All of the points above are fascinating reading to a new member like me. I'm far from new to collecting, however, and I have always assumed that each year many millions of miles are taken to the grave unspent by their owners who prefer to hoard and gloat (like me)! If I'm right, that ought to be good news for those who do redeem and for airlines too. Somewhere there must be an allowance made for "dead" miles - I feel certain that this is already factored in to loyalty program equations. PS I do realise that many programs allow miles to be transferred on death but imagine it is seldom done.