One of the questions to ask when comparing credit card rewards is whether the rewards points expire.
If you want to save up your rewards points over a long time period and cash them in on a big ticket item such as international flights, you’ll need to choose a rewards program where points don’t expire before you can use them. It would be heartbreaking to accrue hundreds of thousands of points only to see them disappear.
Do credit card rewards points expire?
Points do not expire for most of the credit cards rewards programs on the CANSTAR database. However, in some cases where points do not expire, points are capped so that you can only earn up to a certain number of points.
Points do expire for some rewards programs, meaning they disappear from your account and cannot be used. Some programs have both a cap and an expiry date on their points. So it’s definitely worth shopping around before choosing a rewards program.
Frequent flyer rewards points expiry policies
Qantas Frequent Flyer Points and Virgin Velocity Points have their own expiry policies, which are available on their websites. These programs have a ‘soft’ expiry date (your points expire if you do not earn or redeem any points within a certain timeframe) rather than a ‘hard’ expiry date (your points expire within a certain timeframe regardless of your actions). For example, at the time of writing, Qantas requires you to earn or redeem points once every 18 months in order to prevent your points expiring. Velocity points do not expire provided points are earned or redeemed at least once ever 24 months.
Compare Frequent Flyer Rewards Credit Cards
The table below summarises which credit card rewards programs on the CANSTAR database have an expiry date for their points at the time of writing (17 August 2017):
| Company | Product | Reward Points Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| American Express | David Jones credit cards | Never expire |
| Essential credit cards | Never expire | |
| Explorer credit cards | Never expire | |
| Platinum Edge credit cards | Never expire | |
| Qantas credit cards | Refer to Qantas points policy | |
| Velocity credit cards | Refer to Velocity points policy | |
| ANZ | Balance Visa Rewards | Never expire |
| Frequent Flyer credit cards | Refer to Qantas points policy | |
| ANZ Rewards credit cards | 3 years from end of year points were earned | |
| Auswide Bank | Platinum Rewards | Never expire |
| Bank Australia | Platinum Rewards | Refer to Qantas points policy |
| Bank of Melbourne | Amplify Classic credit cards | Never expire |
| Amplify Platinum credit cards | Never expire | |
| Amplify Signature credit cards | Never expire | |
| BankSA | Amplify Classic credit cards | Never expire |
| Amplify Platinum credit cards | Never expire | |
| Amplify Signature | Never expire | |
| Bankwest | More credit cards | 3 years from date points were earned |
| Qantas credit cards | Refer to Qantas points policy | |
| bcu | Rewards | Never expire |
| BOQ | Blue Rewards credit cards | Never expire |
| Platinum Rewards credit cards | Never expire | |
| Citi | Classic credit cards | Never expire |
| Emirates World credit cards | Never expire | |
| Prestige credit cards | Never expire | |
| Qantas credit cards | Refer to Qantas points policy | |
| Rewards credit cards | Never expire | |
| Coles | Low Rate credit cards | Refer to Flybuys policy |
| No Annual Fee credit cards | Refer to Flybuys policy | |
| Rewards credit cards | Refer to Flybuys policy | |
| Commonwealth Bank | Diamond Awards credit cards | Never expire |
| Gold Awards credit cards | Never expire | |
| Platinum Awards credit cards | Never expire | |
| Standard Awards credit cards | Never expire | |
| CUA | Platinum | Never expire |
| Diners Club Australia | Personal credit cards | Never expire |
| Frequent Flyers credit cards | Never expire | |
| First Option Credit Union | Cash Rewards | Never expire |
| G&C Mutual Bank | Platinum Visa | Never expire |
| HSBC | Platinum Qantas | Refer to Qantas points policy |
| Platinum | 3 years from date points were earned | |
| Hume Bank | Clear | Never expire |
| IMB | Platinum | Never expire |
| Jetstar | Mastercard | Never expire |
| Latitude Financial Services | GO Mastercard | 3 years from date points earned |
| Macquarie Bank | Hilton HHonors | Refer to HHonors points policy |
| Macquarie Rewards credit cards | Never expire | |
| MyState | Platinum Rewards | Never expire |
| NAB | FlyBuys Rewards | Refer to Flybuys policy |
| Qantas credit cards | Refer to Qantas points policy | |
| Rewards credit cards | 3 years from date points earned | |
| Velocity Rewards credit cards | Refer to Velocity points policy | |
| QBANK | Bluey Rewarder | Never expire |
| QT Mutual Bank | Platinum Rewards | Never expire |
| Qudos Bank | Visa Platinum | Refer to Qantas points policy |
| Queenslanders CU | Platinum MyCard | Never expire |
| St.George Bank | Amplify Rewards credit cards | Never expire |
| Summerland Credit Union | Credit Card Rewards | Never expire |
| Suncorp Bank | Clear Options credit cards | Never expire |
| Virgin Money | Velocity Rewards credit cards | Refer to Velocity points policy |
| Westpac | Altitude Rewards credit cards | Never expire |
| Altitude Qantas credit cards | Refer to Qantas points policy | |
| Woolworths | Everyday Rewards | Never expire |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | Refer to Qantas points policy | |
| Source: www.canstar.com.au
Information correct as of the time of writing, 17 August 2017. |
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If you’re interested in a new rewards credit card, you can compare on the Canstar website. You can see a snapshot of the current rewards credit cards available on the comparison table below, with links direct to the providers’ website. Please note that this table has been generated based on a $2,000 monthly spend, and is sorted by Star Rating (highest first).
Canstar provides an information service. It is not a credit provider, and in giving you information about credit products Canstar is not making any suggestion or recommendation to you about a particular product. See Canstar’s Financial Services and Credit Guide for more information.
Do rewards points expire when I close my account?
With most credit card providers, rewards point expire when you close your account and that credit card is cancelled. With some credit card providers, you have a certain amount of time in which you can still redeem your rewards points after closing a credit card account (e.g. 90 days after cancelling the card).
With other credit card rewards programs such as Qantas Frequent Flyer points or flybuys points, the rewards program is actually a separate account to your credit card, so when you cancel a credit card, your rewards points do not expire. You can still redeem your rewards points and continue to earn more points if you have the loyalty card for that program or if you hold a different credit card that also earns points in that rewards program.
If you are interested in comparing rewards credit cards available on the market, check out the table below which displays a snapshot of 5-Star Mastercard rewards credit cards on Canstar’s database, sorted by provider name (alphabetically). The products and Star Ratings displayed are based on a monthly spend of $1,000.
Learn more about Credit Cards
- How difficult is it to redeem credit card rewards points?
- How do I convert Woolworths Rewards points into Qantas points?
- How do I check my credit rating?
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