Originally Posted by
beltway
In my personal experience, it's a bit more complicated. Different Citi TYP-earning cards can, and often do, have different expiration periods associated with the points earned from that card. My recollection is that your second statement (points closest to expiring are consumed first) is correct, but this can be completely non-FIFO.
When I refer to FIFO it is a simplistic way of saying it because the points closest to expiration dates are the points earned in the earliest period - so that is First in First Out.
However you are absolutely correct about multiple TYP cards because they seem to all carry different type of expiration period, ranging from the short 18 months of PPE to 5 years of the defunct AMEX TYP card.
The most annoying part of course is the PPE card has the earliest expiration date comparing to other TYP card but it usually is the card that many people earn the most TYPs due to the flight point feature. You would have to empty that pile before it gets to use points from other cards - many of us found out this unpleasant nuggut when we canceled the now defunct AMEX TYP card that earned 3%? or 5% on the 1st year? (forgot the exact earning structure), the TYPs from that card had the longest expiration date among all TYP cards - 5 years from earning date! So it is the last layer to be used but then once the card is canceled, the points would be forfeited if you dont use them up in 30 days. I guess the 2009 devaluation eventually forced our hands to use up all the points during the mad dash to redeem the airline tickets.