I got into a car accident recently, but fortunately, no one was injured. After an accident, you can’t help but think about the “What Ifs”. After things settled down a few days later, a random thought came to mind, “What happens to the miles and points if something happened?”
Obviously, I am neither the first nor the last to wonder about it.
Gary from View from the Wing covered the topic, and included the rules for some of the major frequent flier programs.
What Happens to Your Miles When You Die, and How Should You Prepare Today?
Why I Don’t Have a Plan
The truth is: I don’t have a plan.
It may come as a surprise, but I actually don’t sit on tons of miles and points. My balances are rather pitiful, in part because I often try to use miles and points to cut down on out-of-pocket expenses. I usually travel with my family, so I also end up burning miles and points much faster than I can earn them. Then again, I don’t believe in hoarding miles and points. They devalue over time, so my mentality is to use them or lose them.
I don’t worry about majority of the programs, simply because I don’t have enough to redeem for anything worthwhile. For those where I am active member, I probably should do something about them.
Do You Have a Plan?
There are things you can do, obviously.
I suppose you can add your loyalty programs to your will. That is, assuming you even have one.
Another option might be to share account credentials with a trusted few, though that could run into a host of potential issues.
An easier, quicker, and better solution? Just use them and travel with loved ones while you can.
Not everyone gets the value of miles or points or think they are worth the time or efforts. Even if you gift or will your points to your beneficiaries, they might not even know what to do with them.
Granted, at that point, that’s not something you need to worry about.
Still, maybe I should come up with a plan and document it, even if it’s a primitive one at that.
Is this something you have thought about? Do you have a plan for your miles and points? Would your family members know what to do with them?
I believe many of the programs prohibit their miles/points from being inherited. It would be interesting to see a post on what the rules are for the various programs.
United’s terms, for instance, make it sound like you’d need to use the “Transfer Miles Program” in the event of death, including paying the fees, which are over 1 penny per mile.
No mention whether that’s waived if United gate agents cause your death…
I think you may be referring to #7 of United’s rules and conditions, but I read the “Transfer miles program” as one way one can transfer points to others (not necessarily in the event of death): https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/rules/default.aspx United has section specifically regarding in the event of death though, ” In the event of the death or divorce of a Member, United may, in its sole discretion, credit all or a portion of such Member’s accrued mileage to authorized persons upon receipt of documentation satisfactory to United and payment of applicable fees.” (So it’s a case of YMMV the way I… Read more »
Yeah, I was reading the “payment of applicable fees” part at the end there as a reference back to the Transfer Miles Program. May not be the case though.
I thought that Gary’s post (linked above) had done a decent job at highlighting the rules for some of the major programs: http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2016/08/17/happens-miles-die-prepare-today/ At least, his list covers all the major programs that I care about. 😉 For example, Aeroplane and major hotel programs allow the transfer upon death, with proper documentation. Some require a transfer fee, while others simply do not allow it (i.e. Delta). It really depends on the program, and in some cases, digging into the details. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it for every program, but whether it’s worth it to transfer really depends on… Read more »