Most credit card rewards do not expire on a fixed calendar. At the four largest bank programs — Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, and Citi ThankYou points — your points last as long as your account stays open and in good standing. That said, “no expiration date” is not the same as “safe.” Roughly 4% of cardholders lose at least some rewards every quarter through account closures, inactivity rules, missed payments, and program changes.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Credit Card Rewards Issue Spotlight
When Rewards Do Have a Hard Expiration Date
Hard, calendar-based expiration is the exception for bank-issued cards. It shows up more often with smaller issuers and certain store cards, where points typically expire 36 to 60 months after the billing cycle in which they were earned. Issuers using this approach cycle out the oldest points first. If your card works this way, upcoming expirations usually appear in the rewards summary on your monthly statement.
Airline and hotel loyalty programs are the bigger trap. Even when you earn miles or hotel points on a co-branded credit card, those rewards sit in the airline’s or hotel’s separate loyalty system, and many of those systems impose inactivity-based expiration:
- American Airlines AAdvantage miles expire after 24 months of inactivity, though active co-branded cardholders and members under 21 are exempt.
- Marriott Bonvoy points expire after 24 months with no earning or redeeming activity.
- Hilton Honors points expire after 24 months of account inactivity.
- IHG One Rewards points expire after just 12 months for entry-level members; elite members are exempt.
Two major airline programs have dropped expiration entirely: Delta SkyMiles and United MileagePlus miles never expire regardless of account activity. In any program with inactivity rules, a single qualifying earning or redemption event — even a small one through a shopping portal or dining partner — resets the clock for your entire balance.
How Inactivity Can Wipe Out Points With No Expiration Date
Even when your credit card rewards carry no fixed expiration, they can disappear if you stop using the card. Issuers define inactivity differently, but the common threshold is around 12 months without a purchase or redemption. Once an account is flagged dormant, the bank can purge your entire rewards balance, and in some cases close the account.
The good news is that a single small transaction resets the clock for every point in the account. Buying a cup of coffee once a year can protect a balance worth thousands of dollars. If you rarely use a rewards card, the simplest safeguard is a small recurring subscription — a streaming service or cloud storage plan — on autopay. That keeps the account active without requiring you to remember it. Just make sure the autopay actually goes through, because missing a payment creates a different set of problems.
Closing the Account Usually Means Losing the Rewards
Closing a credit card, whether you initiate it or the bank does, typically means losing all unredeemed rewards immediately. Most cardmember agreements require the account to be open and in good standing at the moment of redemption. Once the account closes, the contractual link to those points is gone.
The involuntary version is the painful one. Credit card companies can generally close an account without notice, and many program terms state that rewards are forfeited when that happens.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Credit Card Rewards Issue Spotlight The CFPB has documented complaints from consumers who lost significant balances after sudden closures. One consumer described losing a planned redemption after an unexplained closure, calling it “yet another example of a financial company that coldly, unsympathetically, and egregiously takes from those most vulnerable.”
If you plan to close a card voluntarily, redeem your rewards first. Cash back can usually be taken as a statement credit or direct deposit in a single transaction. Points and miles may take a few days to transfer to a partner program, so start the process before you call to cancel.
Grace Periods After Closure
No federal law requires issuers to give you time to redeem rewards after an account closes. New York is the only state that has stepped in. Starting in December 2023, New York law requires a 90-day grace period for redeeming credit card rewards after account closure or program termination, and the issuer must notify the cardholder within 45 days.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Credit Card Rewards Issue Spotlight No other state has enacted a comparable protection, so most cardholders are governed entirely by the cardmember agreement.
Co-Branded Cards Behave Differently
Rewards earned on co-branded airline and hotel cards typically transfer automatically to the partner’s separate loyalty program database. If the credit card account later closes, the transferred rewards may survive there because they no longer sit with the bank. Any bank-specific points, the kind redeemable only through the issuer’s travel portal or as statement credits, are lost. If you carry a co-branded card, check where your rewards actually live before assuming they are safe.
Missed Payments and Other Agreement Breaches
Falling behind on payments puts your rewards at direct risk. When you miss a minimum payment, the issuer can immediately suspend redemptions. Extended delinquency, typically 60 to 90 days past due, often triggers permanent forfeiture of your entire rewards balance. Courts have consistently upheld issuers’ right to revoke rewards for any breach of the cardmember agreement’s terms.
Some issuers offer a reinstatement path if you bring the account current. American Express has historically charged a reinstatement fee of around $35 per billing cycle per account and allowed cardholders up to 24 months after forfeiture to request their points back. Not every issuer offers reinstatement at all, and the fees add up quickly if you fell behind for several months. Treating minimum payments as non-negotiable is the cheapest form of rewards protection you have.
Other violations can also trigger forfeiture. Exceeding your credit limit, triggering a fraud investigation, or breaching other terms of the agreement can all cost you your points. Legal disputes over forfeited rewards rarely succeed because the contract almost universally gives the bank broad discretion to revoke rewards for any breach.
Program Changes and Devaluation
Federal regulations require issuers to give 45 days’ advance notice before making significant changes to your account, such as interest rate increases, fee changes, or modifications to how interest is calculated.2eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.9 – Subsequent Disclosure Requirements Changes to a rewards program are generally not considered “significant” under those rules.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can My Credit Card Company Change the Terms of My Account
That means an issuer can devalue your points, add new expiration rules, cut earning rates, or restructure bonus categories without the advance notice protections that apply to rates and fees. You could find one morning that your points are worth half what they were the day before, with no prior warning required by law. In 2023, the CFPB received more than 1,200 complaints specifically about credit card rewards, over 70% more than pre-pandemic levels, many of them about devaluations and unexpected program changes.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Credit Card Rewards Issue Spotlight The practical takeaway is straightforward: don’t hoard points for years hoping they’ll appreciate. Redeem them regularly.
How to Protect the Rewards You Have
A few habits cover the main ways rewards go missing. Use every rewards card at least once a year, even for a small purchase, so an inactivity rule can’t reset your balance to zero. Pay at least the minimum on time, every time, because delinquency is one of the fastest ways to lose everything you’ve earned. Before you close a card, redeem or transfer the points first. And if you carry a large balance in any single program, spend it down periodically rather than saving indefinitely against the possibility of a devaluation.
Your cardmember agreement is where the exact rules live. Search it for terms like “expire,” “forfeit,” “revoke,” and “terminate” to see how your issuer handles each scenario. Most issuers post current agreements online, and the CFPB maintains a searchable database of credit card agreements at consumerfinance.gov. Five minutes with the rewards section is usually enough to know what you are actually holding.