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What to do with miles when someone dies... ? (Definitive Thread)

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What to do with miles when someone dies... ? (Definitive Thread)

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Old Jan 12, 2022, 8:46 pm
  #841  
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Originally Posted by Georgia Peach
Would American Express notify Delta if the customer' card was cancelled due to death?
AmEx would notify DL promptly when an AmEx account is closed, but I suspect that privacy regulations might prevent AmEx from disclosing the reason (death of primary cardholder).
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Old Jan 12, 2022, 10:02 pm
  #842  
 
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Originally Posted by onuhistorian0116
My wife's Grandfather died a few months ago and he had about 400,000 AA Miles.

My mother in law had all of his passwords and log ins. My Wife and I have booked a couple of business class flights with the miles to burn them as quickly as possible. I'm not sure if AA will ever know or care, but (I don't know if Delta has the same rule), AA requires that all bookings made with miles use a credit card with the member's exact name. My mother-in-law kept one credit card alive for us, and we have been paying the bill for the flights we've booked, but that card will need to be turned off in the not too distant future.
I'd be a bit more nervous about this. Though if it is paid off I doubt the bank would care that much, but there is risk of consequences knowingly using a credit card belonging to someone who is dead, even if you're an AU on the account.
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Old Jan 12, 2022, 10:18 pm
  #843  
 
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I book DL awards all the time from various accounts and use cc for taxes with different last name. Never had an issue. Also used P2 AA miles to book awards recently and used my cc for taxes with different last name. Again no issue.
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Old Feb 7, 2022, 10:38 am
  #844  
 
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Is seems that somewhere between page 1 of this thread and page 51, the ability to transfer DL miles after ones death has been eliminated? Or is it simply usarous to do so? Without going through all 50 pages in between (I went back about 10) is there no wiki that has some update about what the “death tax” cost is, or what the best path is when someone dies with DL miles at death.

For UA and BA I had very good success transferring a dead parents miles to my personal account. Took a letter and avadavat for sure, but happened quickly and fairly easily.
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Old Feb 7, 2022, 11:05 am
  #845  
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Originally Posted by nmenaker
Is seems that somewhere between page 1 of this thread and page 51, the ability to transfer DL miles after ones death has been eliminated? Or is it simply usarous to do so? Without going through all 50 pages in between (I went back about 10) is there no wiki that has some update about what the “death tax” cost is, or what the best path is when someone dies with DL miles at death.

For UA and BA I had very good success transferring a dead parents miles to my personal account. Took a letter and avadavat for sure, but happened quickly and fairly easily.
No path to transfer (without heavy transfer fees). Use miles for personal use and DL is unlikely to do anything.
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Old Feb 7, 2022, 4:00 pm
  #846  
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Originally Posted by nmenaker
Is seems that somewhere between page 1 of this thread and page 51, the ability to transfer DL miles after ones death has been eliminated? Or is it simply usarous to do so? Without going through all 50 pages in between (I went back about 10) is there no wiki that has some update about what the “death tax” cost is, or what the best path is when someone dies with DL miles at death.
The official horrendous policy is that SkyMiles die when you do.
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Old Feb 7, 2022, 8:12 pm
  #847  
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If some (living) person wants to transfer his/her redeemable miles to another person, the fees cost more than the value of the miles and almost what it would cost to just buy the miles from DL.
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Old Feb 7, 2022, 9:02 pm
  #848  
 
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Originally Posted by nmenaker
Is seems that somewhere between page 1 of this thread and page 51, the ability to transfer DL miles after ones death has been eliminated? Or is it simply usarous to do so? Without going through all 50 pages in between (I went back about 10) is there no wiki that has some update about what the “death tax” cost is, or what the best path is when someone dies with DL miles at death.

For UA and BA I had very good success transferring a dead parents miles to my personal account. Took a letter and avadavat for sure, but happened quickly and fairly easily.
The cost of transferring them, as has been pointed out, is ridiculous. Assuming that there are sufficient miles in the account to be usable and that you have the login information - add your phone # as a secondary number, add your email address and add you mailing address. List yourself as the Emergency Contact.

Use the miles. You can log into the account and buy award tickets for yourself and pay with your CC.

PM me if you have questions.
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Old Feb 8, 2022, 2:32 am
  #849  
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Originally Posted by nmenaker
Is seems that somewhere between page 1 of this thread and page 51, the ability to transfer DL miles after ones death has been eliminated? Or is it simply usarous to do so? Without going through all 50 pages in between (I went back about 10) is there no wiki that has some update about what the “death tax” cost is, or what the best path is when someone dies with DL miles at death.

For UA and BA I had very good success transferring a dead parents miles to my personal account. Took a letter and avadavat for sure, but happened quickly and fairly easily.
As is very clearly stated, there is no path. Tell them person died, and poof, they're gone.
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Old Jun 28, 2022, 7:25 pm
  #850  
 
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transfer of Delta miles upon death

If a family member dies can delta sky miles be transferred to another family member w/o paying a penny a mile?
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Old Jun 28, 2022, 7:42 pm
  #851  
 
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There is a thread with details. I've recommended this be moved there.
What to do with miles when someone dies... ? (Definitive Thread)
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Old Jun 28, 2022, 7:44 pm
  #852  
 
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Do NOT tell Delta that the Skymiles member has passed away.
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Old Jun 29, 2022, 2:34 pm
  #853  
 
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Delta SkyMiles never expire! Until you do!
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Old Jun 29, 2022, 2:41 pm
  #854  
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Originally Posted by jonsail
If a family member dies can delta sky miles be transferred to another family member w/o paying a penny a mile?
They cannot be transferred from a living person to a living person even if you pay a fee that's much more than one cent per mile. Also, BTW, you can't transfer miles from one living person to another for only one cent per mile, although AFAIK you could use your miles to do pay-with-miles on someone else's ticket (booked through your FF account with your credit card) if you have a DL AmEx credit card.
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Old Jun 29, 2022, 3:47 pm
  #855  
 
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Can you use the person’s account to book flights for the living person? Even if the deceased individual is not flying?
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