Summary

  • American Airlines AAdvantage miles expire after 24 months of inactivity unless you earn or redeem miles with the airline or its partners.
  • With Frontier Airlines, you must earn miles every 12 months to keep them from expiring.
  • Spirit Airlines Free Spirit points expire after 12 months of no activity, but you can earn and redeem points with Spirit or its non-airline partners.

With all the different ways of earning miles, many passengers spend months flying and making purchases to collect points and miles to redeem for award travel and other benefits. The last thing anyone wants is to find out their miles have expired when they want to use them for that once-in-a-lifetime trip.

While many loyalty programs let you collect miles and points without having to worry about expiration dates, there are some with miles that expire, including American Airlines AAdvantage, Spirit Airlines Free Spirit, and Frontier Airlines Frontier Miles. However, there are a number of things you can do to keep your loyalty account active and miles valid. Let us take a look.

American Airlines – AAdvantage

American Airlines AAdvantage miles expire after 24 months of account inactivity, which is quite friendly compared to other airlines on the list. However, it is the only airline among the US Big Three with miles that expire.

One advantage is that members under the age of 21 are exempted from the miles expiration rule. For members over the age of 21, it is pretty simple to keep your miles from expiring.

Earn with American Airlines and partners

One of the simplest ways to keep your miles active is by earning or redeeming miles with American Airlines or one of its partners at least once every 24 months. This includes partner airlines, participating hotels, car rental companies, select retailers, and restaurants.

By earning AAdvantage miles, you also earn Loyalty points toward status and rewards. When you fly on American-marketed flights, you earn at least five base miles per dollar spent.

American Airlines planes at the Los Angeles International Airport, LAX with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

Photo: Angel DiBilio | Shutterstock

You can earn more if you have a higher status. With American Airlines being a founding member of the oneworld alliance, you can also earn miles by flying with major airlines like British Airways, Qatar Airways, Alaska Airlines, Japan Airlines, and Qantas.

American also has several non-alliance partners, like Hawaiian Airlines, Etihad, and China Southern. The miles you can earn depend on the airline and cabin you fly.

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Like many other programs worldwide, you can also earn miles without flying. You can earn up to five AAdvantage miles for every dollar spent in restaurants, on takeouts, or deliveries.

You can link a credit or debit card and start earning from thousands of restaurants across the US. You can also earn miles by shopping from over 1,200 stores through AAdvantage eShopping. There are several other ways to earn with American partners to keep your miles from expiring.

Credit card holders and reactivating miles

The other exemption from the expiration policy is for credit card holders. If you have an AAdvantage credit card, your miles will not expire after 24 months as long as the card account remains open.

However, according to NerdWallet, miles will expire four months after closing the account or 24 months after the last qualifying activity, whichever comes later.

American Airlines flagship lounge/Admirals Club

Photo: Mulevich | Shutterstock

It is also possible to reactivate AAdvantage miles. You can reactivate up to 500,000 miles within the first 24 months after expiry for a fee. The amount you pay depends on the number of miles you wish to reactivate. However, the reactivated miles will not count towards elite status.

Frontier Airlines – Frontier Miles

In October 2023, Frontier Airlines announced significant changes to its frequent flyer program, Frontier Miles. It shifted from a distance-based program to a revenue-based reward program.

This means that members would now earn miles and qualify for elite status based on the amount of money spent rather than the amount of miles flown. The airline also refurbished its elite status tiers with new levels, names, and perks.

Frontier Airlines UpFront Plus seats

Photo: Frontier Airlines

While the changes have their pros and cons, one disadvantage is that your miles can expire. Furthermore, they expire after a shorter period of 12 months compared to American’s 24-month policy. According to Frontier Airlines,

“Miles in a member’s account do not expire so long as the member generates accrual activity every twelve months.”

Unredeemed mileage in your Frontier Miles account will expire. To keep miles active, a member must earn miles at least once every 12 months. It is important to note that only earning (not redeeming) miles with your Frontier account extends the validity of your miles. Here are a few ways you can earn Frontier miles:

  • Flights: The main way to earn Frontier Miles is by flying with Frontier Airlines. Standard members earn 10 miles for every dollar spent. However, like other loyalty programs, the higher your status, the more miles you earn.
  • Spending: You can also earn miles by making purchases with the Frontier Airlines Mastercard. For an annual fee of $89, you can earn five miles for every dollar spent on airfare purchased directly from the airline, three miles from restaurant purchases, and one mile on all other spending.
  • Purchases: While Frontier has no major airline partners, it has valuable partnerships with hotels and car rental companies. You can also earn miles by making purchases with these partners.

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Spirit Airlines – Free Spirit

Free Spirit is the loyalty program of Florida-based low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines. The program is also revenue-based, meaning you will earn points based on the cost of the ticket. Your status also determines the amount of points you can earn. General members earn six points per dollar on airfares and up to 12 points on additional purchases like bags and seats.

Spirit Airlines aircraft in Cancun, Mexico shutterstock_2270944877

Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky | Shutterstock
 

Similar to Frontier, Spirit points expire after 12 months of no points activity on your account. However, you can keep them active by earning points through Spirit or its partners within the 12-month period. You can earn and redeem Spirit points through the following activities:

Earning

  • Flying with Spirit Airlines
  • Purchasing “A La Smarte” add-ons like checked bags and seat selection
  • Pooling points with family and friends
  • Making purchases with retail and travel partners

Spending

  • Booking award travel with Spirit Airlines

Spirit doesn’t offer many options to redeem your points, so if you want to spend to keep your miles active, you will have to take a flight with the airline. However, another way to keep your miles from expiring is by applying for the Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard. Your points will not expire as long as your credit card account is open.

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