Each Friday, we publish a reader success or mistake story. Last week, we wrote a success story about a reader who used a tool to save $700 on flights he’d already booked. This week, we’re sharing a mistake story from Manu Kohli, who lost more than 100,000 Avianca Lifemiles after misunderstanding one small — but critical — detail of the program’s expiration policy.
What happened?
“Avianca Lifemiles are quite valuable for booking travel on United Airlines, so I spent considerable time and resources accumulating Avianca miles,” he wrote. “I didn’t always have a redemption in mind, so to prevent my miles from expiring, I would periodically transfer 1,000 miles from my American Express card to the Lifemiles program. After a number of high-value redemptions, I had a little more than 100,000 Avianca miles remaining, which TPG values at around $1,400.”
Indeed, TPG’s May 2026 valuations peg the value of 100,000 Lifemiles at $1,400.
However, this is where the costly misunderstanding occurred. “Given that I had just recently redeemed my miles, I didn’t initiate the usual 1,000-mile transfer from Amex since I assumed that redeeming Lifemiles would be considered as qualifying activity to keep my miles balance active. Unfortunately, this was not the case. After 12 months, my entire 100,000 Lifemiles balance was set to 0 since, unlike most airline miles programs, Avianca does not consider redemption as qualifying activity, only miles accrual,” he wrote.
Manu admits, “It is incumbent upon the traveler to make sure that you read the terms and conditions for your mileage program to ensure that you do not lose your valuable miles.” But this is still an expensive lesson to learn the hard way.
Related: When do travel rewards expire? A guide to expiration policies for popular loyalty programs
Why it happened
As Manu learned too late, Avianca Lifemiles has a miles expiration policy that’s a bit different from most other programs.
Lifemiles usually expire 12 months after your last accrual transaction. However, Avianca elite members and cardholders who earn miles through an Avianca credit card get a longer 24-month expiration window. As long as you earn Lifemiles at least once every 12 months (or 24 months if you’re eligible for a longer expiration window), none of your Lifemiles will expire. Even a small qualifying earning activity — such as transferring rewards or buying miles — can reset the expiration clock.
As Manu noted, his miles expired because Lifemiles expire based on the date of your last accrual activity. That’s unusual because many airline and hotel loyalty programs reset expiration clocks through either earning or redeeming rewards. With Lifemiles, redeeming miles does not reset the expiration clock — only earning new miles does.
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Related: What happens to your points and miles after you die?
How to avoid this
Some loyalty programs will notify you before your rewards expire, but many won’t — and some even make it difficult to determine exactly when your rewards will expire.
Avianca Lifemiles clearly shows your miles expiration date when you log in to your account.
However, I highly recommend using a tool like AwardWallet to track your loyalty balances. Full disclosure: My husband works for AwardWallet, although we used the service long before he joined the company. AwardWallet shows when your rewards will expire on your dashboard and also sends email alerts when rewards or other benefits, such as free night certificates, are about to expire.
If your rewards are set to expire before you’ll be able to use them, consider whether there’s a way to extend their validity. In Manu’s case, he could have transferred another 1,000 transferable rewards. Alternatively, he could have gotten and spent on the Avianca Lifemiles American Express® Card or Avianca Lifemiles American Express® Elite Card.
The information for the Avianca Lifemiles American Express Card and Avianca Lifemiles American Express Elite Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
But especially if your points or miles aren’t set to expire for another few months, you may be able to extend their validity by earning through a dining rewards program or online shopping portal. Or, as I did with my expiring Choice Privileges points, you may be able to extend the expiration date of your rewards by purchasing points or miles.
Related: How to keep your points and miles from expiring
Bottom line
Points and miles have real value, but only when you redeem them. And to redeem them, they must be unexpired. As such, it’s important to know when your rewards will expire, and whether you can extend their validity through specific activities.
If you have your own story to share with other TPG readers, fill out our mistake story form or success story form. (For ongoing issues that you feel owed compensation for circumstances beyond your control, please contact TPG’s ombudsman, Michelle Couch-Friedman, at ombudsman@thepointsguy.com.)
And if you’ve also had miles expire or have a favorite way to keep your miles from expiring, feel free to comment below.
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