Points and Miles Expiration Rules by Program: The 2026 Guide

Losing a points balance to expiration is one of the few genuinely avoidable losses in this hobby -- and one of the most common, because expiration rules vary wildly by program and change without much notice. Bank points and airline/hotel points play by almost entirely different rulebooks. Here is how to think about each, and how to make sure a small transaction protects a balance that took years to build. Always confirm the exact current terms on your program's own site before relying on anything below -- issuers update these policies more often than they publicize.

Transferable Bank Points: Generally Safe While the Account Is Open

The major transferable currencies -- Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Capital One miles -- have all moved to a model where your balance does not expire on its own timeline. As of recent policy terms, the points effectively live as long as you keep at least one points-earning account open with that issuer. Close every card in the family and the balance is typically forfeited immediately, so the real risk with bank points is not a calendar date, it is account closure.

With Chase specifically, Ultimate Rewards points stay in your account indefinitely as long as you hold at least one UR-earning card, even a no-fee Freedom card. That is one more reason the downgrade-instead-of-cancel approach matters: canceling your last UR card does not just cost you credit history, it can wipe out a points balance in the same transaction.

Amex Membership Rewards works the same way -- points persist as long as one MR-earning card remains open on your account. Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou Points follow a similar "tied to an open account" structure rather than a rolling expiration clock. None of this is a guarantee for the future -- issuers can and do revise loyalty terms -- so treat "does not expire" as the current default rather than a permanent promise.

Airline and Hotel Programs Play by Different Rules

Loyalty currencies you earn directly with an airline or hotel -- rather than transferable bank points -- have historically been far more likely to expire from simple inactivity, typically somewhere in the 12-24 month range with no qualifying activity on the account. Several major US airline programs have moved away from inactivity expiration in recent years, but policies differ by carrier and can change, so this is exactly the kind of claim you want to verify directly on the program's current terms page rather than take on faith from any single source -- including this one.

Programs that have historically enforced inactivity-based expiration more strictly include several international airline frequent flyer programs and some hotel programs, often in the 12-36 month window depending on the program and your elite status level. The general pattern worth remembering: the closer a currency is to a single airline or hotel brand, the more likely it is to still enforce some form of inactivity expiration. The closer it is to a flexible bank currency, the less likely.

How a Small Transaction Resets the Clock

For any program that still enforces inactivity-based expiration, the mechanism is almost always the same: any qualifying activity resets the inactivity timer back to zero, and the bar for "qualifying activity" is usually very low. This typically includes:

• Earning or redeeming even a small number of points or miles
• A single purchase through the program's online shopping portal
• A charge on a co-branded credit card tied to that program
• Booking a flight, hotel stay, or car rental with a partner

In practice, this means a program that expires after 24 months of inactivity almost never actually expires for someone paying attention -- one small qualifying transaction every year or two keeps the balance alive indefinitely.

A Practical Audit Checklist

• List every program you hold a balance in, including small balances you have forgotten about from old cards or old trips.
• Note your last activity date for each one -- most programs show this in your account dashboard.
• Look up each program's current stated policy rather than relying on memory or an old blog post (including this one).
• Deprioritize transferable bank points in this audit -- they are the lowest risk as long as you keep an earning card open.
• Prioritize small, single-brand balances sitting idle from a trip or hotel stay years ago -- these are the ones most likely to actually be at risk.
• Set a recurring reminder tied to whichever program has the shortest inactivity window in your collection.

Why This Matters More Than It Feels Like It Should

A forgotten balance of 60,000-80,000 miles from a single old trip can represent $600-1,200+ in travel value depending on how you would have redeemed it. That is real money lost to a missed login, not a bad redemption or a bad card choice -- which makes it the single most preventable form of points loss in the entire hobby.

The Bottom Line

Treat transferable bank points as low-risk as long as you keep one earning account open, and treat single-brand airline and hotel balances as the ones that need an annual check-in. When in doubt, make one small qualifying transaction and confirm the current policy directly with the program -- the rules genuinely do change, and the cost of checking is a few minutes against a balance that could be worth thousands.