MilesBuzz! - Can I "will" my FF miles to my partner ?

I have a lot of FF miles ( skymiles). If I put into my will that they should go to my life partner upon my unforseeable death.... will the airlines honor such a request?

I assume this has been discussed before but I could not find the thread...........

David - I recently went through a similar situation but in my case my husband had passed away. Some airlines were no problem and some were. Alaska transferred with no charge and a death certificate. Continental transferred with a copy of his will (just the beneficiary page) and a death certificate. American required a death certificate and $50. NW was the worst - you will have to read the restrictions on their web page. So, it just depends on the airline.

Dear Louise.... thank you for your answer and I am sorry about your loss.......we are not married ( same sex relationship) and so I wondered if it might be even more difficult or impossible for us.... even if I did record it in my official will.

Hi again, David - I misread your post. I guess you are just concerned about Delta. But, it just shows that every airline is different. I think if you just called them or e-mailed they would give you the answer. At least with e-mail you can make a copy of their response. NW just changed their policy so it is very restrictive so that could happen with any airline at any time I suppose.

we put ff mi's in our wills in a generic form [not airline specific] at the last update. i think that we are better off than relying on airline policies. also can go to our children when the unfortunate events occur.

edit to add...david, a will should make your desires clear & i suggest doing that. however, i'm not a lawyer.

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 08-09-2003).]

I really am not sure if something in a will can change a corporation policy. Being sole beneficiary of anything belonging to my husband didn't sway NW. Be interesting to know from a lawyer.

This is a great question to pose in the GLBT forum in FT Travel. Perhaps some of the folks who post there have already dealt with this issue.

This is a great question to pose in the GLBT forum in FT Travel. [/QUOTE]

I'm sorry...... what is GLBT ?

It is the Gay/Lesbian/Bi-sexual/Transgender forum. You will find it in FT Travel, rather than FT Miles.

There have been a number of discussions on this topic during the past several years. As a general guide nearly all US airlines will allow the transfer of mileage in the event of a death. Some require a copy of the relevant portion of a will, some require a copy of the death certificate and some impose a fee as well. The hotel programs are not so accomodating and the Visa/MC/Amex even less so.

None of the organizations that do allow the inheritance of miles/points make any reference to the relationship or gender of the deceased or the party inheriting.

Just in case you haven't found it already,
here is the link (http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forumcgi/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=53&SUBMIT=Go) to it.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by david4455:
I'm sorry...... what is GLBT ?
</font>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SanDiego1K:
It is the Gay/Lesbian/Bi-sexual/Transgender forum. You will find it in FT Travel, rather than FT Miles.</font>




[This message has been edited by SK (edited 08-10-2003).]

Qantas states that there is a loss of points upon death.
I find that very unfair as a lot of points are from credit cards used by all members of one family.

This brings up a lot of interesting questions; What is the will goes into probate? (this could happen) What if all property (personal, real and intangible) was in an revocable trust? Can the trust own the miles and the beneficiaries use them?

LouiseMc, Did you see/learn this in your research? BTW, Welcome to FT! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Dudemon (edited 08-10-2003).]

I certainly hope so! I just finalized a living trust and made sure the miles were clearly listed for the trustee to distribute as I outlined. What I find exceedingly amusing is this: my attorney suggested that since I totally trust my younger son (the trustee) completely, that I not list all personal valuables in the trust. The reason being that some banks and other insitutions request a copy of the trust and other people need not know your personal valuables. He suggested a separate list of those with who should get them be given to my son. I agreed, but now my trust excludes my jewelry, valuable coins, etc but clearly lists all my ff miles http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks for the welcome "Dud". I am sorry I can't answer any of your questions. My research was just into the transfer between my husband and I.

None of the airlines/hotels will allow an entity like a trust to be the registered owner of miles/points. They must and will remain in an individual name even if that person is deceased until they are transferred to another individual that was designated as a beneficiary.

Most people who have done some estate planning have a personal trust. Although you may deem that the trust become the owner of your miles/points, they will never be titled as such.

Hi: No, I didn't make the trust the beneficiary but within the trust it says the ff miles are to go to son A, son B and daughter. My attorney didn't say I couldn't do that so I am assuming with the individual named that the airline will accept beneficiary status for each. It is listed with my other instructions to the trustee. Have I made an error?

Keep in mind that you don't, technically, own "your" miles. You have a balance with the airline. Their rules for transferring that balance need not conform to the laws for transferring property which is actually "owned," whether by bequest on death or by any other means. This is why some other program rules are legal, too.

That said, the advice above is generally good. Most airlines don't see themselves as being in the business of screwing the bereaved relatives (including same-sex partners) of their best customers.

This is quite simple in most cases. If you have your partners ff number and pin you can use the miles as they saw fit bfore they passed away - since no airline will ever know that he/she is no longer with us.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by erik123:
This is quite simple in most cases. If you have your partners ff number and pin you can use the miles as they saw fit bfore they passed away - since no airline will ever know that he/she is no longer with us.</font>

bingo!

Good suggestion since otherwise you would pay a fee for the transfer in most cases. When my mother died, she had about 5000 miles in 3 accounts. In each case, the fee was more than the value of the 5000 miles. Had she and my dad set up a mutual fund with Hilton (then, not now!!), he could have transferred her balances there and saved them. I am glad someone is bringing this up since neither my husband nor I thought to include miles in our wills. Duh.

Well, I wouldn't be too harsh on yourself for not thinking about willing miles up front. My father was very proactive about organizing his affairs and never considered his miles.

Re using the miles without informing the airline - I'm not sure this conforms to the airlines' policies but may be the best approach. When I contacted AA to ask about transferring my father's miles to my mother's account, not only did the AA rep tell me it'd cost $50, but she informed me she'd lock the account "for our protection." Clearly they're trying to prevent those who don't pay the fee from using the miles.

Thankfully Delta and UA have been easier to work with.

Btw, I'm a travel correspondent for the Washington Post and will be writing about this, so if anyone would care to share their story for the record, pls post here or contact me by email.

------------------
Michael Shapiro
Columnist, SF Chronicle
Correspondent, Washington Post
Author, Internet Travel Planner
www.nettravel.com

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[This message has been edited by gleff (edited Feb 09, 2004).]