Airline miles expiration and transfer partners

When you decide to transfer your hard earned credit card points to one of the airline mileage programs, it’s important to know their expiration policies. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had their miles stranded with various airline mileage programs due to overall disruption in travel and even though some programs extended or paused miles expiration, it was still unfortunate to have your miles and points locked with a program that has a harsh miles expiration policy.

We decided to put this article together to have a quick and up to date reference to domestic and international airline mileage programs and their miles expiration policies.

Domestic Airlines

AirlineAllianceProgramTransfer PartnerExpiration Terms
Alaska AirlinesOneworldMileage Plan🟡 24 months. Extendable.
American AirlinesOneworldAAdvantage🟡 18 months. Extendable.
Delta AirlinesSkyTeamSkyMilesMR🟢 Do not expire.
Hawaiian AirlinesHawaiianMilesMR🟢 Do not expire.
JetBlueTrueBlueMR, UR, TYP🟢 Do not expire.
Southwest AirlinesRapid RewardsUR🟢 Do not expire.
United AirlinesStar AllianceMileagePlusUR🟢 Do not expire.

International Airlines

AirlineAllianceProgramTransfer PartnerExpiration Terms
Aer LingusOneworldAerClubMR, UR🟡 36 months. Extendable.
AeromexicoSkyTeamClub PremierMR, TYP, C1🟡 24 months. Extendable.
Air CanadaStar AllianceAeroplanMR, UR, C1🟡 18 months. Extendable.
Air France / KLMSkyTeamFlying BlueMR, UR, TYP, C1🟡 24 months. Extendable.
ANAStar AllianceMileage ClubMR🔴 36 months.
No way to extend.
AviancaStar AllianceLifemilesMR, TYP, C1🟡 12 months. Extendable.
British AirwaysOneworldExecutive ClubMR, UR, C1🟡 36 months. Extendable.
Cathay PacificOneworldAsia MilesMR, TYP, C1🔴 36 months.
No way to extend.
EmiratesSkywardsMR, TYP, C1🔴 36 months.
No way to extend.
Etihad AirwaysEtihad GuestMR, TYP, C1🟡 18 months. Extendable.
Eva AirStar AllianceMileageLandsTYP, C1🟡 36 months. Extendable.
FinnairOneworldFinnair PlusC1🟡 18 months. Extendable.
IberiaOneworldIberia PlusMR, UR🟡 36 months. Extendable.
Malaysia AirlinesOneworldEnrichTYP🔴 36 months.
No way to extend.
Qantas AirwaysOneworldFrequent FlyerTYP, C1🟡 18 months. Extendable.
Qatar AirwaysOneworldPrivilege Club /
Qmiles
TYP🟡 36 months. Extendable.
Singapore AirlinesStar AllianceKrisFlyerMR, UR, TYP, C1🔴 36 months.
No way to extend.
TAP Air PortugalStar AllianceTAP Miles&GoC1🔴 36 months.
No way to extend.
Thai AirwaysStar AllianceRoyal Orchid PlusTYP🟡 36 months. Extendable.
Turkish AirlinesStar AllianceMiles & SmilesTYP, C1🟡 36 months.
No way to extend.
Virgin AtlanticFlying ClubMR, UR, TYP, C1🟢 Do not expire.

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