MilesBuzz! - Definitive List of US Carriers' Mileage Expiration Policies?

I searched and came up empty, so I apologize if there's an obvious answer to this...

Is there a definitive and/or comprehensive list somewhere of the US carriers' mileage expiration policies?

TIA.

Keywords for future searchers: mile, miles, mileage, point, points, credit, credits, expire, expiration, forfeit, lose.

No FF program for Boston-Maine Airways, Cape Air, or USA 3000; MAXflier, Eos Club 48, and Aloha AirPass are no longer in business.

[Thanks to soitgoes for catching my omissions.]

AirTran A+
http://www.airtran.com/a_terms_conditions.aspx
3. Program Earning Period: For Base members, A+ Rewards credits are valid for 12 months after the date on which they were posted to the member's account. For A+ Visa cardholders and Elite members, A+ Rewards credits are valid for 24 months after the posting date. Twenty-four month expiration period for A+ credits is valid only for A+ credits earned after an A+ Visa account is established or after Elite status is attained. A+ Rewards credits will be posted within three days after a flight is completed.

Alaska Mileage Plan
http://www.alaskaair.com/mileageplan/faqs/OtherMP.asp
3. Do my Mileage Plan miles expire?

Mileage Plan miles are "immortal" and never expire (subject to member's account remaining active for 2 years). If no mileage is credited to an account during the first nine months after it's opened, or if an account is inactive for longer than 2 years, Alaska Airlines may close the account, delete any mileage balance and reassign the Mileage Plan number. Deleted mileage can be reinstated for a $75 fee for up to 1 year. Activity in an account includes redeeming a Mileage Plan award or accruing mileage in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Program.
http://www.alaskaair.com/as/mileageplan/Terms-Conditions.asp#mileage-expiration
7. Account and Mileage Expiration
Mileage Plan Miles do not have an expiration date and may remain in an active account indefinitely, provided that the Mileage Plan Program has not been terminated pursuant to these Conditions of Membership. Activity in an account includes redeeming a Mileage Plan award or accruing mileage in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Program. However, not withstanding any term to the contrary, if a Mileage Plan account is inactive for 2 years, Alaska Airlines may close the account, delete any mileage balance and reassign the Mileage Plan number. Deleted mileage can be reinstated for a $75 fee for up to 1 year. To reinstate a mileage plan account please contact Customer Care at 1-800-654-5669.


American AAdvantage
http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/AAdvantage/programDetails/termsAndConditions/termsAndConditions.jsp#General%20AAdvantage%20Prog ram%20Conditions
AAdvantage members must have mileage earning or redeeming activity once every 18 months in order to retain their miles. Miles will first expire under this 18-month policy on December 15, 2007. If your account has no qualifying activity in any 18-month period, all miles in the account will expire except for those miles earned prior to July 1, 1989 in accounts established prior to January 1, 1989 whose mileage credit will not expire. Each qualifying activity extends the expiration date of all unexpired mileage credit in your account for 18 months from the date of the qualifying activity. Qualifying activity is defined as redeeming any AAdvantage award or accruing mileage credit on any eligible American, American Eagle®, AmericanConnection® or AAdvantage airline participant as well as accruing mileage credit with participating hotels, car rental companies, credit cards, telecommunication providers, and other service providers offering AAdvantage mileage credit.

Continental OnePass
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/onepass/rules/advisory.aspx
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/onepass/rules/rewards.aspx
Mileage Expiration
Miles currently have no expiry date; however, Continental Airlines reserves the right to impose expiry limits or terminate the OnePass program, thus terminating your ability to claim rewards.

Inactive Membership
If no mileage is deposited in your account for 18 consecutive months, your membership may be cancelled, and your miles may be forfeited.

Delta SkyMiles
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/about_skymiles/membership_guide_program/skymiles_rules/index.jsp#expiration
Accounts with no activity for 12 consecutive months after enrollment will be deleted. A new SkyMiles number can be obtained by contacting Delta.

Currently, miles will not expire as long as you participate in one of the following activities at least once every two years; mileage expires midnight Eastern time (-5 GMT), 24 months from the date of the last activity: [earn, redeem, or buy miles]

Frontier EarlyReturns
http://www.frontierairlines.com/frontier/frequent-flyers/how-it-works/membership-guide/accruals.do
Mileage in a Member's account will not expire so long as the Member generates accrual or redemption activity in the account. Unredeemed mileage accumulated in a Member's account will expire at the end of the second calendar year after the last accrual or redemption activity date. For example, mileage earned during the year 2007 is valid until December 31, 2009 unless the member has accrual or redemption activity in the interim. Membership in the Program is terminated if the member is inactive for three consecutive calendar years.

go! Miles
https://www.iflygo.com/FrequentFlyerTerms.aspx
(500 miles per segment; after 5000 miles an award good for 1 interisland segment is issued)

25. Awards will expire one (1) year from date of issue ("Expiration Date"), and in the case of Awards provided by a Participating Vendor, on such earlier date as go!'s contract with such Participating Vendor for the provision of Awards expires.

26. The expiration date of a wholly unused Ticket Award for travel on go!, or another carrier, expires one (1) year from the date of the original ticket issuance, and will not be extended. Expired Ticket Awards have no value and cannot be reissued nor miles be re-deposited into the member's account.

HawaiianMiles
http://www.hawaiianair.com/HawaiianMiles/Pages/Terms_Cond.aspx
Conditions of Membership
5. If a Member fails to earn any miles for eighteen (18) consecutive months, Hawaiian will expire any accrued mileage on the member’s account. Expired miles may be reinstated for a fee.

jetBlue TrueBlue
https://www.jetblue.com/trueblue/FF_TermsAndConditions.aspx
5.1 Except as may otherwise be provided for Holders of the JetBlue Card from American Express as set forth in paragraph 7.4, POINTS EXPIRE ONE YEAR AFTER THEY ARE EARNED AND TRUEBLUE AWARDS EXPIRE ONE YEAR AFTER THEY ARE ISSUED. Award Travel must be booked for travel available at or before the time of Award Travel expiration.[...]

7.4 The expiration date of all TrueBlue Points in TrueBlue Membership Account's for Holders of the JetBlue Card from American Express will be extended to be 1 year from any date you have a TrueBlue point credited to your TrueBlue Membership Account from one of the following activities: (1) Using your JetBlue Card Account for an eligible purchase (as defined in your American Express Cardholder Agreement), or (2) flying a JetBlue flight segment that is paid for with your JetBlue Card Account. Eligibility and timing are based upon the date the TrueBlue point is credited to your TrueBlue Membership Account from one of the above qualifying activities.

Midwest Miles
http://www.midwestairlines.com/MidwestMiles/AboutMiles/MembershipGuide.aspx
Mileage in a member's account will not expire and will be available for award redemption and other benefits as long as the member has qualifying activity in his or her account during any consecutive 36-month period.… Miles posted to a member's account for enrollment in the Program or through an exchange or transfer with a Program Partner will not be considered qualifying activity. All mileage in a member's account will be deemed expired and not valid for award redemption or other benefits if there is no qualifying activity during any consecutive 36-month period. Accounts without qualifying activity in the first 12 months after enrollment may be deleted.

Northwest WorldPerks
http://www.nwa.com/worldperks/memrules/general.shtml
3. WorldPerks miles have no expiration date. However, consistent with the general terms and conditions of the WorldPerks program, Northwest Airlines reserves the right to change the WorldPerks program at any time without notice, including imposition of expiration limits or reactivation fees. If no mileage from any source is posted to a WorldPerks member's account for three consecutive years, the account is subject to termination, including forfeiture of all accrued mileage.

Southwest Rapid Rewards
http://www.southwest.com/rapid_rewards/rules_and_regs.html
2. An Award will be automatically deposited into your account once your 16th credit posts to your account during any consecutive 24-month period.

5. Each credit is valid for 24 months from the date earned. Your Rapid Rewards account will contain only valid credits collected within the immediately preceding 24 consecutive months. If a credit is not applied toward an Award within 24 months of the date earned, it will be deleted from your Rapid Rewards account balance. Southwest Airlines reserves the right to cancel the membership of any Member with no credits in the account and who has earned no credits for at least 12 consecutive months.

12. All Awards are valid for 12 months from the date of issue. Southwest Airlines is not responsible for and will not replace lost, stolen, or destroyed Awards.

Spirit Free Spirit
http://www.spiritair.com/FSTermsAndConditions.aspx
FREE SPIRIT Miles will expire when an account becomes inactive for a period of 6 months or more. An "inactive" account is one that has less than 2,000 miles credited to it from any source during the preceding 6 months. Accounts will become inactive during the month end reporting process, which will be reported to the member on the second business day of each month.

Sun Country Ufly
https://ufly.suncountry.com/terms.cfm
Earning Ufly Rewards Points

9. Points will not expire as long as you the member earn points or redeem points within Ufly Rewards at least once every 3 years.

United Mileage Plus
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,1155,00.html
9. Any member who has failed to earn mileage for a calendar quarter may, at United's option, be excluded from receiving newsletters, statements, correspondence or other materials, including notifications of Program changes or special promotions, until the next quarter in which he or she earns mileage. Any member who fails to earn mileage during the first twelve months after enrollment in the Program may be removed from the Program.
10. Effective December 31, 2007 miles will expire if there is no current activity for 18 months consecutive. Therefore if the expiration date on your Mileage Plus summary is December 31, 2007 or after, your new expiration date will be 18 months after your last activity. [ … ]
11. "Account activity", for purposes of these Rules, shall be deemed to occur when a member accrues mileage in his or her account in any manner set forth in these Rules, or as otherwise approved by United, or when the member redeems any Mileage Plus or partner award by the use of mileage in the member's account.

US Airways Dividend Miles
http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/dividendmiles/programdetails/memberguide.aspx#milexpire
Reactivation policy

Since January 31, 2007, active membership status is based on having earned or redeemed miles within a consecutive 18-month period. Miles are subject to forfeiture if no miles have been earned or redeemed within a consecutive 18-month period.

Virgin America eleVAte
http://virginamerica.com/va/elevateMemberGuide.do
Your membership account will be activated by flying a Virgin America flight where you earn points, or by any other method authorized by Elevate for earning points. If you do not activate your account within 18 months after enrollment, your account may be considered inactive. Once activated, your account may become inactive if you fail to earn or redeem any points during a period of 18 consecutive months.

Great list!

Two small additions

Spirit Airlines[
your FREE SPIRIT miles can expire. If you have less than 2,000 miles posted to your account from any source during the previous 6 month period, miles older than 6 months will be expired. Because the FREE SPIRIT program calculates your status on a monthly basis, any miles that will expire will do so at the start of every month. If you want to keep your miles, get a FREE SPIRIT MasterCard and make just one purchase per month - then your miles will never expire.


AirTran Airways
Credits expire one year from their date of posting in your account.

I love how "mileage does not expire" but if you have no activity within 18, 24 or 3 months your "miles that don't expire" will indeed expire.

I have to be sure to take my USAir business class trip to Europe using miles within the next 18 months, mostly compliments of BofA with their 65,000+ bonus miles :)

WOW! Amazing list. Thank you!

Just thinking about this this morning. Thanks for the list. Mrs. Outoftown, whose UA account last entry was 8/24/03, needs some activity. Just signed her up for mpdining idine and we'll eat at Beef O'Brady's for lunch today.

-Outoftown

choster:
Thanks for assembling the fine list. I will print and file. By the way, how did you acquire the info and how long did you labor?
747LWW

Excellent list, choster!

You might want to add to the AA section that expired miles can be reinstated for a fee of $50 per 5,000-mile increment (the minimum unit) plus $30 per transaction. For example, reactivating 10,000 expired miles would cost 2x$50 + $30 = $130. This offer is currently valid through 2007.

Those familiar with other airlines' programs might want to add any similar offers from them.

Great stuff!

I love how "mileage does not expire" but if you have no activity within 18, 24 or 3 months your "miles that don't expire" will indeed expire.This is better than what it used to be on most carriers -- the miles would expire at a certain date after being earned, regardless of other activity. Southwest is the only major carrier to still do this.

I love how "mileage does not expire" but if you have no activity within 18, 24 or 3 months your "miles that don't expire" will indeed expire.Technically, it's not the miles that expire. The account is closed for inactivity. Of course, the miles that were in it disappear when the account does, but it's not exactly the same thing. Miles can get a lot older than that, in programs that follow this approach, as long as the account remains active overall.

Technically, it's not the miles that expire. The account is closed for inactivity.
That depends on the program. Some programs simply expire the miles and keep the account open; others close the whole account.

By the way, how did you acquire the info and how long did you labor?It was just a cut-and-paste job from the FFP T&Cs, probably took about 15 minutes total as for the most part they were within a couple clicks of the home page. I'll go back through and paste the URLs, but today is not as slow a day at work. :)

A plurality of that time was spent trying to find the trueBlue T&C, which are buried behind microfont links in a section whose navigation is inconsistent with the rest of their website. Next worse was Alaska, which requires you to download a half-megabyte PDF for program details.

That depends on the program. Some programs simply expire the miles and keep the account open; others close the whole account.

My Amtrak "miles" expired after 3 years of inactivity. (I had enough points to go approximately from the front of the train to the rear, for free)

The account, however, remains open. I guess as long as there's still a valid e-mail address associated with it, they will still send you their marketing materials.

My Amtrak "miles" expired after 3 years of inactivity. (I had enough points to go approximately from the front of the train to the rear, for free)

The account, however, remains open. I guess as long as there's still a valid e-mail address associated with it, they will still send you their marketing materials.


don't you have to have a train ride within those 3 years to keep the miles and transfering miles into the account doesn't count?

jetBlue TrueBlue
http://www.jetblue.com/trueblue/FF_TermsAndConditions.aspxPOINTS EXPIRE ONE YEAR AFTER THEY ARE EARNED AND TRUEBLUE AWARDS EXPIRE ONE YEAR AFTER THEY ARE ISSUED. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS. Award Travel must be booked for travel available at or before the time of Award Travel expiration. Correction:

The new JetBlue Amex card can be used to avoid expiration (which is now reflected by a different working in the T&Cs you linked to than what you quoted).

From the website about the card:

https://www201.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=82/14635/b/10

TrueBlue points don't expire. Use your Card or fly JetBlue and we extend the life of your points for a full year

[...]

The expiration date of all TrueBlue Points in your TrueBlue Membership Account will be extended to be 1 year from any date you have a TrueBlue point credited to your TrueBlue Membership Account from one of the following activities: (1) Using your JetBlue Card Account for the eligible purchase or (2) The primary Account holder flying a JetBlue flight segment that is paid for with your JetBlue Card Account. Eligibility and timing are based upon the date the TrueBlue point is credited to your TrueBlue Membership Account from one of the above qualifying activities.(This is apparently a very recent change, as I gather from discussions about it in both the AirTran and Southwest forums.)

Thread outlining expiry for some non-US FFPs (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=593589)

It was just a cut-and-paste job from the FFP T&Cs, probably took about 15 minutes total as for the most part they were within a couple clicks of the home page. I'll go back through and paste the URLs, but today is not as slow a day at work. :)

A plurality of that time was spent trying to find the trueBlue T&C, which are buried behind microfont links in a section whose navigation is inconsistent with the rest of their website. Next worse was Alaska, which requires you to download a half-megabyte PDF for program details.

I think you are being modest but anyway...great service to all FT members.
Thanks again

Thanks, Just checked my accounts and my son's AA account needs some activity. Great List! Thankyou.

Thanks for the list!

I wasn't aware of the changes coming in December to the DL and US programs.

Considering that most airline programs say any milage event will keep the account active, it's amazing that any account (with accumulate milage) would go dormant. For instance, on DL, I kept it in the back of my mind that $30 would buy you 1000 miles... which if needed, was a very inexpensive way to keep an account active. NW has Amenity Packs, AA has Cinemark and Dannon promotions. You could subscribe to a magazine. There's tons of ways to acquire/use as little as 500 miles.

Steve B.

Considering that most airline programs say any milage event will keep the account active, it's amazing that any account (with accumulate milage) would go dormant. For instance, on DL, I kept it in the back of my mind that $30 would buy you 1000 miles... which if needed, was a very inexpensive way to keep an account active. NW has Amenity Packs, AA has Cinemark and Dannon promotions. You could subscribe to a magazine. There's tons of ways to acquire/use as little as 500 miles.
You missed one of the simplest ones: Eat!

For most of the major US airlines (including all that you mentioned) and at least one non-US airline (BA), if you either live near or visit sizeable cities in the US/Canada, join the no-cost iDine/Reward Network dining program for that airline, and sign up all the credit/debit cards you're likely to use when eating at a restaurant. Then occasionally eat at one of the particpating restaurants (and "eat" can include just having a coffee in many of them), and there you go, you've just extended your expiration. (If you do it rarer than 12 times a year, you won't get a whole lot of miles for it, but if you do it that little, you're presumably only concerned about the expiration, and in that case, who cares if that one cup of coffee a year only got you a few miles?)

As for $30 buying you 1000 miles, apparently at this time DL has no transaction fee, but many other airlines do, making it not so good a value (given that the transaction fee typically about the same as the cost of 1000 miles, meaning it effectively doubles the cost of such a small purchase).

US Airways Dividend Miles
http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/dividendmiles/programdetails/memberguide.aspx#milexpire
Looks like the T&C have changed. choster's original post indicated effective date from Dec 1, 06. That's now changed to Jan 31, 2007.

I'd like to see this stickie-fied.

I'd like to see this stickie-fied.

Agreed. This info is great and should have a sticky.

unfortunately it now needs updating. united's now expire after 18 months without activity

unfortunately it now needs updating. united's now expire after 18 months without activity

Today's newspaper says US Air expire after 18 months, does not mention United. Press releases quoted in message #2 of this thread show both US Air and United miles expiring after 18 months.

In practice, Continental is more lenient about miles expiry than they say they are. While the T&C say "If no mileage is deposited in your account for 18 consecutive months, commencing after June 1, 2001, your membership will be cancelled, and your miles may be forfeited.", my account was dormant between January 2001 and November 2004; the (9000-odd) miles were still there when I status-matched to CO and started flying them seriously in November 2004.

YMMV.

Here's what USA Today wrote on January 30, 2007.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2007-01-29-air-miles-usat_x.htm

FREQUENT-FLIER MILES EXPIRATION POLICIES

Airline Frequent-flier program Expiration policy

AirTran A+ Rewards Credits expire after 12 months.

Alaska Mileage Plan Miles expire after 3 years of inactivity.

Aloha AlohaPass Miles don't expire.

America West Dividend Miles Miles expire after 18 months of inactivity.

American AAdvantage Miles expire after 36 months of inactivity.

ATA Travel Awards Points expire after 24 months.

Continental OnePass Miles don't expire.*

Delta SkyMiles Miles expire after 2 calendar years of inactivity.

Frontier EarlyReturns Miles expire after 2 calendar years of inactivity.

Hawaiian HawaiianMiles Miles expire after 36 months of inactivity.

JetBlue TrueBlue Miles expire 1 year after the date they are earned.

Midwest Midwest Miles Miles expire if none are earned in 36 months.

Northwest WorldPerks Miles expire if none are earned for 3 calendar years.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Credits expire after 24 months.

United Mileage Plus Starting Dec. 31, miles expire after 18 months of inactivity, vs. 36 months now.

US Airways Dividend Miles Miles expire after 18 months of inactivity.

* Written policy permits cancellation, but airline doesn't enforce it. Sources: Airlines, USA TODAY research.



More airlines' frequent-flier miles expire faster
Updated 1/30/2007 7:12 AM ET
By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

Travelers who infrequently use their frequent-flier accounts may have to kiss their miles goodbye.

A growing number of airlines are establishing stricter policies that eliminate miles in inactive accounts.

Many travelers who hoped to some day parlay the miles into free flights or use them for a seat upgrade are furious.

The changes:

•US Airways. The carrier begins a new policy Wednesday that will delete all the miles of frequent-flier club members who haven't earned or redeemed Dividend Miles in 18 months, down from the current 36 months. It means accounts inactive since mid-2005 will be nullified.

•United Airlines. Beginning next Dec. 31, United will make the same change as US Airways.

•Delta Air Lines. Last month, Delta began erasing all miles in SkyMiles accounts that had been dormant for two calendar years. Its policy had been to permit 36 months of inactivity before miles would disappear.

"Frequent-flier miles are a liability on the company books," says Barbara Beyer, president of airline consultant Avmark. "The airlines really want to get rid of them as they clean up their balance sheets."

But the carriers may also be alienating potential customers.

"I hate the concept of expiring miles," says Josh Perlstein, president of a marketing and advertising company in Atlanta whose credits expired in AirTran's frequent-flier program.

Perlstein says he still flies on AirTran, but avoids the airline when competitors offer the same price and convenience.

Strict, or not

Of 16 U.S. airlines contacted by USA TODAY, only Continental and Aloha said miles do not expire in their frequent-flier members' accounts. Continental has a written policy stating that miles can expire if none are earned in 18 months, but the airline doesn't act on it, says spokesman David Messing.

AirTran and JetBlue have the strictest expiration policies, with credits or miles expiring one year after they are earned.

Airlines' expiration policies have nuances. For example, some carriers require miles be added to keep accounts alive. For others, adding or redeeming miles will keep the account alive.

Members of many airlines' frequent-flier clubs can prevent their miles from expiring by cashing some in for a magazine subscription. Or they can make an online purchase from a retail store that's affiliated with an airline and provides bonus miles.

The moves by airlines to tighten mileage expiration policies may not stick, says Andrew Watterson, of Mercer Management Consulting.

"Like airline prices, mileage expiration policies seem to go up and down based on the strength of the travel market," the airline consultant says. "It wasn't long ago when airlines were competing to lengthen the expiration period."

But that doesn't console frequent fliers such as Jerry Quintiliani, of Peoria, Ill., who isn't happy about the new policies. "I think it stinks, but what choice is there?" says the sales manager for a chemical company.

Quintiliani, who says about 20,000 of his American Airlines AAdvantage miles expired, says miles "have become nearly useless" anyway, because airlines have so few free seats available to vacation destinations.

Notification issues

Frequent fliers complain that airlines aren't giving them enough, or any, notice before they eliminate miles from dormant accounts. Some US Airways fliers, for example, say they received no notice before their miles expired.

Philip Gee, spokesman for US Airways, says "millions of customers" were notified with mailings or e-mail. The policy change was also posted on the airline's website, he says.

Midwest Airlines mails a notice to its frequent-flier club members who haven't earned miles for at least 30 months. The members are reminded about the airline's 36-month expiration policy and are offered a bargain fare to any city it flies to, says marketing director Steve Mathwig.

"We don't want to expire their miles, and would rather have them fly with us again and stay active in the program," he says.

Many airlines are letting fliers whose miles have expired buy them back for a fee. US Airways charges a $50 "processing fee" and a "reactivation fee" of 1 cent per mile.

"This is inane," John Rainey, a software consultant in Marietta, S.C., says of airlines' buyback policies. "I have already paid for the miles once. … Why would I choose to pay for it again rather than choose a more customer-friendly airline?"

Hmmm... do you think the research for that article was done right here?

A relative of mine came up with an ingenius and CHEAP way to activate his FF accounts: He transferred 10 AMEX rewards points into his Delta account. Total cost was pocket change, and it was enough to activate his Delta FF account for another two years, because it counted as mileage activity!

A relative of mine came up with an ingenius and CHEAP way to activate his FF accounts: He transferred 10 AMEX rewards points into his Delta account. Total cost was pocket change, and it was enough to activate his Delta FF account for another two years, because it counted as mileage activity!

Amex MR site clearly states that minimum amount of MR points required to transfer to DL is 2000 and the transfer can only be done in multiples of 2000.

So, how did your relative transfer 10 MR points to keep his DL account active?

Btw, most people here know you can do that transfer. So, there's nothing ingenius there.

Great Thread - of course I found it the way a lot of people did... after my miles expired and I'm scratching my head to figure out why.

Back in 2005, an agent at USAirways Dividend Miles wrote in an email to me:

"Your balance currently is 19,695 miles. All of these miles, except the 1000 on
1/17/04, were credited prior to 2000 and were grandfathered from expiring."

She also wrote:

"This 1000 miles could expire 12/31/07
unless there is at least one activity on your account prior to 12/31/07."

All 19,695 miles are now gone, per the new 18-month rule (which I never knew about).

The new policy seems to contradict each of these statements made previously by a USAirways DM employee (or at least make them incorrect). Anyone else have any experience with what happens when a company's change in policies make previous-issued statements that were taken in good faith no longer valid??

nice! It would be great to include hotel programs, too.

not a us carrier - but common for us US travellers:
re: aircanada aeroplan -- all miles have a shelf life of seven years - regardless of activity.

Starting July 1, 2007, mileage will expire in accounts that have had no accumulation or redemption activity in the previous 12 months (1 year). In other words, you must accumulate or redeem miles in your account at least once a year to ensure that your account stays active. So, if you have not been an active Aeroplan member in the last 6 months of 2006, you have until July 1, 2007 to either accumulate or redeem miles in your account to avoid expiry.

Also note that starting January 1, 2007, accumulated miles will be available for redemption for 7 years following the accumulation date. For example, if you earn 500 miles in February 2007, you will be able to redeem these miles until February 2014. Miles unredeemed after 7 years from accumulation will be removed from the account. Please note that all miles in your account at the end of 2006 will be given an accumulation date of December 31, 2006 regardless of their actual accumulation date, meaning that these miles will be available for redemption until December 31, 2013.

AAdvantage members now must have mileage earning or redemption activity once every eighteen (18) months in order to remain active and retain their miles. Effective December 15, 2007, mileage balances will expire from AAdvantage accounts that have not had miles either earned or redeemed within the previous eighteen (18) month period. If the last activity in your AAdvantage account was prior to June 15, 2006, all miles subject to expiration will expire on December 15, 2007.

http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/utility/mileageExpiration.jsp

Back in 2005, an agent at USAirways Dividend Miles wrote in an email to me:

"Your balance currently is 19,695 miles. All of these miles, except the 1000 on
1/17/04, were credited prior to 2000 and were grandfathered from expiring."

She also wrote:

"This 1000 miles could expire 12/31/07
unless there is at least one activity on your account prior to 12/31/07."

All 19,695 miles are now gone, per the new 18-month rule (which I never knew about).

The new policy seems to contradict each of these statements made previously by a USAirways DM employee (or at least make them incorrect). Anyone else have any experience with what happens when a company's change in policies make previous-issued statements that were taken in good faith no longer valid??

Great question - I was wondering the same thing. Miles that were earned under 'old rules' are now being expired under rules unilaterally imposed after the fact by the airlines. Changing the rules of a game after it has been played is at best a deceptive business practice and at worst outright fraud.

My parents each lost 30k AA miles on Dec 15th because the survey 250miles didn't post.

Any way to make this thread STICKY? So someone can constantly keep it updated on the latest changes (reductions) in FF programs expiration policies?

Thanks,
Tregate

Lost lots of US miles this year in our three accounts (nothing above 13K in any one individually) because of confusion with how they calculated clock for the window of inactivity. At least other programs send you an e-mail when you are in danger of losing your miles. Their 'other' airline, good old America Worst, used to automatically send you a voucher at 20K that expired in one year and I ended up losing that when I was trying to get to 30K to use for award travel to Mexico (they eventually changed that but I was already screwed). With all of the alliances these days its easier to manage how you earn your miles regardless of metal flown and I like that because I vote with my dollars and my feet. For instance, when I lived in Germany in the late 80's/early 90's I experienced the perceptible drop in customer service at DL and stopped flying them altogether, but once in a blue moon when I absolutely have no choice at least I take the miles in the partner program.

Added Sun Country.