A retired pilot looking for a free flight as a passenger was denied his trip after his 100,000 Aeroplan points expired a week earlier.

Michael Lipp had been saving his Aeroplan points for more than 30 years and planned to use them for a dream trip to Europe, but when he went to use them, he found out they had expired.

"I was looking forward to my trip,” he told CTV Toronto Thursday. "We were very disappointed."

According to Aeroplan spokeswoman Shauna Marshall, members must have at least one qualifying activity by earning or using at least one mile within a 12-month period to ensure their account stays active.

“His miles expired due to 12 months of inactivity,” Marshall said. “We are unable to reinstate the member's miles. “

According to Aeroplan’s website, expired miles can be reinstated for a $30 administration fee and one cent per mile. Going this route, it would cost Lipp roughly $1,030 to get his miles back.

"I would like to invite Aeroplan to step forward and do the right thing,” he said.

Aeroplan says it sends members an email warning when their points will expire. Lipp says he never got one.

"I had been getting the monthly statements regularly for years and years and years so there was really no reason why I wouldn’t get the notice of an account expiry.”

In 2016, Air Miles announced it planned to let points that are five years old or more expire, but after public backlash and threats to a change in Ontario legislation, the company backed off the idea.

In 2007, Aeroplan said it allow unused points to expire after seven years, but took a step back from that plan in 2013 in part due to user feedback.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Pat Foran