Hawaiian Airlines posted a program update that they have,
- Eliminated mileage expiration
- Cut elite qualification requires in half for this year
Effective today, April 12, miles no longer expire due to lack of activity in an account. That matches JetBlue, Delta, Southwest, and United. This makes me somewhat more comfortable transferring Membership Rewards points to HawaiianMiles, though of course if I have Amex points I could always easily move a few over to keep an active active before.
American Airlines miles still expire with 18 months of inactivity for members who are 21 years old or older. Alaska Airlines miles expire after 24 months of inactivity. In the new Spirit Airlines program miles expire after 12 months of inactivity, an improvement over their old policy of 90 days.
Hawaiian has also cut its elite status earning requirements in half for this year:
Now, testing requirements for intra-island travel make it harder for Hawaiian’s home-market customers to fly and earn status than a comparable domestic traveler on the mainland. However core United, American, and Delta customers who normally fly business class internationally are facing markets that are entirely closed. So I take the 50% reduction based on much more recent data and experience as a strong indicator that American dropping status requirements 20% won’t be enough.
(HT: Robert W.)
@ Gary — ” So I take the 50% reduction as a strong indicator that American dropping status requirements 20%.” What?
@gene – won’t be enough
@ Gary — I couldn’t agree more. I am certainly not even going to try if the current EXP targets remain. If they cut to 50%, then I will think about it.