your account has no Qualifying Activity in any 24-month period, all miles in the account will expire (“24-Month Qualifying Activity Requirement”). “Qualifying Activity” is defined as redeeming any AAdvantage® award or accruing mileage credit on any eligible purchases with American Airlines or AAdvantage® airline participant as well as accruing mileage credit with participating hotels, car rental companies, credit cards, and other service providers offering AAdvantage® mileage credit. Qualifying Activity extends the expiration date of all unexpired mileage credit in your account for 24 months from the date of the Qualifying Activity.
Note: The 24-month expiration rule doesn’t apply to AAdvantage members under 21. Primary AAdvantage® credit cardmembers will not be subject to the 24-month qualifying activity period for as long as their card account is open.
Since American AAdvantage no longer allows mileage tracking programs, like Awardwallet, to monitor your account, it’s up to you to ensure your miles don’t expire.
SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES – Sun Country Rewards
Sun Country has the most lenient expiration policy, except for those airlines whose miles do not expire. You don’t even need to have enough points for a free flight, as you can use points to pay for part of a ticket, baggage fees, or seat assignments.
However, program points expire 36 months after they are earned, regardless of more recent account activity. Therefore, no changes to this policy have been made.
Yes, but only 36 months after the date they were earned. Remember, you don’t need to acquire enough points to pay for an entire trip, you can combine them with dollars to pay or you can use them for bag options or seat selections.
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