Which credit cards earn non-expiring points?

“I want a credit card with points that don’t expire.”

That’s something I hear from many people, and to be fair, it’s a perfectly reasonable ask. After all, it may take a while to save up for your first big redemption. There’s nothing worse than getting pulled back from the finish line because some points you earned at the start of the journey expired! 

Even though I don’t think expiring points should be that big a concern (I’ll explain why later), let’s deal with the question at hand first.

How long are credit card points valid for?

Here’s a summary of expiry policies by bank (note that some banks may have more than one rewards currency):

💸 Points Expiry Policy
Bank	Currency	Expiry
	Membership Rewards	No expiry
	Rewards Points	12-24 months
	Citi Miles	No expiry
	ThankYou Points	Up to 5 years1
	DBS Points	1 year2
	Rewards Points	37 months
	TREATS	1 year3
	OCBC$	2 years
	90°N Miles	No expiry
	VOYAGE Miles	No expiry
	360° Rewards Points	Up to 3 years4
	UNI$	2 years
1. ThankYou Points earned on the Citi Prestige Card do not expire 2. DBS Points earned on the DBS Altitude Card, DBS Insignia Card and DBS Treasures AMEX  do not expire; DBS Points earned on the DBS Vantage Card are valid for three years 3. TREATS Points earned by Rewards Infinite members do not expire 4. 360° Rewards Points earned by StanChart Beyond Card, StanChart Journey Card, StanChart Visa Infinite and StanChart Priority Visa Infinite do not expire

But that’s not the whole story! Where it gets confusing is that even within the same bank, the same points earned on different cards may have different expiry policies.

For example, DBS Points earned on the Woman’s World Card expire after one year, but DBS Points earned on the Altitude cards never expire. Similarly, ThankYou points earned on the Citi Rewards Card are valid for up to five years, but ThankYou points earned on the Citi Prestige Card never expire.

So in addition to the general rules above, it’s helpful to set out which specific cards earn non-expiring points:

💳 Cards with Non-expiring Points
Card	Local Earn	FCY Earn
StanChart Beyond Card	1.5-2 mpd1	3-4 mpd2
StanChart Visa Infinite	1.4 mpd3	3 mpd3
Maybank Visa Infinite	1.2 mpd	3.2 mpd4
OCBC VOYAGE Card (Premier, PPC, BOS)	1.6 mpd	2.3 mpd
DBS Treasures AMEX	1.2 mpd	2.4 mpd
OCBC VOYAGE Card	1.3 mpd	2.2 mpd
DBS Altitude Card	1.3 mpd	2.2 mpd
OCBC 90°N Card	1.3 mpd	2.1 mpd
Citi PremierMiles Card	1.2 mpd	2.2 mpd
Citi Prestige Card	1.3 mpd	2 mpd
SCB Journey Card	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
StanChart Priority Visa Infinite	1 mpd	1 mpd
AMEX Platinum Charge	0.78 mpd	0.78 mpd
AMEX Platinum Reserve	0.69 mpd	0.69 mpd
AMEX Platinum Credit Card	0.69 mpd	0.69 mpd
Maybank World Mastercard	0.4 mpd	3.2 mpd5
1. 1.5 mpd for regular customers, 2 mpd for Priority Banking and Priority Private 2. 3 mpd for regular customers, 3.5 mpd for Priority Banking, 4 mpd for Priority Private 3. With a minimum spend of S$2,000 per statement month, otherwise 1 mpd for both 4. With a minimum spend of S$4,000 per calendar month, otherwise 2 mpd 5. With a minimum spend of S$4,000 per calendar month; 2.8 mpd with a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month, otherwise 0.4 mpd

Are non-expiring points really that important?

Although it’s nice to earn points that don’t expire, I don’t believe this should be your key criteria for choosing a card. That’s because:

1. You have more time than you think
2. You shouldn’t be holding on to points so long that expiry becomes an issue

You have more time than you think

Most credit cards in Singapore earn points that are valid for at least 2 years. After that, you can transfer them to KrisFlyer where they’re valid for a further 3 years. 

Therefore, in most cases, you have at least 5 years to save up for your desired redemption. If you’re not able to accumulate enough miles in that period for at least one award flight, it suggests that:

1. you’re not optimising your miles collection strategy
2. your miles goal is too ambitious relative to your spending (e.g. trying to redeem for too many people, or in too high a cabin)
3. your absolute spending levels are too low (but before you write off the miles game as only for big spenders, consider whether you’re truly optimising your miles collection in the first place)

You shouldn’t be holding on to points indefinitely

Non-expiring points can be a bad thing, if they encourage you to hold them indefinitely without any clear redemption plan. The longer you hold your points, the more vulnerable you are to devaluations.

Take KrisFlyer, for example. Historically speaking, KrisFlyer devalued every 4-5 years. However, recent events suggest that the gap between successive devaluations has shortened to 2-3 years.

Saving up your miles for retirement might have been viable in the early days of frequent flyer programmes, but it’s unthinkable today. Given how airlines are handing out miles for everything from opening a credit card to buying flowers, the pace of devaluations is only likely to accelerate in the future.

To put it another way, miles are amazing, but they’re the worst investment to hold. They don’t earn interest, they’re not protected by deposit insurance, and they can only be devalued. Earn and burn, not earn and hold!

But what about transfer fees?

It’s certainly true that non-expiring points help minimise transfer fees, because there’s no pressure to cash them out before you’re ready. For example, if you hold a DBS Woman’s World Card, you’ll have to transfer points at least once every 12 months, or else forfeit them.

💰 Points Conversion Fees by Bank
Issuer	Per Conversion	Annual Option
	S$201	N/A
	S$30	N/A
	S$27.252	N/A
	S$27.253	S$43.604
	Free	N/A
	S$27.255	N/A
	S$25	N/A
	S$27.25	N/A
	S$256	S$507
1. Waived for all Platinum and Centurion Cardholders 2. Waived for Citi ULTIMA Cardholders 3. Waived for DBS Insignia Cardholders 4. Automatic conversions in blocks of 500 DBS points (1,000 miles) each quarter. Additional ad-hoc redemptions can be done for free 5. Waived for Maybank Visa Infinite and Maybank World Mastercard Cardholders 6. Waived for UOB Reserve, UOB Visa Infinite Metal, UOB Visa Infinite and UOB Privilege Banking Cardholders 7. Automatic conversions in blocks of UNI$2,500 (5,000 miles) each month for balances above UNI$15,000. Additional ad-hoc redemptions cost S$25 each

While transfer fees are annoying and you should be doing all you can to minimise them, I feel they’re ultimately insignificant in the grand scheme of things. To put it another way: I wouldn’t actively avoid the DBS Woman’s World Card or the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa just because they earn points with 1-2 years expiry. The opportunity cost of foregone miles far outweighs any additional transfer fees.

Conclusion

While it’s nice to have non-expiring points, it ultimately isn’t that big a factor in my decision whether or not to get a particular card. 

So my advice is not to get too hung up about this. Pick cards on the basis of their earn rates and transfer partners, and with the right accumulation strategy, you’ll be earning and burning points so fast that expiry won’t even be an issue.