The Air Miles loyalty points program says it’s dumping plans to implement an expiry policy.

That means collectors won’t lose their miles at the end of this year after all.

Under a previous threat,  Air Miles collectors would have seen miles they haven’t claimed within five years – expire on December 31st this year.

LoyaltyOne, the company that runs Air Miles, says it decided to change its position – due to uncertainty with provincial governments proposing or considering legislation – to prevent the expiry of rewards points.

In Ontario, a private member’s bill from MPP Arthur Potts sought to make it illegal for companies to allow points to expire – only due to the passage of time.

LoyaltyOne says in a statement – it believes cancelling the policy will lead to governments and industry members having more meaningful conversations – that can help such loyalty programs remain viable across Canada.

The Air Miles reward program launched in 1992 and has more than 11 million active collector accounts.