Do United Airlines loyalty points expire?

United Airlines loyalty points expire; the answer is yes, they do.

MileagePlus is United Airlines’ major airline loyalty program, which is among the largest in the world with millions of members. When you fly on United and other Star Alliance member airlines or use program credit cards, hotels, and car rental partners, as a member, you will earn PQM, PQS, and award miles. The flexibility of being able to use the award miles to obtain free or even upgrade their flights on United and several other Star Alliance partners means that many regard their collected loyalty points and the status that comes with them as an important asset. Significantly, a popular query amongst United MileagePlus members is whether or not the loyalty points that they acquire ever expire.

The short answer is that they do indeed: United Airlines automatically resets the account inactivity after 18 months, and with it, all the points that have been accumulated become invalid. Nevertheless, there are several things you need to know to keep your points active, and there are also several effective ways to avoid United Airlines miles expiration.

Different people hold varying amounts of points for different periods.

MileagePlus miles have a validity of 18 months of inactivity, and the accounts show no activity. In the case that you have had an earning or redemption activity in your account, such as from flights, credit card points, or partners, the expiration timeframe starts after the most recent transaction credit to your account. To avoid the expiration of your United loyalty points, you should maintain any form of qualifying MileagePlus activity once every 18 months.

That means only the activity associated with the United Airlines account should be considered as activity related to this account.

The following activities count as qualifying transactions to keep your United points active and delay expiration:

• To qualify as a MileagePlus member, one simply has to fly on any United flight, United Express, or any other Star Alliance airline that awards United Mileage credit. This includes award tickets, upgrades, and other normal, normally priced tickets.
• Miles accrued by using a ‘MileagePlus credit card’ to make purchases.
• Being gifted miles or directly transferred to your account from a partner program or your account.
• Booking and crediting a flight through MileagePlus and using United miles to take an award flight.
• This is done by donating the miles through United’s donation platform to the desired charity.

Technically, anything that changes your account balance reactivates the 18-month expiration period, whether it is a crediting or debiting entry. Just a half-century-earning transaction from the United credit card used in any purchase will help to prevent the United Miles from expiring for another one and a half years.

When do you know that your point on United Airlines will expire?

For details on when your United loyalty account is due to expire and to see the status of your points, log into your MileagePlus account online. To complete the process, follow the steps below: First, go to the United website or mobile app and log in to your Account Home page, where you will locate an “Expiration” field. This shows the period within which the user has to spend the accumulated loyalty points. You can also check the date you intend to take action to prevent the points from expiring.

For 8 months from the expiration date, United sends you email and in-app notifications to alert you of the need to make a move to keep your miles active. However, it’s important from time to time to check your account so you may not be missing any alerts.

Ways to prevent United Airlines from expiring The following are the simplest methods that can help prevent United Airlines miles from expiring:

It is very easy to keep United loyalty points active, as their inactivity only requires minimal interaction after 18 months. Here are some of the easiest ways to meet this requirement: Here are some of the easiest ways to meet this requirement:

• See any Universal Studio or make any purchase using your United MileagePlus credit card. And for every dollar you spend, you get several miles, and the miles you earn can help extend the timeline of the card. If you do not frequently use your card, then a good idea would be to set a calendar reminder to utilize your card occasionally.
• Install the MileagePlus X app, which also offers multiple chances to gain miles for regular spending on food and other necessary purchases. United also has several shopping partners, enabling customers to earn United loyalty points from non-flight retail transactions.
• Utilize the points you earned through hotel partners or the Chase Ultimate Rewards program to contribute to your United account balance. Most hotel chain partners, as well as Chase Ultimate Rewards, have 1:1 or even higher transfer rates. The transfer also falls under the account activity.
• Click through the MileagePlus Shopping Mall, where you can get extra award miles every time you shop at the stores that are featured. This way, United Miles can be kept active, and there is often a chance to shop online at least several times a week.
• Redeem your United miles and get a flight with a mileage plan. Using the miles to get an award ticket is considered an activity on the account that extends the expiration of the miles. Still, if you have a few hundred miles, booking even a one-way short flight is possible.
• This way, you can transfer your United miles to another person through your account. Accumulating mileage gifts is considered an activity of the accounts and does not necessarily involve transferred amounts.

You feel some loyalty has been lost when you lose your United Airlines miles to expiration. Nevertheless, there are many basic strategies to ensure that your United mileage is not allowed to expire, which makes this scenario quite preventable. However, it is important to note that any flight you take on United, any flight on United Express, or any purchase of frequent flyer miles, transfers, or redemptions will accrue the activity that is necessary to prevent your United points from expiring after 18 months.

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