Loyalty Programs in Canada: Expiry of Points and Miles

Expiration of Points and Miles – Banking Programs

As a general rule, bank programs do not allow points to expire as long as the credit card account remains active.

Sometimes you want to close a card and keep the points for future use.

Of course, if you close a credit card account, the points attached to that account will be lost (they can usually be used within 90 days of closing the account, but the process will be more complicated).

Here are a few tips on how to keep your points when closing cards with the major programs.

American Express Membership Rewards

If you need to close a card and still have Membership Rewards points left in your account, you can keep them with this trick if you have more than one card. Contact American Express (by phone or chat) and ask the agent to combine your Membership Rewards points into one account.

Once your accounts are combined, you will see your points appear in a main account: it will say that “your loyalty information is linked to your card ending in…”.

If you cancel a card (even the main card on which your points are displayed), the points will remain in the same points account: another linked card will become the main card.

If you don’t use your Membership Rewards points before closing your card or combine them with another account, they will disappear immediately.

Scotiabank

As of 2021, Scotiabank’s in-house program, Scotia Rewards, no longer exists. The bank is now a partner of Scene+, an external rewards program. Refer to the Scene+ section below for rules on expiry of these points.

BMO Rewards

If you wish to cancel a card and still keep your BMO Rewards points, you will need to apply for another card BEFORE closing your account. We suggest that you apply for a no-fee card, such as the BMO eclipse rise Visa* Card.

Once you receive your new card, you can call BMO and ask to link it to your existing BMO Rewards points account. Only then will you be able to cancel your other BMO Rewards card.

NBC À la carte Rewards

If you wish to close a NBC À la carte Rewards card and still keep your points, you can switch to a less expensive card. However, no card associated with NBC Rewards has no annual fee. In addition, you will not be eligible for a new welcome bonus for the next 24 months.

In our opinion, it’s best to maintain your National Bank World Elite Mastercard active, taking advantage of its various benefits every year.

CIBC Aventura

When closing a CIBC Aventura Card, points can be transferred to another product. Consider the CIBC Aventura^® Visa* Card to keep your account open and avoid paying any annual fees.

MBNA Rewards

When you decide to close your MBNA Rewards card, you have the option of transferring your accumulated points to another product. One option to consider is the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus^® Mastercard^®, which allows you to keep your account open without incurring annual fees.

TD Rewards

It is possible to transfer TD Rewards points before or after opening a new credit card linked to the program. In the event of a product change, points will automatically be transferred to the new Card.

If a new TD Rewards Card is opened before cancelling the old one, points will be transferable between accounts under certain conditions:

• You are the primary account holder of both accounts and each account is linked to the TD Rewards program;
• Both TD Rewards Program accounts are open, active and in good standing;
• And you have a balance of at least 10,000 TD Rewards points to transfer to the other eligible TD Rewards Program.

The TD Rewards Card with no annual fee is the TD Rewards Visa* Card.

RBC Avion Rewards

RBC Avion points are transferable between accounts of the same primary cardholder. Points can therefore be transferred to a card with no annual fee, such as the RBC ION Visa card.

For Avion Select members, points expire after 5 years of inactivity on the account. Eligible activities include obtaining or using cash back, accumulating, redeeming, transferring or converting points.

Expiration of Points and Miles – Airline Programs

As a general rule, airline programs do not allow points to expire as long as the account is active. Certain “activities” must have taken place on the account within the last 12 to 36 months, depending on the program.

An activity can be earning miles or redeeming miles, for example. Generally speaking, once you’ve got air miles, there’s not much else you can do but use them in the program.

What’s more, airline miles are generally not transferable to other programs. That’s why we always recommend transferring American Express Membership Rewards points or RBC Avion Rewards points ONLY when you’re ready to book an award ticket.

The next sections present detailed points and miles expiry rules for the most popular airline programs in Canada. Next, a large table summarizes information for all airlines operating flights in Canada, plus a few popular U.S. airlines.

Aeroplan (Air Canada)

First of all, having a Aeroplan credit card keeps your account active, even if you don’t accumulate or use points.

In addition, you can request a retroactive credit for Aeroplan points in your account up to six months after a missed transaction (such as a flight where you did not provide your membership number).

If your Aeroplan points are about to expire and you have no travel plans with Air Canada, consider these tips to keep your account active:

• Provide your Aeroplan membership number during stays at partner hotels or car rentals.
• Use the Aeroplan eStore to shop with online partners such as Amazon, The Bay, Apple and others;
• Provide your Aeroplan membership number when travelling with a partner carrier, including all Star Alliance member airlines.
• Use your Aeroplan points to buy an award ticket, rent a car, book a hotel or buy Wi-Fi on board;
• Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to your Aeroplan account;
• Transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to your Aeroplan account;
• Take surveys via e-Rewards and credit your rewards in Aeroplan points;
• Transfer points to another member or donate your points to charity;
• Or, as a last resort, buy Aeroplan points.

Alaska Mileage Plan (Alaska Airlines)

If more than two years have passed since the last activity in your account, it will be locked. You will need to call customer service to verify your identity and reinstate your account.

But don’t worry: the miles you’ve accumulated in the past will still be there after you reactivate your profile. To maintain an active Alaska Mileage Plan account, you can:

• Use your miles to purchase an award ticket for a flight on Alaska Airlines or one of its partners;
• Credit miles to your Alaska Mileage Plan account for air travel on Alaska Airlines, Condor or one of our many partner airlines (American Airlines, British Airways, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and all members of the oneworld alliance);
• Provide your membership number during stays at partner hotels or car rentals.
• Book hotels with Alaska Airlines Hotels;
• Shopping on Alaska Mileage Plan Shopping ;
• Buy a magazine subscription with your miles;
• Transfer your miles to another member or donate them to a good cause;
• And, as a last resort, buy Alaska Mileage Plan miles.

Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)

To maintain an active Cathay Pacific Asia Miles account, you must receive or use at least one Asia Mile per 18-month period. When an eligible activity is performed, the validity of the miles is extended for another 18 months. To keep the activity in your account, you can:

• Book an award flight with Cathay Pacific or its Oneworld alliance partners;
• Earn miles for flights purchased and operated on Cathay Pacific or its partner airlines;
• Make a purchase with the Cathay World Elite^® Mastercard^® – powered by Neo;
• Provide your membership number during stays at partner hotels or car rentals.
• Convert American Express Membership Rewards, RBC Avion Rewards or Marriott Bonvoy points into Asia Miles;
• Shop online at the Cathay Shop;
• Earn Asia Miles at partner restaurants in Hong Kong;
• And use miles to book a hotel or car rental;

It is not possible to purchase Asia Miles simply to maintain account activity. Miles may only be purchased when booking an award ticket, and may not exceed 30% of the miles required for that ticket.

The British Airways Club (Avios)

The British Airways Club offers a Family & Friends account. This makes it even easier to keep your account active in a variety of ways, as long as one of your group members is involved in one of these eligible activities:

• Book an award flight with British Airways or its Oneworld alliance partners;
• Credit miles for flights purchased and operated on British Airways, Qatar Airways, Iberia or other partner airlines;
• Make a purchase with the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card;
• Provide your membership number during stays at partner hotels or car rentals.
• Transfer American Express Membership Rewards, RBC Avion Rewards or Marriott Bonvoy to British Airways Club ;
• Use Avios to book hotels, car rentals, excursions or wine tastings;
• Donate your points to charity;
• And as a last resort, buy Avios.

The Avios expiration counter will be reset to zero for ALL members of the Family & Friends group.

Etihad Guest

To maintain an active Etihad Guest account, you must receive or use at least one mile per 18-month period. When an eligible activity is performed, the validity of the miles is extended for another 18 months. To keep the activity in your account, you can:

• Earn miles for flights purchased and operated on Etihad Airways or its partners;
• Book an award flight with Etihad Airways or its partners (Air Canada, Air France-KLM, American Airlines, Korean Air and others);
• Provide your membership number during stays at partner hotels or car rentals.
• Convert American Express or Marriott Bonvoy Membership Rewards points into Etihad Guest Miles;
• Earn or use miles to book a hotel or car rental through Etihad Travel Rewards;
• And, as a last resort, buy Etihad Guest Miles.

For Platinum members, Etihad Guest miles do not expire.

Flying Blue (Air France-KLM)

Flying Blue divides mileage extension transactions in two. Here are the “global extension transactions” which extend the validity of ALL your miles by two years from the date of the transaction in question:

• Take an eligible flight at least once every two years with Air France, KLM, Joon, HOP!, Aircalin, Kenya Airways, TAROM or other SkyTeam partners;
• Make a purchase with the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard^® or another eligible co-branded credit card.

These are the types of “partial extension transactions” which extend the validity of miles earned with one of these partners by 2 years from the date of the transaction. These transactions do NOT extend the validity of miles earned with “global extension transactions”:

• Earn Flying Blue miles when you stay at partner hotels, rent a car with a partner agency or book experiences.

All other account activities do not extend the mileage validity period. For members with Elite or Elite Plus status, miles do not expire.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios)

To keep your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account active, you can:

• Book an award flight with Qatar Airways or its Oneworld alliance partners;
• Credit miles for flights purchased and operated on Qatar Airways, British Airways, Iberia or other partner airlines;
• Shop at Qatar Duty Free at Doha airport;
• Provide your membership number during stays at partner hotels or car rentals.
• Transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club;
• Use Avios to book a hotel or rental car;
• And as a last resort, buy Avios.

If your Avios have expired, they can be reclaimed up to one year after expiry, for a fee of 0.015 USD per point.

Finally, for members with Platinum status, Avios do not expire.

WestJet Rewards

Basic WestJet points include:

• Points earned on eligible WestJet purchases, such as flights, vacation packages, car rentals and flights with ;
• Points earned on purchases made with a WestJet co-branded credit card;
• Points earned by transferring RBC Avion Rewards points to WestJet Rewards;
• Points purchased from a reseller such as points.com.

WestJet bonus points received as part of a contest or promotion expire on the dates specified in the promotion conditions. In the absence of conditions, points will expire one year after being awarded.

SkyMiles (Delta Air Lines)

VIPorter (Porter Airlines)

Previously, it was only possible to earn VIPorter points on flight-related expenses on Porter Airlines and its partners. Now, it’s possible to earn points on every dollar spent with one of two new co-branded VIPorter credit cards:

• BMO VIPorter Mastercard
• BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard

A single dollar spent on one of these cards can be used to keep your VIPorter account active and prevent points from expiring.

Expiration of Points and Miles – Summary Table

Here is a summary of the expiry rules for airline loyalty programs. The last column indicates whether it is possible to extend the validity of points or miles by performing an eligible activity on the account.

*Special conditions apply. See previous sections for details.

Expiration of Points and Miles – Hotel and Other Programs

Finally, let’s review the main point expiry rules for the major hotel rewards programs available to Canadians, in addition to AIR MILES and Scene+.

Best Western Rewards

Hilton Honors

To keep your account active by earning or redeeming points, you can:

• Stay at any hotel from the Hilton portfolio;
• Provide your membership number when renting a car from Alamo, Enterprise or National;
• Use points for car rentals or show tickets;
• Link your Hilton Honors account with Lyft and make an eligible ride;
• Earn points at select U.S. restaurants with the Hilton Honors Dining program;
• Participate in Guest Opinion Rewards surveys;
• Donate your points to a charity;
• And, as a last resort, buy Hilton Honors points.

Marriott Bonvoy

To keep your Marriott Bonvoy account active, you can:

• Stay at a Marriott Bonvoy portfolio hotel;
• Make a purchase with a co-branded credit card;
• Complete a vacation home stay via Homes & Villas by Marriott International;
• Transfer Membership Rewards points from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy;
• Convert Marriott Bonvoy points into miles on partner airlines;
• Earn restaurant points with Eat Around Town (U.S. only) and book excursions with Marriott Bonvoy Tours & Activities;
• Link your Uber account and perform an eligible ride or delivery (U.S. only);
• Indicate your membership number at participating Marriott golf courses or spas;
• Donate your points for a good cause;
• And, as a last resort, buy Marriott Bonvoy points.

One-night free certificates obtained each year with one Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card or a Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card expire one year after issue.

Finally, giving or transferring points to another member or receiving points as a gift or transfer from another member is not considered an eligible activity.

AIR MILES

Scene+

If you have a Scotiabank product affiliated with the Scene+ program, your points do not expire as long as the account remains open. Otherwise, you must earn or use at least one Scene+ point every 24 months to keep your account active. You can:

• Accumulate Scene+ points by shopping at partners such as IGA, Rachelle-Béry, Les Marchés Traditions, Cineplex, Home Hardware, Harvey’s and many others;
• Earn and use points with Scene+ Travel by Expedia;
• Shop online with Rakuten Scene+.

Tool to Help You Monitor Expiration

To help you keep an eye on the expiry dates of your rewards programs, we recommend you sign up for the excellent AwardWallet tool.

Finally, you can find a detailed presentation of its functionalities in this article: