Do credit card rewards points expire? What actually makes issuers take them back

Your rewards points don't come with a printed expiration date the way a coupon does — but that doesn't mean they're safe sitting in your account. Miss a payment, close the wrong card, or run into a clause buried in your program's terms, and an issuer can take rewards back entirely. There's no federal law that governs this the way Regulation Z governs interest rates or late fees; rewards programs are a contract between you and your issuer, and each one writes its own rules. Here's exactly what two of the biggest programs — American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards — say in their own current terms.

The late-payment trap: Amex's $35, 12-month reinstatement rule

Under Amex's Membership Rewards Program Terms and Conditions (last updated June 2026), earning points isn't automatic just because you made an eligible purchase. You also have to pay at least the minimum amount due by your billing due date. If you don't, any points you would have earned during that billing period simply don't post to your account.

That's not necessarily permanent. Amex will let you get those points back — but only if you first pay off what you owe, then separately request the points and pay a $35 fee for each billing period, for each Card Account where this happened. You also have to make that request within 12 months of the period the points weren't earned in, or they're gone for good. It's a real cost with a real deadline, and it's easy to miss if you assume a late payment only costs you a late fee and some credit-score damage.

Closing your account: two different issuers, two different outcomes

What happens to unused points when you close a card varies more than most cardholders assume.

Chase is comparatively cardholder-friendly on the timing: Ultimate Rewards points don't expire on their own as long as the account stays open, no matter how long you go without redeeming them. The risk shows up specifically at closure. If you close a Chase card and you don't hold another open Chase card to move the points to first, the unused points are simply lost — there's no grace period described on Chase's own page. If you do hold another eligible open Chase card, you can transfer the balance over before you close the one you're getting rid of.

Amex builds in a narrower, jurisdiction-specific safety net. Generally, Amex can cancel your Rewards Account outright if the linked card is in restricted status, cancelled, or past due, or if you have a returned payment outstanding — and once that happens, the points tied to it can be gone. The one documented exception: New York Card Members get a 90-day window to keep using their points in those same scenarios, a carve-out that doesn't appear to extend to cardholders billed from other states. If you're not enrolled with a New York billing address, don't assume that grace period applies to you.

Neither issuer's language suggests these figures are guaranteed to apply to every card product they offer, either — both documents note that terms can change and that certain "Legacy Card" products may have more limited redemption options. Check the terms tied to your specific card before assuming a cited figure applies to you.

What happens if the whole program shuts down

Separately from what happens to an individual account, Amex's terms also address what happens if Amex ever winds down the Membership Rewards program itself: it has to give 90 days' advance notice before doing so, and cardholders keep the ability to earn and use points during that window — though Amex can still change or cancel specific redemption options in the meantime. It's a meaningful protection if a program you rely on for travel transfers or high-value redemptions ever gets discontinued, since it guarantees a window to act rather than a points balance disappearing overnight.

Points aren't quite "yours" the way cash is

One more distinction worth knowing: under Amex's terms, points aren't legally your property. You can't sell them, transfer them to someone else's Rewards Account outside the program's own transfer tools, or pass them on as part of a legal proceeding — the terms specifically list divorce, inheritance, and bankruptcy as situations where points don't carry over. If you're doing any kind of estate or financial planning around a large rewards balance, that balance likely isn't an asset in the way a bank account or investment account is.

What to actually do

• Never let a minimum payment lapse if you're trying to protect a points balance. A single missed minimum-payment deadline can cost you an entire billing period's worth of points, plus a $35-per-account reinstatement fee if you want them back — and only within a 12-month window.
• Move your points before you close a card, not after. If you're closing a card with any issuer, check whether you hold another eligible open card from the same issuer and transfer the balance first — for Chase specifically, this is the only way to avoid losing unused points at closure.
• Don't assume every issuer's rules match Amex's or Chase's. These are two verified examples, not a universal standard — read your own card's current program terms, since figures like fee amounts and grace windows are the issuer's choice and can change.
• If you're a New York cardholder with an at-risk Amex account, know you likely have 90 days, not zero. That protection is jurisdiction-specific — don't count on it if your card is billed to another state.

None of this changes whether a rewards card is worth carrying in the first place — that's a separate question about whether the annual fee actually pays for itself at your real spending pattern. But it's worth knowing that the points sitting in your account are more conditional than they look, governed entirely by whatever your specific issuer's contract says. ClearValue Cards doesn't issue cards or run any rewards program — we're a publisher and card-matching quiz. If protecting a rewards balance (or picking a program with terms you're comfortable with) is part of what you're weighing, take the quiz and see what matches.