Fortunately this is one of the points expiration stories that falls in the “all’s well that ends well” category.
In this post:
My dad had 53K British Airways Avios expire
Long story short, on Tuesday I was updating points balances through AwardWallet, and noticed that my dad’s British Airways Executive Club balance went to zero. As it turned out, he had 52,627 Avios expire. Oops.
I’m not sure how exactly this happened. I manage the loyalty program accounts for everyone in my family, and making sure points don’t expire is one of the most basic things I keep an eye on. I guess sometimes things slip through the cracks.
Frankly I haven’t put much thought into points expiration since the start of the pandemic, as most programs have paused the expiration of points (go figure British Airways Executive Club is one program that hasn’t, for whatever reason).
This was my fault, plain and simple, though hopefully others will learn from my mistake — British Airways Avios are expiring as normal.
What is British Airways’ Avios expiration policy?
British Airways Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. According to the British Airways Executive Club terms:
Your Avios stay with you as long as you collect, spend, purchase or share at least one Avios every 36 months — any longer and your Avios will expire and be removed, so remember to take action before those three years are up.
How do you stop British Airways Avios from expiring?
To stop British Airways Avios from expiring, you just need any sort of activity at least once every 36 months, which could include earning or redeeming Avios. That’s ultimately not a huge ask.
What are some easy ways to prevent your Avios from expiring?
- You could purchase 1,000 Avios directly from British Airways Executive Club
- You could transfer a small number of points from Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, or Capital One
- You could make an online purchase through the British Airways Executive Club eStore
- You could book a reward flight with your Avios
There are many other ways to earn or redeem Avios, but I think those are some of the easiest.
How do you reinstate expired Avios?
I decided to phone up British Airways Executive Club to ask about the possibility of having the expired Avios reinstated. I wasn’t coming up with any grand story about the Avios expiring, but rather just explained that it slipped my mind, and I was wondering if they could possibly be reinstated as a one-time exception.
The agent informed me that this was indeed possible, and there seems to be an official policy here:
- You can have British Airways Avios reinstated at no cost as long as they’ve expired in the past three months
- In order to reinstate them, you’ll first need to have some sort of account activity, which could be transferring 1,000 points to British Airways from a partner
- Then you’re supposed to call back, and Avios will be reinstated as a “one time exception”
That sounded easy enough. I would have just done this instantly while on phone, but I wasn’t near a computer. So I hung up, transferred 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and then called back to have them reinstated.
When I called back the agent didn’t sound quite as certain. “I can’t make any guarantees, but I can send a request to back office.” She then asked me the reason the Avios expired, and wrote down my explanation.
Sure enough, just 24 hours later the Avios showed up in my account again.
That was a fairly painless process. The only major downside to all of this was the amount of time that I spent on hold. Don’t even ask me how long, though that alone is enough reason to make sure your Avios don’t expire. 😉
I can’t guarantee this policy about reinstating Avios will stick around forever (I’m not sure if it’s just during the pandemic, or what), so if your Avios expire you’ll want to phone British Airways to ask about the policy for them being reinstated.
Bottom line
British Airways Avios expire after 36 months of account inactivity. Qualifying activity would include earning or redeeming Avios. While British Airways hasn’t paused the expiration of Avios during the pandemic, at least the program currently lets you easily reinstate Avios within three months of them expiring.
What has your experience been with British Airways’ Avios expiration policy?
I received email that my miles were expiring in 5 months. I then decided to buy the cheapest item in the shop https://highlifeshop.com/hip-original-oat-milk-vegan-chocolate-bar-70g and paid 1000 avios (I know I overpaid but still better than forfeiting over 3000+ points and I didn't want to spend £6) to get it delivered to "the owner occupier" to one of my old addresses in Brighton, UK as they only allow to deliver in the UK.
I tried and was successful in having my 60k Avios restored. They said I needed to keep my account active within the next 3 months in order to keep my Avios - which I've now done so.
I've just tried to get 78,000 Avios points that expired a week ago reactivated...begged the agent to help me, but somehow, I ended up getting lectured about the email they sent me in July reminding me to extend...and then told me, there's nothing we can do...I've been trying to buy Avios points for the last two hours and for some reason can't. I'm very open to any suggestions, but I guess at this stage, it's just a lost cause.
I would suggest that you keep trying. I was on the phone for about an hour last night until I spoke to someone who was prepared to contact back office - and received an email this morning confirming the reinstatement
Does anyone know if you transfer your points over eg. from your credit card, then change your mind can you transfer them them back?
my iberia avios pts expire in 3 weeks. i was going to transfer pts from one of my travel credit cards, but thought i'd ask first if that will work. i asked on iberia's fb accct as well as by email. both reps said transfer from credit card will not extend the expiration date!
i never got an email from iberia about pts expiring soon.
i called, and was told today (may 7,...
my iberia avios pts expire in 3 weeks. i was going to transfer pts from one of my travel credit cards, but thought i'd ask first if that will work. i asked on iberia's fb accct as well as by email. both reps said transfer from credit card will not extend the expiration date!
i never got an email from iberia about pts expiring soon.
i called, and was told today (may 7, 2022) that iberia will send an email next week or so saying iberia will not be expiring pts this year due to covid.
ben, have you heard anything about this?!
Ba is now partners with Qatar Airways. I have opened an account with Qatar and the 2 accounts are now linked allowing me to transfer points from one to the other.
If i do that does that prevent my points from expiring????????
Hi, Richard. I was thinking of doing the exact same thing. Did this keep your BA Avios from expiring?
Since I have been emailed to say my Avios will expire I have tried ringing BA three times waited for all the recorded messages only to be told they can't help me and to ring back another time.How long is a piece of string?
I have an extremely busy life caring for my disabled son Dreaming of a holiday which Covid has prevented . Now face prospect of loosing all my Avios!!!!
There must be a better customer service if they want me to use BA when I can?
I'm wondering if I book and flight and cancel it, even if I pay the $5-6 tax fee. Would that extend my mileage expiration date?
Though if that doesn't work I guess I'll have to buy something on the e-store or transfer.
Did this work for you? I noticed that my Avios expire in 10 days... Thank you!
I can confirm that it works and my expiration date was extended after I booked and then cancelled the flight a couple hours later over the phone.
Another way to keep them alive is to transfer a small amount of BA Avios to another account, like your spouses account (or a second account you just made for yourself with a different email address). According to https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/executive-club/collecting-avios/avios-expiry-rules , "Transferring Avios will reset the 36-month period for both the person sending and the person receiving the Avios." If you still have not used them 36 months later, just transfer them back.
Another way to keep them alive is to transfer a small amount of BA Avios to another account, like your spouses account (or a second account you just made for yourself with a different email address). According to https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/executive-club/collecting-avios/avios-expiry-rules , "Transferring Avios will reset the 36-month period for both the person sending and the person receiving the Avios." If you still have not used them 36 months later, just transfer them back.
You have to pay to transfer?
Though you can make a pooled account for the family. But then you can only use it to book for family members and not random people not part of the family account.
Though when it's a pooled account all you need is one person on a small flight to credit the miles to your Ba account(meaning their own account which will extend yours as well.)
I just realized my 275000 Avios expired few months ago this May. There were a lot that went on in my family these 2 years and I missed the email to from BA. I wrote to them hoping they would make ex exception. I thought they would extend the expiry as other airlines would. I wrote to them hopefully they would make an exception.
Hi there, you’d think they would extend right, I mean I admire the bravery of those who are traveling, not just because covid is still merrily lurking about but all the travel confusion (BA has cancelled flights and restricted bookings until next year). I’ve got 78,800 points that expired last week and made over an hour of international calls being bounced around by robotic BA customer reps who I could barely understand in their Indian/English...
Hi there, you’d think they would extend right, I mean I admire the bravery of those who are traveling, not just because covid is still merrily lurking about but all the travel confusion (BA has cancelled flights and restricted bookings until next year). I’ve got 78,800 points that expired last week and made over an hour of international calls being bounced around by robotic BA customer reps who I could barely understand in their Indian/English accent (I’m not being racist, I’m Indian). My mom was diagnosed with cancer last month and I’ve been caring for her and I am longing to use my points next year and now they are lost because BA is being irrationally inflexible, still in a pandemic. If I don’t get my points back I’ll never travel with them again.
How do you know if any of your Avios are about to expire - apart from keeping a meticulous record? I have just lost a small number of Avios with the note "Points reset for new membership year". Not sure what that means...
I have been trying for months to add to my avoid air miles before they run out! I used to do this with Tesco vouchers regularly but that has stopped. I have tried with nectar but hit a brick wall as dont recognise my account number. Tried ringing and emailing but no luck! Has anyone got an email address that they actually answer or even better a telephone number i can get through on without having to wait for hours the get cut off!!
Many thanks
Does anyone know if transferring miles between BA, Iberia, and/or Air Lingus extends the validity? And if not, what happens if you transfer your miles from one program where they are about to expire to another where they are not?
Never managed to get my Iberia account up and running to be able to transfer back and forth with would help with my expiring avios. I think you need some activity with the new Iberia account. So if I'm going down that path of adding 1k miles from chase or Amex. I'll just add them to my Iberia and that way I'll have the freedom to transfer amongst accounts . Assuming that will work.
I have prev received multiple emails from BA warning about upcoming points expiration. You might want to make sure they have an email you check regularly on file for your dad’s account.
I had nearly 20,000 Avios expire in December and I just noticed last week. I first tried calling but decided I didn’t want to hold indefinitely. I tweeted BA and they responded quickly with and email specifically for social media requests. I sent an email, explained I hadn’t been traveling due to the pandemic and asked for a one time curtesy reinstatement. Within 24 hours a received an reply explaining that the Avios were reinstated...
I had nearly 20,000 Avios expire in December and I just noticed last week. I first tried calling but decided I didn’t want to hold indefinitely. I tweeted BA and they responded quickly with and email specifically for social media requests. I sent an email, explained I hadn’t been traveling due to the pandemic and asked for a one time curtesy reinstatement. Within 24 hours a received an reply explaining that the Avios were reinstated and to fill out a survey asking if I was satisfied. The survey even asked if the tone of the email was professional. They really wanted to be sure I was happy! By the way, I’m “blue” status, literally zero clout with BA.
Other possibility is to buy a sightseeing activity. In my hometown Berlin was the cheapest one a audible sightseeing tour with an app for 250 avios. Now my avios are safe for the next 36 month.
Ben,
Assuming having the credit card and making a purchase is good enough. Think I have has most of mine more than 3 years and just pull the card out once a year.
A timely post. I have a lot of Avios potentially at risk in the next couple of months. Didn't they send you an email advising an expiration event?
Where do you find the expiration date on BA website?. I only see it on Award Wallet.
I have the same question...
You don't you just have to look at the statement and see when the last activity was. There isn't a firm number.
Does moving nectar points to Avios constitute a transaction on the account to prevent expiry of points.
Would love a post on how to deal with Iberia Avios. They provide horrible customer service. I had 65k points returned to my flight from a canceled flight (took 4 calls for the flight to be canceled). The day after the points were credited, they expired due to inactivity, despite (1) the award flight being booked less than 6 months prior, and (2) a different flight being credited to the account ~32 months ago, so...
Would love a post on how to deal with Iberia Avios. They provide horrible customer service. I had 65k points returned to my flight from a canceled flight (took 4 calls for the flight to be canceled). The day after the points were credited, they expired due to inactivity, despite (1) the award flight being booked less than 6 months prior, and (2) a different flight being credited to the account ~32 months ago, so within the last 36 months.
The Iberia support number only has voice prompts, and I often get connected to someone who says they can't help me, and there is no way for them to to elevate or connect me to the right person (so they say)
Iberia plus has an email address. You can write to that and they should be able to sort the stuff out. The people on the phone don't do much Iberia Plus stuff so they can't help that much.
Thanks. I have had more success with that, but 4/5 times the email response will be, in Spanish, "we don't understand your request, please fill out our online form". So really difficult to move the ball forward at all.
I contacted and escalated through multiple people in iberia plus after losing miles last year and wasn't able to get anywhere with them. They just kept referring to their policy that they had expired and it was final.
Cant you just use and spend on avios credit card for activity?
Yes. You can do that.