Do Loyalty Points Really Expire? A Program by Program Breakdown for 2026

Last updated: May 5, 2026. Loyalty programs change rules frequently. Verify with the program before relying on this for a redemption.

Short answer: it depends on the program. Some never expire. Some expire after 12 months of inactivity. Some expire on a fixed date no matter what you do. And in one recent case, the entire airline shut down and took the loyalty currency with it.

The longer answer is worth knowing because expiration rules change constantly. Three of the big four US carriers eliminated expiration in the last few years. American Airlines moved from 18 months to 24 months. Hotel programs have shifted in different directions. Bilt overhauled its entire card lineup in February 2026. Spirit Airlines ceased operations on May 2, 2026, leaving Free Spirit balances in bankruptcy court. If you’re working off rules you learned five years ago, some of them are wrong now.

This is the current state of expiration policies for the major US-relevant programs as of May 2026, pulled from each program’s own terms and conditions wherever possible. We’ll cover hotels, US airlines, international airlines that show up in transfer partner lists, and credit card flexible currencies.

Quick reference

The detail on each follows.

Hotels

Marriott Bonvoy: 24 months of inactivity

Per Marriott’s terms, an account inactive for 24 consecutive months forfeits all accumulated points. Per the official program rules, “once Points are forfeited, the Points cannot be reinstated.” Marriott reserves the right to deactivate the account entirely after 5 consecutive years of inactivity.

What counts as activity: completing a paid or award stay (the actual stay, not just a booking), earning points through co-branded card spend, transferring points in from Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards, transferring points to an airline partner, or buying points (as little as 1,000 points for $12.50 resets the clock).

What does not count: gifting or transferring points to another Bonvoy member (does not count for the receiver), booking an award stay you don’t actually complete.

Lifetime Elite members are not currently subject to the 24-month rule, though Marriott reserves the right to change that.

Hilton Honors: 24 months of inactivity

Hilton’s policy mirrors Marriott in length, but differs in one important way: Hilton does offer an official points reinstatement program. Expired points can be reinstated within 18 months of expiration at $0.0025 per point ($2.50 per 1,000 points) up to 100,000 points, or a flat $250 fee for 100,001 to 1 million points. Reinstatement is once per account.

What counts as activity: any earn or redeem transaction. Stays, credit card earnings, partner activity, buying points, registering for a Hilton promotion, or using the Hilton Honors shopping portal all qualify.

World of Hyatt: 24 months of inactivity

Same 24-month window. Per Hyatt’s terms, “if a Member’s account is inactive for twenty-four (24) consecutive months, all points in that Member’s account will be forfeited at that time, but the Member’s account will remain open.” Forfeited points cannot be reinstated.

What counts: a paid or award stay, earning through dining or spa charges at Hyatt properties, gifting or combining points with another member’s account (this one is unusual, most programs don’t count gifting), converting Hyatt points to airline miles, transferring points in from Chase Ultimate Rewards or Bilt, or buying points.

Holding an active World of Hyatt credit card is treated as keeping the account active.

IHG One Rewards: 12 months of inactivity

The strictest of the major hotel programs. 12 months without qualifying earn or redeem activity and points are forfeited. Elite members are exempt as long as they maintain status (which the IHG One Rewards Premier card grants automatically).

The annual free night certificate from IHG credit cards does not count as a qualifying activity. This trips people up.

Wyndham Rewards: 18 months of inactivity, plus a 4-year hard expiration

Wyndham has two clocks running simultaneously. Points expire after 18 months of inactivity, and separately, points expire 4 years after the date they post regardless of any other account activity. So even an active account can lose old points.

The most useful workaround for the 4-year rule: Wyndham allows transfers to Caesars Rewards on a 1:1 basis (up to 30,000 points per year). You can leave them at Caesars or transfer them back, which restarts the 4-year clock for the transferred batch. This is a known FrequentMiler-flagged trick that genuinely works.

Wyndham was also added as a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner in February 2026, opening up new options for keeping the 18-month clock alive.

Choice Privileges: 18 months of inactivity (with major 2026 elite exemption)

The standard 18-month inactivity rule still applies for non-elite members. Big change for 2026, effective January 1: Choice Privileges elite members (Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and the new Titanium tier) are now exempt from inactivity-based expiration entirely. The program also lowered tier qualification requirements (Gold from 10 nights to 5, Platinum from 20 to 15, Diamond from 40 to 35) and added Milestone Rewards.

Note: Citi devalued its Citi ThankYou to Choice transfer ratio effective April 19, 2026. Worth verifying current rates before planning a transfer-in to refresh.

Best Western Rewards: no expiration

As long as your account is open and in good standing, points don’t expire.

US airlines

The big news of the last several years is that most major US carriers killed expiration entirely. The exception, painful as it is to say: one of them ceased operations entirely.

Delta SkyMiles: never expire

Delta eliminated expiration in 2011. Miles stay in your account as long as the account exists.

United MileagePlus: never expire

United killed expiration years ago. Miles never lapse from inactivity.

Southwest Rapid Rewards: never expire

Southwest dropped expiration in October 2019. Points stay forever.

JetBlue TrueBlue: never expire

Eliminated in May 2019.

Alaska Atmos Rewards (formerly Mileage Plan, now combined with HawaiianMiles): never expire

Alaska eliminated expiration in April 2023, then merged with Hawaiian’s program. Atmos Rewards points have no expiration, though Alaska may lock accounts inactive for over 2 years for security reasons (recoverable by phone).

American Airlines AAdvantage: 24 months of inactivity

The exception among major US carriers. Per AA’s terms effective March 1, 2026, miles expire after 24 consecutive months without qualifying activity. American moved from an 18-month window to 24 months, which is more generous than it used to be but still requires attention.

What counts: earning miles on AA or partner airlines, redeeming any award, buying or gifting miles, earning through partner hotels, car rentals, credit cards, dining, or shopping portals.

Exceptions: members under 21 are not subject to expiration. Primary cardholders of AA-cobranded credit cards keep their miles indefinitely as long as the card stays open. After closing a cobranded card, you have 4 months from closure or 24 months from your last activity, whichever is later.

If your miles do expire, AA allows reinstatement of up to 500,000 miles within 24 months of expiration for a fee ranging from about $60 to $2,000 depending on the amount, per AA’s official terms. Reinstated miles do not count toward Loyalty Points or status.

Frontier Miles: 12 months of inactivity (earning only)

A 12-month window is strict, but the bigger gotcha: per Frontier’s official T&C, only earning miles extends the expiration. Redeeming miles does not reset the clock. So you can spend down your balance and still lose what’s left if you haven’t earned anything new in the past 12 months.

Frontier Airlines World Mastercard cardholders are exempt as of November 2024, with miles staying alive as long as the card is open.

Spirit Free Spirit: airline ceased operations May 2, 2026

Spirit Airlines completed its wind-down on May 2, 2026, after a failed bailout negotiation. All flights were canceled. Customer service is no longer available. Refunds for credit card purchases are being processed automatically by Spirit, but the status of vouchers, credits, and Free Spirit points is being determined through Spirit’s bankruptcy proceedings, with no guarantee that points will be honored or refunded.

The Free Spirit credit card portfolio (issued by Bank of America) is a separate matter from the airline’s operations and continues to exist, but applications are no longer being accepted.

If you held a meaningful Free Spirit balance, the practical answer is: it’s likely lost. Companies that go out of business typically stop honoring rewards entirely once liquidation begins. Watch the bankruptcy proceedings for any guidance on whether points-backed balances will be addressed.

International airlines

These show up in transfer partner lists, so US-based hobbyists end up holding balances.

Air Canada Aeroplan: 18 months of inactivity (currently paused through November 29, 2026)

Aeroplan’s normal policy is 18 months. Aeroplan has paused expiration through November 29, 2026, meaning miles that would have expired won’t until at least that date. Effective November 30, 2026, the 18-month rule resumes. Critically, only qualifying earn or redemption activity resets the clock. Logging in does not.

Note: Aeroplan also moved to revenue-based earning effective January 1, 2026, replacing distance-based mile accrual.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue: 24 months from earning or activity

Flying Blue updated its rules effective May 4, 2026 (now live): any earning activity now resets the expiration date on the entire balance. Under the old rules, only certain activity types reset the clock, and even then only on subsets of your miles. The new rule is simpler: one balance, one expiration date, any earning resets it.

Members who are entirely exempt from expiration: Flying Blue Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Ultimate elite members; Flying Blue Extra subscribers; co-branded credit card holders; and members who are minors. Members based in Germany retain the previous 3 year validity.

British Airways Avios: 36 months of inactivity

A common point of confusion. Avios technically expire if there’s no activity for 36 months, but any earning or redemption resets the clock. With most US transfer partners moving Avios in regularly (Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, Bilt all transfer), this is rarely a real concern.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: never expire

ANA Mileage Club: 36 months from earning, hard expiration

Cannot be extended through activity. Whatever you earn, you have 36 months from that date to use.

Emirates Skywards: 3 years from earning, ending on your birthday month

Earned in 2026, your birthday is in July, miles expire July 31, 2029. Activity does not reset. You can pay a fee to extend by 12 months in the 6 months before expiration. Skywards Platinum members are exempt as long as they maintain status.

Avianca LifeMiles: 12 months of inactivity

One of the more aggressive policies. Easy to extend through partner earning or by transferring in 1,000 points from any partner currency.

Turkish Miles & Smiles: 36 months from earning, hard expiration

Pay $20 per 1,000 miles to extend for another 3 years.

Etihad Guest: 18 months of inactivity (flying only)

A nasty trap. Etihad Guest miles expire after 18 months, and only flying on Etihad or a partner airline resets the clock. Other earning activity (credit card spend, transfers, partner shopping) does not extend expiration.

Credit card flexible currencies

This is where confusion is highest, because the rules depend on whether your card is open.

Chase Ultimate Rewards: do not expire while you have an open Chase card

Points stay alive indefinitely as long as you hold at least one card that earns Ultimate Rewards. If you close all your Chase cards, you typically lose your points immediately.

The workaround: before closing a Chase card with points, transfer points to a partner program (Hyatt, United, Air France, Wyndham as of February 2026, etc.) or move them to another open Chase card in your name. Chase allows points to be moved between cards within your own household.

American Express Membership Rewards: do not expire while you have an open MR-earning card

Same model as Chase. If you cancel your last Membership Rewards earning card, points are forfeited immediately. There’s no grace period for personal cards (Corporate cards get 30 days, NY cardmembers get 90).

Amex automatically pools all Membership Rewards points across your cards into a single account, so as long as you keep one MR-earning card, you’re fine.

Citi ThankYou Points: do not expire while open, with caveats

ThankYou Points generally don’t expire while your card is open. If Citi closes your account for inactivity or other reasons, you typically have 60 to 90 days to redeem before losing points.

A few older Citi card products (Citi Platinum with ThankYou Rewards, Citi Simplicity Rewards, Diamond Preferred Rewards) do allow points to expire after 18 months of account inactivity. Most modern Citi cards do not.

Note: Citi is ending the ability to share ThankYou Points between cardholders effective May 17, 2026. Shared points expire 90 days after they’re shared. Make any final transfers before May 16 if you rely on that feature.

Capital One Venture/Spark Miles: do not expire while open

Same model. Cancel the card, lose the miles.

Bilt Rewards: 18 months of inactivity

Per Bilt’s official terms, points expire after 18 months of inactivity. The Bilt 2.0 card lineup launched February 7, 2026 (Bilt Blue, Obsidian, and Palladium), replacing the original Wells Fargo Bilt Mastercard.

Separate from expiration: with the Bilt Mastercard, you must make at least 5 transactions in a statement period to actually earn points for that period. This is an earning rule, not an expiration rule. Existing points don’t disappear if you miss the 5-transaction threshold for a single month, but you also don’t earn new points. If you have a Bilt card and use it normally, neither rule should be an issue.

What this means in practice

A few takeaways from the full table:

The expiration risk has shifted from airlines to hotels, with one airline-specific exception. A decade ago, US airline miles expiring was the most common loss. Now it’s hotel points, plus American (24 months), Frontier (12 months earning-only), and most international carriers. With Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, and Alaska all eliminating expiration, the risk concentration in your portfolio likely sits in Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and any international partner balances.

Spirit’s collapse is a reminder that loyalty currencies have counterparty risk. Frequent flyer programs are unsecured liabilities of the airline. When the airline fails, the points are subject to bankruptcy proceedings, and historically hobbyists recover little to nothing in those situations.

The “transferable points sit safely in your bank” assumption is mostly true, but only while the card is open. People who close their last Sapphire Preferred without moving their Ultimate Rewards points first lose the entire balance. Same with Amex MR, Citi TY, and Capital One. This is a non-trivial number of people every year.

The most dangerous balances are mid-sized international airline miles in your transfer partner list. Aeroplan (resuming November 2026), LifeMiles (12 months), Flying Blue (24 months). Programs you transferred into for one specific redemption that didn’t happen, then forgot about. 12 to 24 months later, gone.

Credit cards are a safety valve. Holding an active cobranded card with the program (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, World of Hyatt, AAdvantage, IHG Premier, Frontier World Mastercard) often exempts the account from expiration entirely. For people sitting on large balances with no near-term redemption, the annual fee on a low-tier cobranded card is sometimes worth it just for the expiration insurance.

Hard expiration policies require active redemption planning. ANA, Turkish, Emirates, and Wyndham (the 4-year rule) cannot be extended through activity for some or all of your balance. If you have meaningful balances in any of these, build a use-it-or-lose-it plan.

What to actually do

Three things, ranked by ROI:

1. List every loyalty account where you have a meaningful balance. Be honest about which ones you forgot existed.
2. Look up the last activity date on each one. Your loyalty account dashboard usually shows this.
3. Set a calendar reminder for 3 months before each expiration date.

Or, if listing 12 programs and setting 12 calendar reminders sounds like a chore, use a tracker. PointsPulse does this automatically for the 10 biggest US programs and emails you 60, 30, 14, 7, and 1 day before expiration. AwardWallet does it for a broader list at $49.99/year.

The cost of losing 100,000 Marriott points (worth roughly $700 to $800) is enormous compared to the cost of preventing it, which is usually about 30 seconds of your time once a year. The math is heavily in favor of paying attention.