“We want to demonstrate to our members that we are committing to them for the long haul, and giving customers a lifetime to use miles is an exceptionally meaningful benefit,” Luc Bondar, United’s vice president of loyalty and president of MileagePlus, said in a statement.
While United’s announcement said the new policy was meant to give members “a lifetime to use miles,” spokeswoman Maddie King said those miles could even outlive some people, since there are no hard rules dictating what happens to miles after someone dies. “We work with family members who have lost loved ones to figure out the best way to assist them with MileagePlus accounts and miles,” she said in an email.
The change leaves American Airlines and Southwest as the largest U.S. carriers with miles or points that expire if travelers don’t fly or take other action that would keep their accounts active. Miles on American expire after 18 months of inactivity; at Southwest, points expire in 24 months. Alaska Airlines, a smaller carrier, also warns that inactive accounts expire after two years and miles are deleted.
Industry watchers said they expect to see other airlines follow United’s new move.
“With Delta and now United offering no expiration date for all customers, I would expect American to follow,” says Zach Honig, editor at large of the travel website The Points Guy, which tracks expiration policies at airlines around the world. “Their program is just not as competitive now.”
“Southwest already has very liberal ticketing policies — no cancellation penalties, no mileage reinstatement fees, etc., so for Southwest, they already have a huge fan base, and one that’s very happy with their program, and the ability to use those miles on a much more regular basis, since the fees are almost nonexistent,” he said in an email. “I think Southwest will eventually move to a no-expiration policy, but I certainly expect American to be the more ‘urgent’ of the remaining carriers.”
Southwest did not immediately respond to questions about its program, called Rapid Rewards. Leslie Scott, a spokeswoman for American, said Wednesday that the airline had no news to share about its program.
“We constantly evaluate our AAdvantage program, which is designed to provide value to members every step of the way,” she said in an email.