CNBC Select published a guide on preventing airline and hotel rewards from expiring. They listed four ways to keep points alive. They did this because apparently grown adults need instructions on how to not lose fake money.
The premise assumes you accumulated enough points to worry about. Most people fly twice a year on Spirit and stay at a Hampton Inn their company booked. Their rewards balance rounds to zero. They're not losing sleep over 1,200 Hilton Honors points expiring in Q3.
But let's say you're special. You put every purchase on a co-branded credit card. You signed up for dining programs. You forwarded your electric bill to Delta for some reason. Now you have points. Congratulations. You own a depreciating asset with no legal protection, no FDIC backing, and terms of service that change whenever an airline needs to pad quarterly earnings.
The four strategies are probably things like book a cheap flight, transfer points to a partner program, donate to charity, or buy a magazine subscription. Thrilling stuff. Real edge-of-your-seat financial planning. You could also just use the points before they expire, but that requires knowing when they expire, which requires logging into an account you haven't touched since 2019 when you flew to Phoenix for a wedding you didn't want to attend.
Here's the technical analysis: miles are a liability on an airline's balance sheet. When they expire, that liability disappears. The airline wins. You lose. This isn't a market inefficiency you can exploit. It's a loyalty program designed by the same people who charge you $45 to check a bag.
The smartest move is to stop treating Southwest Rapid Rewards like a retirement account.
Photo by Lumin Osity on Unsplash
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