TFCanswers. When do points/miles expire? How to avoid losing them

The serial accumulator of points and miles has two nightmares. The first, except in rare cases, is unpredictable and is called devaluation. The second, on the other hand, is a fixed date and is the natural expiration of accumulated points.

Italian frequent flyers enrolled in Alitalia's old Millemiglia program knew full well that sooner or later the points would expire, unless extended. The same is true for the vast majority of loyalty programs, which, depending on different rules, each have their own deadline.

But with covid, many programs have suspended/eliminated the expiration of points. With this article we will try to list the rules of all major frequent flyers.

When do the miles expire?

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In Italy, all point collections, rewards programs and the like have a maximum duration of three years, this applies to supermarkets as well as airlines, etc. Of course, regulations written one way, or another, allow you to get around this sword of Damocles.

Differences between the various programs. Those who have the inactivity rule actually allow the user to renew the validity of the points, in contrast those who make the points expire after X months from when they were accumulated do not allow their validity to be extended, so you either use them or lose them.

Be sure to read the article well and understand WELL the difference between "inactivity" and "since accumulated"... in the first case (inactivity) all it takes is any activity on the account that causes the miles to accrue/spend and all the miles in the account are saved... in the second case (since accrued" means that you absolutely have to use them by that date... it's not enough to "move the account"... either use them or they disappear... if you then have a status with the company check the regulations, sometimes there are exceptions to the deadlines

What actions are valid to stop the expiration of miles

There is only one thing to learn well, Flying is not the only activity that stops time and resets the countdown. Indeed, many programs allow the point balance to be maintained without flying for as long as 10 years or more. Making the list of activities that allow to restart the countdown is virtually impossible, the main ones are:

• Fly with that airline or a partner airline by crediting the flight points on the program with expiring points
• Accrediting a partner activity (e.g. car rental, hotel stay, online shopping, partner programs, etc...)
• Buy a handful of points through the loyalty program, just spend about ten and you're done
• Transfer points from one program to another. E.g., using Membership Rewards points
• Spending a handful of points from that specific account. E.g., by donating miles for charity

Here are some examples of how you can stop the countdown and start from scratch without losing your accumulated points.

We hope we have clarified the doubts of some readers, if you need to, you can write to us in the comments and on our social profiles or through a dear old email. See you next week with TFCanswers.

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