Expiring Miles

Catch Those Miles Before they Disappear Forever

Since this article was written, the entire mileage-expiration situation has changed dramatically... for the better. Think of this article as a relic of the "bad old days," when expiring miles loomed large in frequent flyers' minds.

November 8, 1998 - Expiring miles are the bane of frequent flyer program members. Unfortunately, they are increasingly the rule rather than the exception.

Specifically, the rule governing expiration of many frequent flyer miles is this:

Miles expire at the end of the third full year after they were earned.

Expiration, in case you there's any doubt in your mind, means the miles disappear from your account--gone, vamoosed, finito. What's also gone is your opportunity to redeem those miles for free travel or other program awards. So whatever potential value those miles possessed is lost forever.

How many of your miles expire?

Whether your miles expire or not, and when, depends on which programs you participate in. There are three general policy categories, which affect almost all programs.

3-Year Expiration
As indicated above, this has become the dominant expiration policy, imposed by three of the four largest U.S. airlines. (While this article focuses on U.S. programs, it should be mentioned that most non-U.S. programs have adopted the three-year rule as well.)

• American AAdvantage
• Northwest WorldPerks
• United Mileage Plus

No Expiration
Some airlines have resisted the trend toward three-year expiration, offering instead what I like to call "eternal miles." Note, however, that while the miles themselves may in principle be eternal, your account may not be. Some programs will, for example, close your account if there's no activity for a given period. And if your account is closed, your miles are ipso facto expired. Other programs will close inactive accounts but send the member a certificate for any remaining miles (Continental, for example).

• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
• America West FlightFund
• Continental OnePass
• Hawaiian Airlines Gold Plus
• US Airways Dividend Miles

No Expiration for Active Members
Lastly, there are the hybrids--those programs which allow miles to accumulate indefinitely provided that the member maintains some specified level of activity. Delta is the largest airline to have implemented this compromise solution. Their policy: your miles will not expire, so long as you take at least one Delta flight within a three year period.

• Delta SkyMiles
• Midwest Express Frequent Flyer
• TWA Aviators

Save the miles

Assuming you have some expiring miles in your portfolio (which is likely, since American and United operate the largest programs), you have a number of options.

Use Them
If you have enough miles in your account for an award (25,000 miles in most programs), the simplest and sometimes the best course is to cash the miles in for either a certificate, or for an award ticket.

The certificate or award ticket will be valid for 12 months, so you have in effect extended the validity of your miles for one year. In the worst case, an award ticket may have to be reissued to better reflect actual travel dates, requiring the member to pay a processing fee.

Give Them Away
You can't actually give away the miles, but in most programs you can redeem the miles for an award ticket issued in the name of a family member or a friend.

Donate The Miles to Charity
Consider donating miles to charity.

All the major programs have charitable giving provisions where your miles can be consolidated with others' and used to assist worthy charitable organizations with their travel needs. In many cases, the airline will match a portion of your contribution, adding additional value to the donation.

There's a summary of available charitable programs here.

Convert the Miles
There is at least one way to protect expiring miles by converting them into eternal miles in another program.

The Hilton HHonors program offers its members Reward Exchange, which allows you to convert miles of selected airlines (including United) into HHonors points, which do not expire. Using United as an example, you could transfer 20,000 United miles into 40,000 HHonors points. You could then either use those points to request an award from the HHonors program, or convert the points back to miles. There is a price to be paid for this convenience: converting your 40,000 points back to airline currency will only yield 7,000 miles, so your original 20,000 miles have lost 65% of their value. Still, it's an option to consider.

Plead Your Case
It never hurts to ask.

Airlines do have some flexibility when it comes to extending the expiration dates of miles. If you find yourself short on other options, ask to speak to a supervisor and plead your case. It helps if you can show that you've been a good customer, and that you'll continue to patronize the airline in future. If your company is a corporate customer of the airline, push that button. And if you use a travel agency, see if your agent can add any leverage to your request.