Earlier this year I nearly lost all my American Airlines miles due to account inactivity. With AA, your miles expire after 18 months of dormancy and to reinstate them, AA charges $50 for every 5,000 miles plus a 7.5% tax and a $30 fee. I avoided losing my miles by subscribing to the Wall Street Journal. Had I not had the impluse to check my account, I would have lost the miles.
That got me thinking about my other accounts that I rarely use–such as Starwood, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Southwest. I literally had no idea how many points I had and when they expired!
I did some sleuthing and found AwardWallet.com, a handy site that will track all your points for you and warn you about any expiration approaching. It’s a free service, though you do have to enter your account passwords. But it has been worthwhile so far: it is great to have a single source in which you can track your airline, hotel, and car rental points.
Keep on top of your accounts and don’t let them expire!
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