Do AAdvantage miles expire?
Yes — after 24 months of inactivity, and any flight, purchase or redemption resets the clock. Here's exactly how the rule works, and how to make sure a balance never lapses.
Yes. American AAdvantage miles expire after 24 months with no earning or redemption activity, and any qualifying activity resets the clock on the full balance. AAdvantage credit-card holders and members under 21 are exempt, so their miles stay alive however long the account sits idle.
- AAdvantage miles expire after 24 months with no earning or redemption. AAdvantage credit-card holders and members under 21 are exempt.
- Earning from a flight, a dining or shopping partner or a card purchase resets the clock on the full balance, and so does redeeming a few miles.
- Find the date your last AAdvantage activity posted. Without the co-branded card, your miles lapse 24 months after it.
Know the date before it bites.
Expiry only hurts when it surprises you. Nanvero reads the expiry details out of the statements American already emails you and warns you while there's still time — one small flight, purchase or redemption resets the whole 24-month clock. No password, no logging in as you.
Expiring soon watched for you
On this page
Twenty-four months, unless you hold the card
Yes — American Airlines AAdvantage miles expire after 24 months with no qualifying activity, but not on any fixed calendar date, and not for everyone: AAdvantage credit-card holders and members under 21 are exempt from expiry altogether. The clock resets every time you earn or redeem miles, so a single flight, a partner purchase, an AAdvantage credit-card transaction or even a small redemption keeps your entire balance alive for another 24 months. Because almost any activity counts, expiring AAdvantage miles is easy to avoid once you know your deadline.
Pick the month your account last saw activity — a stay, a flight, a card purchase that earned points, or any redemption.
Your American AAdvantage miles lapse around September 2028 — about 24 months away. One qualifying earn or redemption before then resets the whole 24-month clock.
An estimate from the published 24-month rule and the month you gave, not a reading of your account. Confirm the date with the program before relying on it. Calculated as September 2026 plus 24 months, giving 2028-09.
American's 24 months beside every other program
The windows are not the same across programs, and several of the biggest have no window at all. Where a rule below differs from the one you remember, it is because the program changed it: Hilton doubled its window, and Alaska, Southwest and United each dropped theirs outright.
| Program | Expires after | Exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| Avios | 36 months of inactivity | — |
| Amex Membership Rewards | Never | points are forfeited if you close your last Membership Rewards-earning Card, or for an unpaid billing period |
| American AAdvantage | 24 months of inactivity | AAdvantage credit-card holders and members under 21 |
| Delta SkyMiles | Never | — |
| United MileagePlus | Never | — |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | Never | points are only lost if you close your Rapid Rewards account |
| Alaska Atmos Rewards | Never | — |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 24 months of inactivity | — |
| Hilton Honors | 24 months of inactivity | — |
| World of Hyatt | 24 months of inactivity | — |
| IHG One Rewards | 12 months of inactivity | IHG Elite members, and IHG One Rewards Premier cardholders (who hold Platinum Elite) |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | Never | points are forfeited if you close the Chase card they sit in |
| Nectar | 12 months of inactivity | — |
Keeping miles alive without flying American
Expiry only hurts when it surprises you. Nanvero reads the expiry details out of the statements American already emails you and warns you while there's still time — one small flight, purchase or redemption resets the whole 24-month clock. No password, no logging in as you.
- Expiry read from your statements automatically
- Warned before miles lapse, not after
- Every airline, hotel and card balance in one view
AAdvantage miles expiry — common questions
24 months after your last qualifying activity — not on a set date. American counts earning or redeeming miles as activity, so any earning or spending inside a 24-month window rolls your whole balance forward. Go 24 months with no activity and the miles are forfeited.
Have any qualifying activity before the 24-month window closes. Earning miles from a flight, a dining or shopping partner, an AAdvantage credit-card purchase, or redeeming even a few miles all reset the clock on your full balance. The easiest safeguard is knowing your expiry date ahead of time.
Yes — spending on a co-branded AAdvantage credit card earns miles, and that earning counts as activity, so an active card keeps your miles alive on its own. Without one, any flight, partner earning or small redemption does the same job.
American sometimes lets you reinstate expired miles for a fee, but it is not guaranteed and the cost can be steep. It is far cheaper to keep some activity in each 24-month window and get an early warning before the deadline than to buy miles back.
Nanvero reads the expiry and balance details from the statements American emails you and surfaces them before your miles lapse — so a forgotten balance never quietly disappears. It tracks AAdvantage alongside every other airline, hotel and card balance automatically, with no password. It's free to track up to five programs.
Every window on this page is read from the program’s own published terms, or from a source that quotes them, and recorded in one file with the date it was checked — so a figure here and a figure anywhere else on Nanvero are the same figure. Where a program has changed its rule the old value is not quietly overwritten, as with Hilton’s move from twelve months to twenty-four. The whole expiry cluster works from the same table.
Where these numbers come from: AwardWallet 24 months with no earning or redemption; cardholders and under-21s exempt (September 2026). Programs change these rules, so we re-check them and date what we find. Confirm against your own account before relying on a deadline.
What are AAdvantage miles worth?
An American AAdvantage mile is typically worth about 1.5 cents — between the two US reference valuations, which disagree here — so 25,000 miles come to roughly $375. Cheap domestic economy lands nearer 1.2 cents and international business around 1.8 cents. The calculator converts any balance into dollars, pounds and euros.
Do Avios expire?
Yes. Avios lapse after 36 months with no activity on your British Airways Club account, not on a fixed calendar date. Any single earn or spend, however small, resets the clock on your entire balance. Other Avios programs, including Iberia, Aer Lingus and Qatar, set their own inactivity windows.
Do Marriott points expire?
Yes. Marriott Bonvoy points expire after 24 consecutive months of account inactivity. Any qualifying activity — a stay, a card purchase that earns points, or a points transfer — resets the 24-month clock on the whole balance. There is no fixed expiry date, so an active account never loses points to time.
Don't let a balance slip away.
Nanvero watches your AAdvantage expiry date — and every other balance — and warns you in time to keep them. Free to track up to five programs.
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