nimeta

Do all Star Alliance schemes have an expiry date attacked to their miles?

Shofar

Miles and More (LH, OS, LOT?) FFL and Senator do not expire. Lowest class of flyer expire in 2 years.

Leviticus

Nope, you should check up each and every program. For instance SAS EuroBonus is what I use, the points here expire after 5 years no matter what status you have.

gate4lounge

......and bmi Destination Miles never expire. Membership status miles expire after 12 months or upon earlier status upgrade.

Kiwi Flyer

NZ's expire on the fourth anniversary after earning

BlondeBomber's *A Gold Comparison includes details of points expiry (and many other useful bits of info).

schoflyer

ANA miles expire at the end of the second full year past the year that the miles were earned. 2004 Flight miles expire 12-31-2006.

If you make top tier "diamond", miles do not expire and any miles that were set to expire while you are diamond are reset and you get 2 years after you fall from status.

Kiwi Flyer

What about the other *A FFPs' mileage expiry?

The Lurker

Here is the policy for both US and UA:

Miles never expire, provided one has earning/redemption activity at least every 36 months. All miles will expire after 36 months of inactivity.

Any type of earning or redemption resets the 36 month "clock."




There is one small exception for US. Any US miles earned prior to 1/1/2000 are not subject to expiration.

glg

UA has a similar exception, but the date is much earlier (late 80's or early 90's). I don't recall offhand what it is.

peter42

LH miles expire after 3 years at the end of the quater, unless you are either SEN/FTL or hold a LH credit card (seems to work only with the german cards so).

Al B

AC's Aeroplan has a nominal 3 year expiry from date of earn. However, any activity into the account resets the 3 year clock on all miles in the account, so technically they never really expire so long as something goes into the account at least once every 36 months.
Other recent Aeroplan "initiatives" include account cancellation at 1 year date since joining *if* no activity and no card/enrolment kit sent out until the first 1,000 miles accrued.

JeffISU

To make myself useful, I decided to search out the expiration policies of ALL *A airlines, and compile them. If any of the following you believe to be incorrect, PLEASE let me know - this is to benefit everyone here. The information was taken directly from the program terms and conditions on July 19th, 2005. Information contained within this post is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

Carriers where miles WILL NEVER expire!

BMI: Status miles will expire after a year, but destination miles will never expire

Asiana Airlines: There is nothing in OZ's terms and conditions in the official member guide about mileage expiration so we presume there is no mileage expiry.

Carriers where miles WILL expire regardless of additional activity:

Thai: All Royal Orchid Plus miles accrued in 1 calendar year remain valid until December 31 of the 3rd calendar year thereafter. Members must also be active to ensure full mileage validity. Accounts in which mileage accrual ceases for a full 2 years period are designated as dormant and are closed after the expiration of any remaining mileage.

Singapore: KrisFlyer miles are valid for three years from the end of the quarter in which they were earned. For example, miles credited to an account in April, May and June 2003 will expire on 30 June 2006. Expired miles cannot be used. KrisFlyer miles that are due to expire may be extended for a fee, but only in the quarter immediately preceding the expiry date. For Base members, miles may be extended once for a period of six months only. Elite and PPS Club members may extend their miles for a period of one year only.

Air New Zealand: Airpoints Dollars you earn are available for redemption until the end of the fourth year after the Membership year in which they were earned. ***While a member has gold or gold elite status, miles will not expire.***

ANA: Mileage is valid until December 31 of the second year when that mileage is earned. ***If you make top tier "diamond", miles do not expire and any miles that were set to expire while you are diamond are reset and you get 2 years after you fall from status.***

LOT Polish Airlines (Miles & More): Any mileage not redeemed within 36 months of the date of accrual (date of flight, start of hotel stay, time of car rental) expires at the end of the following quarter. ***No expiry for miles earned while an elite member, but once basic again miles will expire***

Lufthansa (Miles & More): Any mileage not redeemed within 36 months of the date of accrual (date of flight, start of hotel stay, time of car rental) expires at the end of the following quarter. ***Miles will expire unless you are either SEN/FTL or hold a LH credit card (seems to work only with the german cards so)***

SAS Scandanavian: Your points are valid up to 5 years i.e. they expire 4 periods after the period in which they were earned.

TAP Portugal: Victoria Miles are valid for three years from the date of accrual unless specified otherwise. The validity of the miles is calculated as from the date of accrual. Before expiry, miles' validity can be extended against a fee and with credit card payment only. Extended miles are considered as Bonus Miles and are valid for another three years.

VARIG: All mileage credit posted to a member Smiles account will be valid during the year of accrual plus three (3) additional whole years. After this period, the expired mileage will automatically be excluded from the Smiles member account balance.

Austrian Airlines (Miles & More): Any mileage not redeemed within 36 months of the date of accrual (date of flight, start of hotel stay, time of car rental) expires at the end of the following quarter. ***No expiry for miles earned while an elite member, but once basic again miles will expire***

Carriers where any earned/redeemed mileage will prevent all miles from expiring:

United: Any member who fails at any time to engage in account activity for a period of thirty-six (36) consecutive months is subject to termination of his or her membership and forfeiture of all accrued mileage. "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.

Air Canada: If you have not earned or redeemed any Aeroplan Miles for 36 consecutive months, your account and any mileage in it will expire. If you are a new member and have not earned Aeroplan Miles during the first 12 months of your membership, your account and any mileage in it will expire.

Spanair: Points earned under the Spanair Plus programme will expire on 31st March if the cardholder has not made at least one point accrual or redemption movement in the last 3 years.

UsAirways: Beginning January 1, 2000, miles earned will not expire as long as any mileage earning or redemption activity occurs in your account within 36 months of the last account activity. Each qualifying activity on or after January 1, 2000, will extend the expiration date of all unexpired miles in your account for 36 months from the date of the qualifying activity. Dividend Miles earned through December 31, 1999, are not subject to expiration.

BlondeBomber

Thanks JeffISU,

Just to clarify, some of the programs have no mileage expiration while you are elite (e.g. Miles and More for LO and LH etc and NH's program) but the miles do expire once you are basic.

BlondeBomber

PS. There is nothing in OZ's terms and conditions in the official member guide about mileage expiration so we presume there is no mileage expiry.

There was no mileage expiry under BD's old program so we presume that has carried forward to Diamond Club?

BlondeBomber

Fairly recent post (2004) indicates that BMI DC miles do not expire:

See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...24&postcount=6