We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

Don’t Let Your Hard-Earned Rewards Expire (Cash Back Credit Cards Included!)

  • Andrew Wan

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    If you’ve been involved in the miles and points hobby for a while, you might be aware that some programs have expiration dates on the miles and points you earn.  But it can be easy to forget that the same rules can apply to cash back credit cards, as well!

    I’ve made the mistake of not paying attention and letting a few hundred dollars’ worth of rewards disappear into thin air.  And let me tell ya – that was a HUGE wake-up call for me to check the fine print on all of my cards to make sure I wouldn’t be losing any more!

    Simple tips like this can be the difference between Big Travel and NO travel.  You can sign-up for our newsletter if you want to stay on top of need-to-know info like that.

    Even if You Use Cash Back Credit Cards, the Cash You Earn Could Still Come With an Expiration Date!  Pay Attention to the Fine Print to Make Sure You Don’t Lose Out

    If you have a big stash of rewards, it’s worth it to periodically check the fine print and make sure they won’t be expiring before you have the chance to redeem them!

    The Return You Receive From Cash Back Credit Cards Aren’t Immune to Expiration Dates!

    A cash back credit card can be pretty awesome, because redeeming the rewards can be simpler than redeeming miles or points.  But don’t be fooled by the name!  Even though you’re earning cash back rewards, they’re not necessarily the equivalent of cash, and they could still have an expiration date on them!

    For instance, rewards earned on the Citi® Double Cash Card expire after 12 months without any qualifying activity on the account.  It would be a shame to have earned a huge stash of cash back rewards, only to log-in one day to find your rewards balance at zero!

    That’s pretty much what happened to me on my PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card.  I lost out on ~$150 in rewards because I didn’t pay attention to the fine print.  I assumed that because I was regularly using the card, and because it was issued by a credit union, the terms would be pretty favorable.

    Boy was I wrong.  Imagine the look on my face when I logged in one day and found my rewards balance at nearly zero!

    The information for the Citi Double Cash Card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    Your Credit Card Reward Terms May Not Be as Favorable as You Presupposed

    You see, that’s because PenFed’s fine print states that rewards on the card expire 5 years after being earned.  So even though I had continued to use the card regularly, it did absolutely nothing for resetting the expiration date on my earned rewards!

    It’s a good reminder that no matter what card you have, no matter which bank it’s from, to always read the fine print so that you won’t lose any of your hard-earned rewards!

    2 Easy Steps to Prevent Your Rewards from Expiring

    Every bank has their own policies, but there’s 2 things you can do to prevent your rewards from expiring which works for the vast majority of banks.

    First, make sure to redeem your rewards every now and then.  Don’t be a points hoarder!  Depending on the bank, your rewards could expire a certain number of months after being earned.  Redeeming your points frequently not only makes sure you don’t lose them, it’s also kind of a nice way to vacation regularly!

    One Way to Make Sure Your Rewards Don’t Expire?  Redeem Them Often for Vacations!

    Second, make sure to use your card frequently!  A lot of banks will say that your points will expire if it has been inactive for too long.  In most cases, making a purchase at least once every few months is enough to keep it active so that your points won’t expire.

    Bottom Line 

    You worked hard to earn your rewards, and depending on the bank, those rewards can come with an expiration date.  Don’t let them expire and go to waste!  Redeem them often, and continue using the credit cards to keep them active and to keep your rewards from expiring.

    Do you have a story to tell about expired points?  We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)