Do American AAdvantage miles expire? Execs hold firm on airline's policy

30.11.2024 - 15:43 / thepointsguy.com / Delta Skymiles / Robert Isom

Do American Airlines AAdvantage miles ever expire? Eventually, yes — and it appears that won't change anytime soon.

American Airlines largely stands alone among the four largest U.S. carriers that control around 80% of the U.S. market share in the airline industry.

AAdvantage miles expire after 24 months of inactivity.

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Though there are easy ways to keep your miles active, American's policy is certainly more stringent than what you'll find at its top competitors. Frequent flyer miles never expire for Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus and Southwest Rapid Rewards members, for instance.

Might American change its policy? In the airline industry, carriers frequently make policy changes to match competitors. Look no further than the wave of airlines that hiked baggage fees in early 2024 — or the move a long list of airlines globally have moved toward dynamic award pricing.

However, it appears American isn't in any hurry to change its stance on mileage expiration.

Read more: How to keep your airline and hotel points and miles from expiring

Last month, on the company's third-quarter earnings call, a Wall Street analyst asked American CEO Robert Isom whether the company had any plans to follow in the footsteps of its largest competitors and shift to a "miles never expire" policy.

"We're constantly looking at ways to better engage our customers not only from a loyalty perspective, but also from a value perspective," Isom replied, offering a rather indirect answer to the question — but one that seemed to suggest American is comfortable with its policy, as-is.

"While there may be some carriers that are doing something different, I do know one thing: You take a look at any type of assessment of the value of a mile on American Airlines, versus anyone else, and you'll see that we absolutely generate more value for our customers," Isom added.

To be fair, Isom has a point about the value of American's loyalty currency. According to TPG's November 2024 points and miles valuations, AAdvantage miles are worth approximately 1.6 cents per mile. That's currently the best of any U.S. airline, exceeding Delta SkyMiles (1.2 cents), United MileagePlus miles (1.35 cents), Southwest Rapid Rewards points (1.4 cents), Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles (1.4 cents) and JetBlue TrueBlue points (1.3 cents).

We should also note that while AAdvantage miles technically expire after 24 months of account inactivity, it's incredibly easy to keep your miles active.

Earning or redeeming miles on just one flight will do the trick. You can also keep your miles active without even leaving the house by earning miles through the AAdvantage e-shopping portal or another one of American's