Miles & Points Expiration Rules: Must Know Details for Canadians

Miles & points offer some of the best ways to fly to new heights all around the globe and stay in style at your destination, all without breaking the bank. 

This hobby can be remarkably lucrative whether you’re just collecting a few Scene+ Rewards points at the grocery store or earning Aeroplan Super Elite status as part of your corporate travel. As with anything lucrative, that means there are rules that need to be understood and followed.

One of the rules that Canadians often express the most frustration about is the risk of miles and points expiring. With that in mind, let’s review the expiration rules and dates for all miles and points programs on the market used by Canadians so you don’t miss out on maximizing your miles.

Risk of Expiry – The Finer Details of Miles & Points

While some programs have taken the laudable pro-consumer step of never allowing points to expire, many if not most, do not hold the same charitable opinion. If you follow the advice of this article you’ll avoid risking the loss of your beloved miles and points ever again. Typically, if points expire in a loyalty program, they are gone forever.

That being said if you do make a mistake and accidentally let points within a program expire, some loyalty programs will theoretically allow you to reactivate expired points balances. This is often prohibitively expensive, so try to avoid letting it happen in the first place.

However, if you are in the unfortunate position of having lost your points due to inactivity in a program that allows reactivation for a cost, you could always try pleading your case and asking them to waive the fees. Sometimes companies want your goodwill more than to wring a few bucks out of you, but as always, your mileage may vary.

How Do I Keep My Miles & Points Balances Active?

Almost all miles & points programs rely on account activity – the last time you had points going in or out of your loyalty account – to determine expiry dates. Don’t forget that expiries these days are often enacted by algorithms rather than human beings, so it’s easy for a company to set balances that exceed 24 or 36 months without use to disappear into thin air.

Therefore, it’s in your interest to keep an eye on your balances and keep them topped up. Thankfully, there are a few ways to easily generate activity in your loyalty program accounts to keep your miles and points active. 

One excellent method for frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs is through using e-commerce affiliate sites such as the Aeroplan eStore or AIR MILES Shops. Simply make a purchase through a loyalty program-affiliated shopping portal and you will receive a small sum of points credited to your loyalty account, which will count as activity on your account.

For points currencies that can be earned by converting other points to them, such as converting American Express Membership Rewards to  British Airways Avios, your best bet is to just do a minimum points conversion once per year to generate activity and keep your points balance alive.

If neither of the above methods works for your needs, you can always consider purchasing the minimum amount of points available to generate activity. An example of this would be via Marriott Bonvoy’s dedicated landing page where you can purchase a minimum of 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for $12.50 USD.

Keeping miles and points active is a great area where using some of the lesser-known partnerships, such as car rentals, can be a lifesaver. Whether renting a car for work or leisure, most rental car companies will allow you to earn miles in one or many of the programs listed below for a small nominal fee, which is often more than worth the cost of admission just to keep your points active.

Canadian Financial Institution Loyalty Programs – Expiration Rules

American Express Membership Rewards

American Express’s Membership Rewards program (MR) is one of our favorites for a reason: not only do Membership Rewards points never expire, but they are also easily transferable into other programs so you can keep those balances alive, too!

In order to keep your Membership Rewards balance active, all you need to do is keep at least one American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points active. You can easily transfer points from one card to another before closing it.

If you do need to cancel your final MR-earning American Express card, before closing the account make sure to transfer all your points out or use them before they’re lost forever. Be aware the minimum transfer amount is 1,000 MR points. Read up on our guide to American Express Canada transfer partners if you need help determining the best usage for your Membership Rewards points.

The same rules also apply south of the border for American Express Membership Rewards points in the United States.

BMO Rewards

The in-house BMO Rewards program is more niche because while its points are worth only 0.67 cents per point, its expiry policy at least is customer-friendly.

BMO Rewards never expire so long as you have a BMO credit card that earns BMO Rewards points open and active, and should you close the card, you have 90 days from account closure to use them. Bank of Montreal also allows closed credit cards to be reopened within 30 days of account closure without requiring a new credit pull.

CIBC Aventura

Much like other Big Five banking products, CIBC Aventura points don’t expire so long as you hold an active Aventura credit card. Should you close your final card in this amount, you can redeem the points for up to 60 days before they expire.

However, we recommend using the points prior to account closure as redeeming for CIBC Shopping with Points at a rate of 1.25 cents per point is one of the best deals on the Canadian miles & points market. Shopping with points does require having an active CIBC Aventura credit card, so don’t miss out on this excellent redemption opportunity!

Cardholders can also combine balances between CIBC Aventura credit cards if they want to consolidate before closing a credit card. Simply call the CIBC Aventura rewards team to request this points consolidation.

MBNA Rewards

MBNA Rewards is a bit of an oddball because while their parent issuer is a section of TD Bank, they operate independently. Their points likewise are their own creation, and often offer competitive value of up to .83 cents per point on travel and select gift cards.

Points don’t expire while your MBNA credit card is active and expire only 120 days after closing your account during which time they can be used independent of the card. Interestingly, if MBNA cancels your account for any reason other than defaulting on your debts, you can still use the points for 120 days thereafter.

National Bank À la Carte Rewards

National Bank, which recently expanded its presence on the Prairies by buying Canadian Western Bank, does have an expiry on points earned in its National Bank À la Carte Rewards program.

If you don’t make a transaction on your National Bank credit card once during a 12-month period, your balance expires. However, when you cancel your account, you have 12 months to use your points.

PC Optimum

The Loblaw Companies’ PC Optimum program offers a great way to earn points at various grocery and pharmacy retailers across Canada. Brands like Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart all participate under the Loblaws umbrella, so it’s good that PC Optimum Points never expire.

However be aware that co-branded PC Optimum credit cards do have inactivity periods, and the cards will shut down if unused for 12 months.

RBC Avion Rewards

RBC Avion Rewards recently opened to the public and allowed non-credit cardholders to become collectors. Regardless, we do recommend you only earn Avion points through co-branded credit cards for reasons that will become clear in a second.

Avion Rewards points don’t expire so long as your eligible account remains open. If this account is closed, you have 12 months from account closure to use your points.

What this means in practice is that each individual RBC credit card you hold becomes its own “eligible account.” To bypass the 12-month expiry from account closure, you could potentially get a different Avion-denominated credit card and transfer the points to that one before closing the unneeded credit line.

Scene+ Rewards

Scene+ Rewards is one of the most exciting programs in Canada because it has an enormous national footprint. It can be acquired at some of the most common supermarket chains, such as Sobeys and Safeway, and redeemed not just on movies, but on travel, groceries, and alcohol purchases too.

All Scene+ credit cards as of the writing of this article are issued by Scotiabank, so as long as you have a co-branded credit card, your points never expire. On the other hand, if you’re just a regular collector without a Scene+ credit card, you have a 24-month period of inactivity to use your points before they disappear.

TD Rewards

TD Rewards is interesting as the in-house offering of the bank proper (rather than its MBNA cadet branch), it provides only 90 days after closing your credit card account to use your points.

As is usual with bank loyalty programs, there is no expiry so long as your TD Rewards credit card is open and in good standing.

Frequent Flyer Loyalty Programs – Expiration Rules

Air Canada Aeroplan

As the most recognizable currency on this list, it is with regret that I must inform you that Air Canada Aeroplan points expire after 18 months of account inactivity. However, Aeroplan has announced that points will not expire through November 30, 2025, so you don’t need to worry about this expiry date for now.

If you need to keep your account active, consider using the Aeroplan eStore, transferring in points from American Express Membership Rewards, buying points, or that most dreaded of all transactions – flying a cash fare on Air Canada! 

Holding any of the co-branded Aeroplan credit cards is also a great option as you can either use them regularly or make a purchase on them semi-frequently to keep your Aeroplan account balance active.
Adding your Aeroplan number to retail partnerships such as Starbucks, Uber, and the LCBO can earn you a small sum of points often enough to keep your account active. You could also donate your points to charity to keep your account open.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

The Air France/KLM Flying Blue loyalty program has been making aggressive inroads into the North American market, which is perhaps unsurprising as many of their executives started their careers at Air Canada.

Their miles are also good for 24 months of shelf life after the last activity and the points of Silver, Gold, and Platinum elite status holders never expire. This resets every time you earn points through a co-branded credit card, transfer points in, or fly an Air France or KLM flight.

AIR MILES

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The AIR MILES loyalty program was once the undisputed king of the Canadian Miles & Points space, and yet they almost met their end in 2023 before BMO purchased the loyalty program.

But that’s enough of a tangent. Your AIR MILES expire after 24 months of inactivity. Filling up at a Shell gas station is probably the easiest way to keep them active. 

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

It’s become very hard to earn miles in the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan ecosystem of late, and with good reason. It’s one of the last programs to have amazing partners and an even more amazing redemption chart.

You won’t want to lose these miles, which is good news as they don’t ever expire. However, if your account is inactive for two years, your account will be locked. Don’t worry, as it can be unlocked by calling Alaska Airlines customer service who will confirm your identity and unlock your account with all of your miles intact.

British Airways Avios

London’s calling, or at least British Airways Avios will be calling you to notify you of your points balance expiring if there’s no account activity for 36 months.

As one of the best ways to access aspirational cabins such as Qatar QSuites, don’t forget to transfer in from RBC Avion Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards to keep your account active, or purchase a small sum of miles once in a blue moon.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Much like Air Canada Aeroplan points, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles expire after 18 months of inactivity. Just like Aeroplan, they’ll even let you keep your account active by counting charitable donations as eligible redemptions.

You could also consider applying for the Neo Cathay World Elite Mastercard, the only credit card in Canada to earn Asia Miles, to keep your account active.

Porter Airlines VIPorter

As the upstart new airline in Canada (that isn’t an ultra-low-cost carrier with the life expectancy of a fruitfly), Porter’s VIPorter program can offer an interesting third option for points flying away from Westjet and Air Canada.

Points expire after 24 months of inactivity and can be a bit of a pain to earn as there are no transfer partners. On the upside, they do have a variety of codeshare partners, such as AeroMexico, that do earn for easier use in the Canadian market.

WestJet Rewards

As Western Canada’s primary carrier, it hurts to admit that the WestJet Rewards program leaves something to be desired due to costs such as the high “Other ATC” fees added to certain routes.

On the other hand, Westjet dollars never expire and can be redeemed in increments as small as $35 of the base fare. On a one-way flight to London Heathrow, that may even be more than half of the portion listed as base fare.

Hotel Loyalty Programs – Expiration Rules

Accor Live Limitless (ALL)

The Accor Live Limitless program is interesting for two reasons.

First, it applies across a bevy of hotels and hotel chains that don’t share the name of the parent company. Unlike Marriott or Hilton, it can sometimes be hard to pick an Accor property out of a lineup.

Second, their points expire 365 days after crediting to your account. This is extended by earning more points and resetting the clock.

The sad reality, though, is that with IT systems functioning the way they are, you probably want to earn any extension points slightly early to prevent them from expiring while you wait for your latest transaction to post.

Best Western Rewards

Best Western Rewards is a great example of a pro-customer company because their points never expire!

While their elite benefits can sometimes be lackluster, this company does offer excellent customer service, their points program is straightforward, and their status match promotion is hard to top for speed!

Hilton Honors

While it can be harder for Canadians to earn Hilton Honors points, they do make for a brilliant starter credit card when you get into the US credit card game. As the second largest hotel chain on Earth, it also behooves Miles & Points enthusiasts to have some exposure.

Hilton Honors points expire after 24 months of inactivity. So fire up those US co-branded credit cards, transfer a small sum of points from American Express Membership Rewards, or stay at Hilton properties. There’s enough of them around, after all.

Marriott Bonvoy

As the single largest hotel brand in the world, Marriott Bonvoy’s dominance and market penetration are undisputed. As the only co-branded hotel loyalty credit cards available to Canadians, they’re also must-have loyalty points for all enthusiasts.

Like many entries on this list, they expire after 24 months of inactivity. Transferring points from American Express Membership Rewards or staying at a Marriott property is easy enough, so you shouldn’t have any problem keeping your points active. 

Interestingly, you can also keep these points alive by buying a tour experience through Marriott Bonvoy Moments.

World of Hyatt

The wonderful World of Hyatt is the last of a dying breed: a hotel loyalty rewards program that has a fantastic chart and truly exclusive properties.

Points last 24 months from the latest activity, which is extended by staying, redeeming points, or buying them. Despite being the third largest chain, its only transfer partner is Chase via their Ultimate Rewards program, so if you hold an eligible Chase credit card it can be worth transferring points to keep your World of Hyatt balance active.

The Best Way to Track Miles & Points Expiration Details

We’ve gone through more than two dozen Miles & Points programs in this article. If you’re feeling a bit daunted trying to keep track of them all, don’t worry.

While monitoring your balances can be a challenge, a good spreadsheet can be a lifesaver when it comes to bookkeeping. We here at Frugal Flyer have made a miles and points tracking spreadsheet, available for free here to all our readers. 

Another method that can be useful instead of having a spreadsheet is just making a point of checking all your points programs on one day every year, or just keeping an active eye on all your accounts constantly.

Conclusion

We hope that today’s roundup of hotel programs, and how long their points last before expiry, will help you on your Miles & Points journey to traveling the globe instead of breaking the bank.

Use this knowledge to guard your points and be wary of how to make sure your balances are always active.

Until next time, don’t write letters begging for your points back!