Do Credit Card Points Expire? Inactivity, Closure, and Recovery

For most major credit card rewards programs, points do not expire as long as your account stays open, active, and in good standing. That’s the short answer to whether credit card points expire, and it holds for issuer-run programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Capital One miles. The longer answer is that points can still disappear — through inactivity, account closure, missed payments, returns, or conduct the issuer treats as program abuse — and the rules differ sharply between issuer-held rewards and the airline or hotel miles earned through co-branded cards.

When Points Stay Yours

Chase Ultimate Rewards points have no expiration date while your card account is active.¹ American Express Membership Rewards and Capital One follow a similar approach for cards within their own rewards ecosystems. If your card earns points that live in the issuer’s system, keeping the account open and in good standing is generally enough.

Co-branded airline and hotel cards work differently. The miles or hotel points you earn are deposited into a separate loyalty program with its own expiration rules, and that clock runs independently of your credit card. American Airlines AAdvantage miles, for example, expire if your account has no qualifying activity for 24 consecutive months. Even keeping the credit card open won’t save those miles if you’re not earning inside the airline’s program.

Before assuming your rewards are safe, check which system holds them. That determines which expiration rules apply.

Ways You Can Still Lose Points

Inactivity

For programs that do impose expiration, going dormant is the most common trigger. Issuers define inactivity as a stretch with no qualifying transaction — no purchase, no payment, no redemption. Unredeemed rewards can be forfeited if the card sits unused too long.² The window varies by program but commonly falls between 12 and 24 months.

A single small purchase resets the clock. If you rarely use a card, put a small recurring charge on it, such as a streaming subscription or monthly donation. Applying a few points toward a statement credit also counts as activity in most programs.

Account Closure

Closing a credit card account typically means losing any unredeemed rewards attached to it. Whether you close the card or the issuer shuts it down, points that haven’t been redeemed or transferred are forfeited.¹

You have a few options before a closure takes effect:

Transfer the points to another card you hold with the same issuer. Chase, for example, lets you shift Ultimate Rewards points to another open Chase card before closing one.¹
Move the points to an affiliated airline or hotel loyalty program, if your issuer allows transfers. Once transferred, they belong to the loyalty program and survive the credit card closure.
Redeem the points — as cash back, travel, gift cards, or whatever your program offers — before you cancel.

For co-branded airline and hotel cards, miles or hotel points you’ve already earned usually sit in the loyalty program’s account, not the credit card account. Closing the card won’t erase those.

Missed Payments

Some issuers withhold rewards earned during any billing period where the minimum payment wasn’t made. American Express won’t credit Membership Rewards points for a billing cycle where you failed to pay the minimum, and you have only 12 months from that statement’s closing date to reinstate those points.³

Program Violations

Issuers may revoke points for behavior they consider program abuse. Opening and closing accounts repeatedly to collect sign-up bonuses, sometimes called churning, is one of the most cited reasons for account shutdowns and voided points. Automated systems track spending patterns, and flagged accounts can be closed with little warning.

In a 2024 circular, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned that revoking rewards based on vague catch-all language such as “gaming” or “abuse” — especially where those terms are left to the issuer’s discretion — may violate federal prohibitions against unfair and deceptive practices. The agency also flagged promotional sign-up offers denied based on hidden conditions consumers weren’t reasonably aware of.⁴

Returns and Negative Balances

Returning a purchase that earned rewards usually means losing the points from that transaction. Once the refund posts, the issuer deducts the corresponding points, including any bonus points, from your rewards balance. If you’ve already spent those points, your balance can go negative. You’ll keep earning on new purchases, but you can’t redeem again until the balance is back in positive territory.⁵

How to Get Lost Points Back

Recovery depends on the issuer and why you lost the points. For points withheld due to a missed payment, some issuers offer a reinstatement process once your account is current. American Express charges a $35 fee per billing cycle per card account and requires the request within 12 months of the affected statement’s closing date.³

For points lost to account closure or extended inactivity, the options are narrower. Some issuers may allow you to reopen a recently closed account, but restoring the rewards balance is not guaranteed even if the account is reactivated. Contact the rewards department directly and ask whether reinstatement is available, what the deadline is, and what fees apply. Answers often turn on how much time has passed.

What the Cardholder Agreement Tells You

The surest way to know whether your points are at risk is to review your cardholder agreement, specifically the section labeled “Rewards Rules,” “Program Terms,” or “Forfeiture.” This is usually accessible through your online banking portal or by calling the issuer. Rewards terms are often in a separate document from the main agreement, so look for a dedicated rewards terms link.⁶

Focus on three things: whether the program has an inactivity-based expiration period, what else triggers forfeiture (missed payments, closure, program violations), and whether your rewards sit within the issuer’s own ecosystem or a third-party loyalty program. Check your most recent statement for your current balance and the date of your last qualifying transaction. If your program has an inactivity clock, that date is when it started running.²

Your Rights If Points Disappear

Federal law requires credit card issuers to give at least 45 days’ written notice before making significant changes to your account terms, including changes to fees and other key conditions of the cardholder agreement.⁷ The implementing regulation defines “significant change” as a change to terms issuers were required to disclose at account opening, which can include rewards terms depending on how they were disclosed.⁸ Each notice must explain your right to cancel the account before the change takes effect.

Even with these rules, the CFPB has found that rewards program terms are often unavailable to consumers until after they apply, and issuers frequently reserve the right to change those terms at any time for any reason.⁶ The agency has warned that fine-print disclosures alone may not be enough to justify forfeiture if consumers weren’t meaningfully informed of the conditions.⁴

If you believe points were improperly deducted, dispute the error in writing. Your letter must reach the issuer within 60 days after the first statement showing the problem was sent to you.⁹

Points After a Cardholder Dies

When a cardholder dies, rewards are handled according to the program’s terms, which vary widely. Some issuers forfeit the balance. Others allow an authorized representative of the estate to request redemption within a limited window; American Express, for example, permits estates to submit a formal request to redeem a deceased cardholder’s Membership Rewards balance.

For joint accounts, the surviving account holder generally keeps access to the rewards balance. Authorized users may not — their ability to redeem or transfer points depends on the program’s rules. If passing rewards to heirs matters to you, include your rewards accounts in your estate planning documents so family members can act before any deadlines pass.

1
Chase. Do Chase Rewards Points Expire
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FDIC. Rewards Cards – Minimize the Pitfalls, Maximize the Benefits
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American Express. How to Reinstate Membership Rewards Points
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-07 – Design, Marketing, and Administration of Credit Card Rewards Programs
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Chase. How Refunds and Returns Work on a Credit Card
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Finds CARD Act Helped Consumers Avoid More Than $16 Billion in Gotcha Credit Card Fees
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1637 – Open End Consumer Credit Plans
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eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.9 – Subsequent Disclosure Requirements
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Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges