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Yes, GOL Smiles miles expire. However, not all GOL miles are created equally, and some expire sooner than others. Miles earned from some activities will have their expiration deadline determined by your level of elite status. So, some miles will expire after six months — while others can last for up to 20 years.
GOL Smiles Miles Validity
As mentioned, GOL Smiles has one of the most complex mileage expiration policies we have seen. GOL miles expire based on two criteria: how the miles were earned (via flights, partner activities, etc.) and what elite status level you hold with GOL Smiles. The shortest expiration is six months, while the longest is 20 years. GOL Smiles miles expire as follows.
Miles earned from GOL flights:
- Smiles & Silver levels — 6 years
- Gold — 8 years
- Diamond — 20 years
Miles earned from the following activities will expire after 3 years for Smiles & Silver elites, 4 years for Gold members, and 10 years for Diamond elites:
- Partner flights
- Spending on a GOL co-branded credit card
- Points transferred from a co-branded bank
- Miles earned from shopping
- Earning with partners (Uber, cruises, car rental, and hotel stays)
Miles earned from the following activities are valid for 10 years:
- Miles earned with Clube Smiles
- Bonus Miles earned with Clube Smiles Promotion
Miles earned from the following activities are valid for 12 months:
- Purchased miles
- Reinstated expired miles
- Miles transferred from one account to another
Miles earned from the following activities are valid for 6 months:
- Bonus miles from credit card transfer promotions
- Miles earned from various consumer and partner promotions
- Earnings from Smiles shopping promotions
Extending and Reinstating Miles
According to the Smiles program, you can reinstate miles that expired up to 10 years ago. Members can reinstate miles in sets of 1,000 miles. Reinstating miles typically costs 60 BRL or ~$10.70 per 1,000 miles.
Reinstated miles are valid for 12 months. If you hold Diamond status, not only will your miles be reactivated, but you will also receive a 20% bonus on the reinstated miles.
If some of your miles are about to expire, you can use the Smiles app to increase their validity by 30, 60, or 90 days.
Our Take
It can be complicated to keep track of your GOL Smiles mile with such a complex expiration policy. However, GOL sends you a monthly newsletter outlining which of your miles are getting close to expiry. This means you should always have a heads-up on your mileage balances.
You also can track your balance with AwardWallet and receive notifications about miles set to expire. This way, you can use your miles before they expire, so there is no excuse for wasting a single mile.
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I never knew about Gol’s expiration policy. Was very clarifying. This airline has very good promotions to travel and the past year they improve a lot in service and punctuality. Great to travel with them
Es muy dificil intentar seguir el vencimiento de las millas sin la ayuda de AwardWallet. Lo que es mas caro es a veces reactivar millas que aprovechar una promocion de compra de millas, pensando en que te envian un mail con el 70 % de descuento en la compra de millas
This expirations policies are really complex, it would be better to have miles in other currencies
GOL miles… this seems like a pretty rigorous program… how successful are folks at making good use of this.??
Good question! But, it’s a popular program with AwardWallet members. So, we wanted to share this resource for those that were wondering about point expiration.
Only if AA would come up with a 20-year expiration window HAHAHA!
This has to surely win some award for most complicated set of mileage expiry rules for a FF program?
I think it’s a unanimous decision that they win Most Complicated Expiration Policy
I flew with GOL once, and never knew about their miles expiration policy. Not surprised, considering how confusing and convoluted it appears to be, from this article’s content. If I ever travel to South America again, I’ll just try flying there with an American Airlines partner to collect/redeem miles with the AAdvantage loyalty program instead.
And awardwallet is our great partner to prevent Gol airline miles from expiring. Note that the rules are quite complicated and a tool like awardwallet is essential.
GOL members from Argentina can enroll in Club Smiles for plans starting at 750 Argentine pesos to credit 1,000 miles per month. This also allows access to exclusive offers and promotional vouchers to buy miles with significant discounts.
Realmente resulta muy difícil hacer un seguimiento de millas
No obstante el aviso de vencimiento de millas que todos hacen también es complejo e inapropiado planificar Viajes en consideración a ello.
No se entiende cuáles son las políticas que impulsan a las compañías a estos sistemas de caducidad de millas
Su negocio debería ser transportar personas, así las cosas pareciera terminan teniendo ganancias de las millas que se caducan. Esto más que perseguir un esquema de fidelidad del usuario termina en su fastidio cuando se ke caducan millas. Es para pensarlo por las compañías.
Gracias por la nota muy claro tengo cuenta en smiles y nunca me sabía lo fecha de vencimiento. Ahora tengo menos dudas .
In my experience, sometimes they might have promotional offers for credit card transfers (at least in the Brazilian market), and the bonus miles have ridiculously low expiration dates. In the past, I’ve received promotional Smiles miles that only had 30 days of expiration.
It’s quite hard to keep track of everything, and I’ve had my fair share of expired miles over the years.
That’s wild!
Convoluted programs like these should be avoided at all costs.