What Happens to Your Points When You Cancel a Credit Card?
The honest answer — plus exactly what to do before you pick up the phone.
Target Keywords: what happens to credit card points when you cancel, do credit card points expire, what to do with credit card points before canceling
Word Count: ~2,200
Category: Educational (Points 101)
Cluster: Cluster 1 — Beginner's Guide
Schema: Article, FAQ
Here's a question that keeps more people up at night than you'd expect: What happens to all those points if I cancel my credit card?
Maybe you're staring down an annual fee renewal. Maybe you've simplified your finances and want fewer cards. Maybe you opened that travel card six months ago, earned the sign-up bonus, and now you're wondering if you should keep paying for something you're not sure you need.
Whatever brought you here, the short answer is this: in most cases, if you cancel a credit card without using your points first, those points vanish. Gone. Poof. Like they never existed.
The slightly longer answer — and the one that will actually save you money — is more nuanced. Because depending on which card you have, you might have more options than you think.
Let's walk through it. No panic necessary.
The General Rule: Cancel the Card, Lose the Points
With most major credit card programs, your points or rewards balance is tied to your account. Close the account, and the points go with it.
This is true for:
- Chase Ultimate Rewards — If you cancel your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, your points disappear unless you transfer them first (more on that in a moment).
- American Express Membership Rewards — Close your last Amex card that earns Membership Rewards, and the balance goes to zero.
- Capital One Miles — Cancel your Venture or Venture X, and your miles are forfeited.
There are exceptions, and we'll get to those. But the default assumption should always be: use them or move them before you cancel.
This isn't the credit card company being sneaky. It's just how the programs work. Your points live inside the credit card ecosystem, and when you leave, they don't follow you out the door.
The Exceptions Worth Knowing About
Not every situation is as dramatic as "cancel and lose everything." Here are the scenarios where your points might survive:
1. You Have Another Card in the Same Program
This is the big one, and it trips people up all the time.
If you have two Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards — say a Sapphire Preferred and a Freedom Flex — you can transfer your points from the Sapphire to the Freedom before canceling the Sapphire. The points survive because they're still living in the Chase ecosystem.
The same logic applies to American Express. If you carry both the Amex Gold and the Amex Green, canceling the Gold doesn't kill your points — they can stay on the Green.
The critical detail: You need to transfer the points before you cancel. Once that account is closed, it's too late.
2. You've Already Transferred Points to an Airline or Hotel
If you moved 50,000 Chase points to United MileagePlus last month, those miles belong to United now. Canceling your Chase card doesn't affect them — they're in a completely different program.
This is why many savvy travelers transfer points to airline and hotel partners before canceling cards. Those transferred points are yours regardless of what happens to the credit card.
3. Cash Back Cards Work Differently
If your card earns simple cash back rather than transferable points — like the Citi Double Cash or a basic rewards card — your cash back is often redeemable as a statement credit or direct deposit at any time. Some issuers will even mail you a check for any remaining cash back after you close the account.
But don't count on it without checking first. Call the number on the back of the card and ask, "If I close this account, what happens to my cash back balance?"
4. Some Co-Branded Cards Let You Keep Earned Miles
Cards that earn airline-specific miles (like the Delta SkyMiles card or United Explorer card) deposit points directly into your frequent flyer account. Since those miles belong to the airline, not the credit card company, they typically survive a card cancellation.
Example: You cancel your Delta SkyMiles Gold Amex card. The SkyMiles you already earned are still sitting safely in your Delta account. You just won't earn new SkyMiles from that card anymore.
The Step-by-Step Guide: What to Do Before You Cancel
If you're thinking about canceling a rewards credit card, here's exactly what to do — in order.
Step 1: Log In and Check Your Points Balance
Before anything else, know what you're working with. Log into your credit card account online or through the app and look for your rewards balance. Write it down.
If you're not sure where to find it, our Complete Beginner's Guide to Credit Card Travel Points walks through checking your balance for every major program.
Step 2: Decide What to Do With Your Points
You have three main options:
Option A: Use them for travel. This is almost always the best value. Book a flight, a hotel, a rental car — anything through the card's travel portal. If you have enough points for even a partial trip, that's a better return than the alternatives.
For a step-by-step walkthrough of booking hotels with points, see our guide: How to Book a Hotel With Points.
Option B: Transfer them to an airline or hotel partner. If your card allows point transfers (Chase, Amex, and Capital One all do), move your points to an airline or hotel program you actually use. Those transferred points won't be affected by the card cancellation. Our Beginner's Guide has a full breakdown of which programs transfer where.
Option C: Transfer them to another card in the same family. If you have a second Chase card, move the points there. Same for Amex. This buys you time to figure out what to do with them later.
Option D (last resort): Redeem for cash back or statement credit. You'll get less value per point — usually about 1 cent each instead of the 1.5–3 cents you'd get from travel — but it's infinitely better than letting them disappear.
Step 3: Make Sure Pending Points Have Posted
Here's a sneaky one. If you made purchases last week, those points may not have posted to your account yet. Most credit card companies only credit points after your monthly statement closes.
Wait for your next statement to post, then check your balance again. Don't leave those last few thousand points on the table.
Step 4: Call and Cancel (or Downgrade Instead)
Now here's a secret that most guides won't tell you upfront: you might not need to cancel at all.
Most credit card companies will let you downgrade your card to a no-annual-fee version instead of closing the account. For example:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred → downgrade to Chase Freedom Flex (no annual fee, keeps the account and credit history alive)
- Amex Gold → downgrade to Amex Green or an Amex no-annual-fee card
- Capital One Venture X → downgrade to Capital One VentureOne (no annual fee)
When you downgrade, your points usually transfer to the new card automatically. No panic, no lost points, and your credit history stays intact — which matters for your credit score.
Step 5: Confirm the Points Are Gone (or Safe)
After you cancel or downgrade, log into your account one more time to verify that your points moved where they were supposed to go. If anything looks wrong, call customer service immediately. It's much easier to fix a points issue within the first few days than months later.
Wait — Should You Even Cancel?
Before you cancel that card, it's worth asking yourself a few honest questions.
Is the annual fee actually costing you money? Many premium travel cards — like the Chase Sapphire Reserve — come with credits and perks that can offset most or all of the annual fee. If you're getting $300 in travel credits on a $550-fee card, the real cost is $250. And if you're earning 3x points on travel and dining, the math might work out in your favor.
If you're not sure, our guide to the best travel credit cards for adults 55+ breaks down the annual fee math for every card we recommend.
Are you giving up transfer partners you actually use? If your Chase Sapphire Preferred is your only card that lets you transfer points to United or Hyatt, canceling it means you lose that ability — even if you keep the points on a Freedom card.
Would a downgrade accomplish the same thing? In most cases, downgrading to a no-annual-fee card in the same family gives you everything you want (no fee, keep your points, preserve your credit history) without the downsides of canceling.
What About Points Expiring on Their Own?
This is a related fear, and a valid one. Different programs have different expiration policies:
| Program | Do Points Expire? | How to Prevent It |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | No, as long as the account is open | Keep the card active |
| Amex Membership Rewards | No, as long as a MR-earning card is open | Keep at least one MR card |
| Capital One Miles | No, as long as the account is open | Keep the card active |
| Delta SkyMiles | No | They don't expire, period |
| United MileagePlus | No | They don't expire, period |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Yes — after 24 months of inactivity | Any earning or redemption resets the clock |
| Hilton Honors | Yes — after 24 months of inactivity | Any earning or redemption resets the clock |
The good news: most programs have eliminated point expiration entirely, or made it easy to prevent. The main risk isn't expiration — it's canceling the card and losing the points in one fell swoop.
The Bottom Line
Canceling a credit card doesn't have to mean losing your points. But it does require a little planning — ideally before you pick up the phone or click "close account."
Here's the playbook:
- Check your balance. Know exactly what you have.
- Use them, transfer them, or downgrade. Don't let a single point go to waste.
- Consider downgrading instead of canceling. Same result, fewer downsides.
- Wait for pending points to post. Patience pays — literally.
- Confirm everything afterward. One quick check for peace of mind.
Your points represent real money. In many cases, they're worth 1.5 to 3 cents each when used for travel. A balance of 80,000 points could be worth $1,200 or more in flights and hotels. That's not something to leave on the table because you were in a hurry.
And if you're not sure what your points are actually worth — or what you could do with them — take our free Travel Score quiz. Sixty seconds, zero obligation, and you might be surprised at what's been sitting in your account all this time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to my credit card points if I cancel my card?
In most cases, you lose your points when you cancel a credit card. Points earned through programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, and Capital One Miles are tied to your account. Close the account, and the points are forfeited — unless you transfer them to another card in the same family or to an airline/hotel partner before canceling.
Can I transfer my points to another card before I cancel?
Yes, if you have another credit card in the same rewards program. For example, Chase lets you transfer Ultimate Rewards points between eligible Chase cards. Transfer the points first, then cancel or downgrade the card you no longer want.
Is it better to downgrade or cancel a credit card?
Downgrading is almost always the better choice. When you downgrade to a no-annual-fee version of your card, you keep your points, preserve your credit history, and avoid the fee — without the downsides of a full cancellation.
Do credit card points expire?
With the major flexible points programs (Chase, Amex, Capital One), your points don't expire as long as your account remains open. However, some airline and hotel loyalty programs have inactivity expiration policies — typically after 24 months of no earning or redemption activity.
What happens to airline miles when I cancel a co-branded card?
If your card earns miles directly in an airline's frequent flyer program (like Delta SkyMiles or United MileagePlus), those miles belong to the airline, not the credit card company. Canceling the credit card won't affect miles you've already earned. You simply stop earning new miles from that card.