Points Expiration
 

Do Avios points expire? If so, what can one do to keep them from expiring?

Avios themselves do not have any expiry.

If you go 36 months without any activity in your account (essentially any earn or burn), then you will forfeit the balance in your account.

Two notes:
1. Transferring Avios between your accounts in the various schemes that use Avios (i.e. BAEC, Iberia Plus, Avios.com(Previously Airmiles UK)) does NOT count as activity.

2. If your BAEC account is part of a household BAEC account, and if a member of the household has status (not sure if that now includes the new Bronze tier, or just the historic Gold or Silver) then you do not need activity.


The above is about Avios. Do not confuse with Tier Points (which are also awarded from flying and are what are required for status), these are reset to zero at the end of your own personal membership year.

From the T and C's:
For things you can do to keep them from expiring, see:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...=points+expire
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...ut-expire.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...les+expiration

Thanks for the replies. So I guess if I use my BA credit card occasionally, the points will never expire.

Are these two statements not inconsistent? Are we 100% sure that transferring Avios between BAEC and avios.com does not count?

Not necessarily.

Nicci confirmed here explicity (will try to find the post) that moving avios between BAEC, IBplus, Avios.com accounts did not count as activity.

I've seen the same written over on Avios.com in official T&C.

However, inter BAEC account transfers (where you pay a fee to transfer to another member) certainly count as activity.

I can't see from a brief skim anything to support Niccis post in the T&C, but she did make it. Avios.com certainly have T&C to support that, think IB might do as well.

I dont recall Nicci saying that transactions between Avios.com and BA will NOT count as a transaction.

Also this would require the Mileage company to have good computer systems. it is easier for them to accept that it is.

I do seem to remember Nicci saying "internal" Avios transfers would not count.

And, it'd hardly be difficult for (even) BA to code their systems to differentiate between internal Avios transfers and any other sort.

I must have missed that one.

Hi! What about a transfer into BA/Avios from American Express Membership Awards?

That's fine. That counts as earn activity..

[The reference to 'transfers' above is talking paid transfers from one member to another, they are activitiy. Moving avios from BAEC <> Avios.com or <> Iberia Plus schemes do not count as activity.

Thanks, Dave A!

Just used wife's amex points for a 15,000 point last minute trip nyc-ord that priced at $372. With the 50% bonus transfer, that cost only 10,000 points and that is about 4 cents per point.

Moreover, since Avios are now classified as points, there are no transfer charges imposed by AMEX to Avios -- they are treated like hotel points that incur no transfer costs!

As a non-US person, I've never personally experienced the preiovus situation that you descirbe, although I was aware of it. [It was free for people in the UK and other countries I've experience of to do Memberhsip Rewards to BA Miles transfers.]

I can't recall the details of why it is differnt for 'miles' in the US, but thanks for flagging that this has changed. I wasn't aware of that change.

For whatever the reason, AMEX and Diners Club charge a transaction fee when converting their points into airline FF miles programs, whereas they do not for points to points conversions. I don't know why, although it could be something to do with taxes but this is just guess, as it also just as likely could be due to being a money center -- and conversion of points to ff miles is just so much more prevalent that they "tax" one and not the other.

As I said, I was aware of it, but like you don't know the intricacies of the reason.

I'm convinced it is most likley due to taxation ruling.

[If it is a profit centre question however, then rather than being an arbitrary choice based upon which is more prevalent I think it would be more likley they simply did one historically but not another, and they now can't backtrack on the freebie and don't want to surrender the income on the paid!]