Have you ever played the game “Would You Rather?” Basically, one person thinks of two disgusting or scary things to do and the other person has to choose the best of two evils. For example, would you rather eat a stick of margarine or five tablespoons of hot pepper sauce? Either way it’s gross! Here my travel related “Would You Rather” question. Would you rather let your hard earned travel reward points expire or drink a cup of expired milk?

For beginners, you might be asking, “How do travel rewards expire?” Most airline and hotel travel programs will zero out your point balance after a certain number of months of inactivity. The shortest I know of is Frontier Airlines at only 6 months of inactivity whereas Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards is at 24 months.

At first glance you might think that means you have to fly on their airplane or stay at their hotel during that time, but that is not entirely true. Most programs will extend the expiration date of your points with any activity in your account. This can include spending money on their branded credit card, or using points to buy a magazine subscription, or gifting some to charity.