JBauer

My mum is trying to access Amex Rewards Points from her parents, who died over the past few years -- she just realized after finding some documents. It says they never expire, but could that be true? And can they be transfered after death?

thanks

mia

In which country were the accounts issued? The points would not expire if the accounts remain open, but if the card accounts were closed when the primary cardholder died the points would have been zeroed out at that time.

JBauer

Opened in US, but I'm sure the cards were cancelled after they passed away...so guess that means no?

mia

The Membership Rewards terms are published here:

http://www.membershiprewards.com/cat...rmsSplash.aspx

If for any reason we cancel any Linked Account (including because of your death, bankruptcy or insolvency), any points accrued in your program account will be forfeited. If we reinstate the Linked Account(s) within one year of cancellation, any points accrued in your program account may be converted into a participating Frequent Customer program or redeemed for a reward, provided all other conditions set forth herein have been met.

Anything is negotiable, but if more than one year has elapsed since the account cancellation I doubt you will succeed.

hblanton

My dad died a few months ago. I'm the executor and heir of the estate. In clearing things out (paying bills and whatnot) I noticed that he had a not insubstantial number of Amex points. As I understand it, these points are convertable to miles on some airline programs (in my case OnePass.) Does anyone know if there is any provision for transfering them in this situation, to do they expire- so to speak?

Aaron01

Points should be able to be transferred to any FF account, so long as you have the number. I think the points would be forfeited once his account is closed, but I'm sure someone else will chime in.

Finally, sorry to hear about your loss.

mlad1101

Agree with above. Easiest way would be, if you have log in information for his account, log in online and you can input your OnePass account number and transfer them to your account.(Go to membershiprewards.com and airline programs, click transfer and follow steps.) If not, I am sure you could work it out another way by calling Amex.

Sorry for your loss.

Ritz

As long as the account is still open, my advice would be to login - link your CO OnePass acct ASAP, and transfer the points immediately.

JFKLAX321

As long as the account remains open you should be able to transfer them without issue.

[Moderator edit]

hblanton

But that I had the login for this account.... and a lot of other important information that is not obvious. Tracking down bank accounts, insurance, etc. etc. is not easy. And the crazy thing is that my dad was a retirment planner. He just thought he'd never die. Its a great attitude for getting through life, but makes it a pain in the ... for your executor when you are proven wrong.

Centurion

What if my father died in United States. What if he had has six figures in USA membership rewards and I wanted to transfer them to one of his wife's frequent flyer/guest programs before the account is closed and I had online access

It seems as if there are no good bonus offers right now like BA, Delta, and no more Continental etc. Any suggestions before Amex would close the account. I am pretty sure amex uses the Social Security Death index to close accounts but no idea how much time I would have.

mia

I have merged several previous discussions of this topic into a single thread. In particular note post #15 (written by Amex Customer Care) which suggests the points need not be lost if the account is closed.

johndoe123

Do you plan on paying off his spend? If yes, I wouldn't worry about it. If the estate is insolvent, you might want to do something with the points before AMEX closes the account based on the SSDI.

carzin

I don't know how AMEX handles it, but Delta transfers points. When I mother passed, I was the executor of the estate. My brother agreed that I should have the points since I could use them to buy tickets for my honeymoon in a few months (yeah, it sucks not to have a single living parent when you get married at 30).

I called Delta, and that happily transferred the points to my account. I had to fill out some quick form.

Since points have value, if you were either the executor or a beneficiary, and transferred points, you could wind up in trouble if anyone else that is a potential beneficiary finds out you took points out.

Oh, and one point to mention. NEVER ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DEBT. NEVER. You tell them you will not assume the debt, and debt resolution will be handled by the estate.

Centurion

Yes I plan to pay account in full. I just hate to do a transfer without a bonus offer and I missed continental