AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
GOL Linhas Aéreas — better known as GOL Airlines — is a large low-cost carrier based in Brazil, serving dozens of destinations across South America. Its loyalty program, GOL Smiles, offers travelers the chance to earn and redeem miles for flights, upgrades, and more.
GOL miles expire according to one of the most complicated mileage expiration policies we have seen. Whether you’re a casual traveler or a frequent flyer with elite status, it’s important to understand when your GOL miles expire and how to prevent them from going to waste.
Here's a full breakdown of how GOL Smiles mileage expiration works, how to extend or reinstate miles, and when it might make sense to pay to keep your miles alive.
Page Contents
Do GOL Miles Expire?
Per the GOL program terms and conditions page, GOL miles generally expire as follows:
- 36 months: Smiles and Silver GOL Smiles members
- 48 months: Gold GOL Smiles members
- 120 months: Diamond GOL Smiles members
The next obvious question is what happens when your status changes, either up or down. Does it affect your mileage validity, and if so, in what way?
Moving between tiers does not affect the deadline for when your GOL miles expire. The validity of your miles is set according to your status tier at the time miles are earned. Per the GOL terms:
“Validity will be calculated from the date and time of crediting of Smiles Miles to the Smiles Account based on the category in force before said accumulation.”
Imagine a Diamond member earns miles today but fails to re-qualify for status this year, dropping down to the Gold level next. Miles earned today would be valid for 120 months, though miles earned as a Gold member next year would be valid for 48 months — likely expiring before the miles earned with the previous Diamond status.
Track your points and miles expiration for 630+ loyalty programs and get email alerts before your miles expire by signing up for a free AwardWallet account.
Different mileage expiration periods
Not all GOL miles expire based on the general rules. For instance, miles transferred or pooled are valid for 12 months, regardless of elite status tier. However, frequent transfer bonuses could make this worthwhile, even though the validity of your miles is shortened.
According to GOL, you can check individual mileage validities by logging into your GOL Smiles account and heading over to the My Data section.
Extending the Validity of Your GOL Smiles Miles
If you have miles that will expire in the next 60 days, you can request a validity extension. You can extend the validity of your miles for another 30, 60, or 90 days. This option is not free; you will be charged per mile.
The easiest way to extend the validity of your miles is through the Smiles app. After logging into your account, head to the “extend my miles section,” select your preference, pay, and you are done.
GOL regularly runs promotions to add additional time when you extend your mileage validity. In these promotions, you might be able to extend the expiration of your miles by 90, 180, and 360 days — instead of 30, 60, and 90 days. You'll pay between R$0.018 and R$0.022 per mile to extend validity, depending on the amount of time you add. That's 0.36¢—0.44¢ (approximately half a cent) per mile in U.S. Dollars.
Reinstating Expired GOL Smiles Miles
You can reinstate your expired GOL Smiles Miles for a fee. What's more, GOL runs regular promotions, providing a bonus when you reinstate your expired miles. Historically, GOL charged R$0.06 (around 1.2¢) apiece to reinstate expired miles. However, the exact fee is determined at the time of checkout.
Before you reinstate your miles, make sure you have a use for them. Reinstated miles are valid for just 12 months.
Use AwardWallet to Track Your GOL Smiles Miles Expiration
AwardWallet can help save you the hassle of calculating and keeping track of all the different mileage expiration deadlines of GOL Smiles Miles. To do so is relatively simple; all you need to do is add your GOL account to AwardWallet.
Once linked, you will receive a timely reminder telling you when you have miles about to expire so you can take action and not have them wasted.
Related: How to Track Your Rewards Using AwardWallet
Our Take
Keeping track of your GOL Smiles miles can be complicated due to the complex expiration policies. However, GOL does send you a monthly newsletter outlining which of your miles expire soon. This means you should always have a heads-up on your mileage balances.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
