Paxing

This question is not, initially, about any specific mileage scheme. I am trying to find out what various operators state in their rules about the ownership of mileage/points accrued - when the passenger dies.

• Do the miles/points die with the passenger?
• Can they be inherited as directed by the passengers Will?

This topic is, as you will realise, about 'digital death'. Has anyone any experience of what happene to mileage? This will certainly vary by each carrier so I am keen to hear all and any responses.

LondonElite

It varies from programme to programme. There is no universal truth, though in most cases the right to use the miles (which have always belonged to the airline that issued them) falls away. They are not owned by the scheme member.

Mwenenzi

Each ffp will be different. Will be the t&c's of the ffp.
Generally the flyer does not own the ff miles, but has use of them.

AA thread--->https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...aster-thd.html

UA thread---->Miles transfer / usage upon member death

BA thread---->What happens to BA Miles on death of member?

AS thread--->Transfer of Miles Before/After Death of Family Member

QF https://www.qantas.com/nz/en/frequen...onditions.html

Efrem

It has been suggested that, if one is dealing with an airline whose policy for this is felt to be unfairly harsh, a survivor can obtain login information for the account and impersonate the account holder to get awards. Obviously, the practicality of doing this varies from situation to situation. It is also against the terms and conditions of every program and probably illegal in some jurisdictions, but unless one is using several million miles to fly a large family around the world in F, the chances of detection are small. (The most common way airlines detect fraudulent mileage use, by asking the traveler personal questions about the account holder that a random miles buyer couldn't answer, won't catch this because the traveler will know the answers.) I do not recommend or endorse this strategy, but it may be worth considering in some situations.

SanDiego1K

Gary Leff has tackled this topic on his blog various times. Here is the most recent entry I found.

Paxing

Many thanks for all replies. I had searched for threads before asking and am glad to have them located for me. This is what I had expected and so, if one is 'slowing down' [fortunately just not yet!] then one needs to gift them to others in advance. If needs be, they can always buy you a trip, or upgrade you before your final downgrade ...

Often1

Maybe. Or maybe the use of the miles can be inherited.

JDiver

“Gifting” miles often enough incurs considerable cost. Be sure to check out how much.

Efrem

If the potential giftee has a near-term use for the miles, you can always* buy award tickets for someone else with no added fees. It's when you gift the miles as such that the high costs come into play.
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*In every program I'm aware of. I have never claimed to be omniscient and don't want to start now. There may be exceptions that I don't know about.