Do Reward Points Expire?

Reward points don’t truly mean anything until they are redeemed! The last thing that you would want after spending so much time (and money) through your credit cards is to accidentally have your points expire without you ever using them. Luckily, major banks have a great point system in place for most of their rewards cards with multiple redemption options and no expiration date on the points earned. Our partner, CardRatings.com, has some great offers you might want to look at. 

Always Know Your Own Policy

There is no one policy or standard amongst all credit card reward programs that determine when reward points are no longer viable. The best way for you to keep track of your reward points is simply that—log into your personal portal and read about your specific policies on expiration. However, with that being said, let’s take a closer look at some rewards policies.

Airline Rewards

Airline frequent flyer miles can certainly expire if you don’t use them or have any activity. However, most airline reward programs renew your expiration countdown every time you have some sort of activity; this means that as long as you book any flight with your points in a given period of time, your countdown until your points expire is extended.

The key is to constantly be planning trips or flights in the future. If you are part of a reward program that focuses a lot on flying and traveling but you don’t use your points and fly enough, it probably isn’t even worth it for you to be in that program!

Programs With Never Expiring Points

Some companies, such as Capital One, have a system in which points do not expire for the life of the account, which is great for their customers. Additionally, there are some credit card reward systems that don’t have expiration dates for your points either, as long as you have a strong standing as a cardholder. Regardless, it would be a good habit to double-check your points policies, even if you are a part of any of these programs.

Ways to Spend Points if They Expire Soon

If your points seem to be expiring soon and there is no practical way to renew your expiration date, there are a lot of straightforward ways you can redeem or spend them. Here are just some of the options:

Gift Cards - You can simply use your points to purchase gift cards through your personal rewards portal. These gift cards will likely have a new expiration date that is much further in the future, so you will have more time and freedom to spend your money at a later date.

Physical Cash Back - Physical cash back is always a safe option. Although you might not get as much “value” out of getting straightforward cash back, there is no expiration date on money that is in your debit account, and having cash back is always better than waiting for points to expire without ever using them. Additionally, you can simply have your cash back go towards your next credit card statement.

Donations - If you don’t have a huge particular need for your reward points, and they are expiring soon, you can always consider donating your points! You can likely do this through your respective rewards portal, and this would be a great way for you to spend your points in a meaningful way without having them go to waste and expire.Ultimately, when it comes to expirations, just keep an eye on your points and policies, and you will never get into the situation of losing your hard-earned rewards.

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