philemer

Don't mess with 2 or 3. Just use the miles as if the person was still alive. My .02

AlohaDaveKennedy

And remember, just because a person is no longer living doesn't mean they can't continue to earn miles (or vote in Texas).

NightTripper

when my father died (too young) I definitely booked some flights with one of his AAirline accounts - as his password was noted on an old statement.

I also used option #2 to transfer about 45,000 UA miles into my account, by paying UA a $75 fee, with the estate designee (my mom) signing some form for UA.

Of course, UA states publicly that they are not obligated to do this. YMMV, but after calling the 1P line, we received a nice email from UA recognizing the loss and offering the transfer.

As for breaking the law -or rather not breaking the law - I bet your deceased loved one authorized you to use the account before he/she died.

NYBanker

Barring any proof to the contrary...

Thinking about this a bit, the only account where quick action may need to be taken on is Amex MR, as they would be best placed to track deaths due to having SSNs.

Regardless, I wouldnt linger on any of the carriers if possible. Taking advantage of transfer bonuses like DL offers from time to time would be prudent as well.

ddfr

this is a very good section.

Thanks to all for all their posts.

Is there also a section on this for hotel points?

If so, could someone please let me know where I can find it?

Thanks so much.

glocklt4

So this thread comments of course on which programs handle which way, but I am wondering if anyone knows how quickly credit card companies (and your credit report) show someone as deceased. We use my grandmother's SSN to sign up for a lot of cards and I am curious how the CC companies will find out eventually that she has passed when she does. Not necessarily so that we can keep signing up for cards under her name (because I imagine that will get shut down quick), but because companies will be automatically notified when they do the monthly credit report read/write stuff (where they update your balance, history, etc). I imagine they would get notification from that when someone passes. They would probably shut down the accounts immediately and lockup/expire all of your credit card points (non-air miles).

Edit: just noticed i asked a similar question a couple years ago in this thread, ha. Slightly different but still don't think I have a real answer.

glocklt4

ha, true.

johndoe123

Pretty quickly once it posts to the SS death index. Days-weeks.

If not, you'll just call in and cancel them anyways.

As most programs transfer out of the CC program and into an airline/hotel program, it doesn't matter much.

glocklt4

Ok, thanks. So if something happens to her we will have to take some action immediately on cc points. Luckily it seems that the airline miles we concentrate on allow some kind of transfer.

MSPeconomist

Folks should be aware that DL recently changed their policy on what happens to SkyMiles after death of the account holder. There's a long thread discussing and criticizing this in the DL forum. The short version is that your miles now expire when you do.

AlohaDaveKennedy

Not if you invoke Marie Laveau!

italdesign

I thought my AA miles from this world automatically rollover to the underworld AAdvantage plan

havaiisteve

...my will lists 7 people and authorizes them to use my frequent flyer miles after my death and lists the accounts and passwords.

mahasamatman

Just because you wrote it doesn't mean the airlines have to allow it. Most (all?) airlines claim ownership of the miles, so you may not have the legal authority to do what you want.

(Of course, it happens all the time, but it may not be a good idea bringing attention to your situation by "making a statement").

westcoastgal

My dad passed away recently and I took care of all the legalities including his Aeroplan miles.
We had 3 options like the posters above have mentioned -

a)leave the miles in the account as if he were alive and use them from there if you know the password (I did).
(this isn't an option from Aeroplan but one that people use to avoid fees or cancellation of miles but it's risky)

b) pay 1cent per mile and a transfer fee to have them moved into my mom's name.

c) pay $30 to have them put into an estate account and the points must be booked within a year from transfer for up to one year into the future i.e. giving up to 2 years to use the miles.

Since my mom wanted to close out my dad's credit cards, including the Visa Infinite card he was collecting the majority of these aeroplan miles on we couldn't go with option a. My mom's a very straight laced lady as well and worries about doing the "right thing". However, I think we should have checked to see if the yearly fee on the card was paid, and if so, we could've bought more time. In the end, it didn't really matter anyways as miles are not meant to be hoarded anyways and my has 2 years to use them with option c.

I had to scan my dad's death certificate and relevant parts of his will attesting that my mom was the beneficiary and executor and email these to [email protected] along with a note stating my father's name, DOB, address, Aeroplan number, that he had deceased, my mom's full info including address and phone number, etc., I had to clearly state that we were taking OPTION 2 and that my mom wished to have the points put into an estate account and not transferred to her at a cost per mile. I was told to state this very clearly. Also, that my mom understood she had one year to use the points.

The phone number is very important as Aeroplan calls once they have completed the transfer and ask for a credit card to charge the $30. It took almost 5 months for Aeroplan to complete the transfer but since my mom hasn't been in a hurry to travel, it was ok as it bought her more time to use the points.

My dad's Distinction status was gone once the points were transferred into the estate account. I assume it's because they are attached to the earner and my dad can no longer take advantage of the benefits. However, market fare tickets are one benefit that could come in handy to the beneficiary using the points. I agree the other benefits are moot.



My dad also had an Amex card but my sister took care of cancelling that card and my mom paid off the balance in full, that I know for a fact. However, my mom wasn't informed of any reward points on the card and I didn't think to ask until I read this thread.