If you have airline miles that have expired, you are probably thinking about the different ways to prevent it from happening again – but there is something else that you can do: buy your expired miles back.

When to Buy Back Your Miles

Many people just think that once their miles expire, it is all over. However, if you have a lot of miles, you might be better off buying them back. You want to think about what you will use them for, like it you want to get a premium cabin for international travel or something else special. You have to compare the price of your miles and how much what you want would actually cost you.

Since most airlines are fairly cheap to buy the airline miles back, it is a good deal.

Each airline has its own policy, so there really isn’t a “one size fits all” aspect to this. Sometimes you pay per mile, other times you will pay a flat fee. It really depends on the airline – some don’t allow you to buy them back at all.

Sometimes you will have to find out the terms and then take the time to do the math – don’t avoid this. You will have to do it eventually to make sure this is a good idea at all.

When you do buy them back, make sure that you read all of the requirements so that you spend them before they expire again.

If you have only missed the expiration date by a few days, you may be able to talk your way out of it.

Prevent Them From Expiring

After you buy back your miles, you should know when, where, and how all of your miles are stored so that you can keep them up to date. There are ways to keep your miles active, so learn them.

At the end of the day, if your miles have expired, it is not the end of the world. However, there are going to be experiences that could have been better if you had used your miles. The best thing to do is keep your miles active from the start, but buying back expired airline miles is always an option. There are plenty of ways to keep your miles active, especially if you have everything organized in a way that is effective.