Do Avios expire?
Yes — but only after a stretch of inactivity, and any Avios you earn or spend resets the clock. Here's how long you really have, and how to make sure a forgotten balance never lapses.
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.
- British Airways Club Avios lapse after 36 months without activity, never on a calendar date.
- Collecting, spending, buying or sharing a single Avios counts, so a card purchase that earns Avios or a few Avios spent keeps the whole balance alive.
- If your Avios sit with Iberia, Aer Lingus or Qatar, read that program's current terms this week. Each one sets its own window.
Know the date before it bites.
Expiry is only dangerous when it's a surprise. Nanvero reads the expiry dates out of the statements your programs already email you and warns you while there's still time to act — one small earn or spend keeps the whole balance alive. No loyalty password, no logging in as you.
Expiring soon watched for you
On this page
Three years at British Airways, less certain elsewhere
Yes, but not on a fixed date. Avios lapse only after a sustained period with no activity on your account — for British Airways Club, 36 months without collecting, spending, buying or sharing a single Avios. The clock is easy to reset: any single earn or spend, however small, keeps your whole balance alive. Different Avios programs (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar and others) each set their own inactivity window, so check your program's current terms.
Pick the month your account last saw activity — a stay, a flight, a card purchase that earned points, or any redemption.
Your Avios Avios lapse around September 2029 — about 36 months away. One qualifying earn or redemption before then resets the whole 36-month clock.
An estimate from the published 36-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 36 months, giving 2029-09.
The longest inactivity window on the list
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 | — |
One small earn or spend inside 36 months
Expiry is only dangerous when it's a surprise. Nanvero reads the expiry dates out of the statements your programs already email you and warns you while there's still time to act — one small earn or spend keeps the whole balance alive. No loyalty password, no logging in as you.
- Expiry dates read from your statements automatically
- Warned before points lapse, not after
- Every airline, hotel and card balance in one view
Avios expiry — common questions
Avios expire after a continuous period of account inactivity, not on a calendar date. For British Airways this is commonly cited as around three years (36 months) with no Avios earned or spent. There is no expiry as long as you stay active, and any activity resets the full period.
Earn or spend any Avios before the inactivity window closes — it resets the clock on your entire balance. Small activity counts: a card purchase that earns Avios, buying a coffee through a dining program, a small transfer in, or spending a few Avios all work. The simplest safeguard is to know your expiry date in advance, which is exactly what Nanvero watches for you.
Each Avios program sets its own rules. Iberia Avios have historically expired sooner than British Airways Avios without activity, and Qatar and Aer Lingus run their own inactivity windows. Because the same Avios currency behaves differently across programs, always check the current terms of the program your Avios sit in.
Usually not once they have lapsed — expired Avios are generally forfeited. Some programs occasionally offer paid reinstatement, but you should not rely on it. Prevention is far easier than recovery: keep the account active, and get an early warning before the deadline.
Nanvero reads the expiry dates from the balance statements your programs email you and surfaces them before your points lapse — so a forgotten balance never quietly disappears. It tracks Avios alongside every other airline, hotel and card balance automatically, with no loyalty 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 36 months without collecting, spending, buying or sharing an Avios (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.
Nectar to Avios converter
Nectar and Avios convert in fixed blocks: 400 Nectar points become 250 Avios, and 250 Avios become 300 Nectar. The rate is not symmetrical, so converting back and forth loses value each time. The converter runs both directions in those set blocks and shows what any balance becomes.
What are Avios worth?
One Avios is typically worth about 1p, the working figure both the UK and US reference valuations settle near, so 10,000 Avios come to roughly £100. Weak via-hub economy redemptions land nearer 0.9p, while long-haul business can reach about 1.7p. The calculator converts any balance into pounds, dollars and euros.
What can my points do?
Add your Amex Membership Rewards to your Avios, since they transfer to British Airways at 1:1, and compare the total with off-peak reward prices. A New York–London economy return is 55,000 Avios and business 176,000. The tool sorts trips into within reach now, one transfer away and not yet in reach.
Don't let a balance slip away.
Nanvero watches your Avios expiry dates — and every other balance — and warns you in time to keep them. Free to track up to five programs.
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