Article: What Happens to Frequent Flyer Points After You Die?

[AFF Editor]

What Happens to Frequent Flyer Points After You Die? is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

What Happens to Your Frequent Flyer Points After You Die?

It’s not something anyone really likes to think about, but what exactly happens to your frequent flyer points after you die? Many people have life

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can discuss this topic or leave a comment below.

 

[jb747]

They become easier to use?

 

[SYD]

Presumably the airlines only find out that someone has expired before their points do is when a loved one contacts them trying to get access!

 

[serfty]

Or someone inadvertently dobs them in ...

Loss of Qantas Platinum 1 member points due to members accidental death....

Hi everyone...Im new to this but wanted to ask if anyone has had experience with Qantas over this issue below. My husband was a Platinum 1 Qantas Frequent Flyer at one point had just on 400k points. He died while on Business. I immediatly did a Family Transfer of the maximum amount of 100K and...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[RooFlyer]

This bit from the quoted Qantas T&Cs:

Qantas Loyalty will close the Member’s account on notification of the Member’s death.

... is not entirely correct in my recent experience. For tidyness, I rang to close a deceased siblings QFF account ( which I had full access to and couldn't see any " close account" option within it) and was told that Qantas required a copy of the death certificate to close the account. Didn't sound right but I haven't bothered to call and re check or to send them the death certificate.

 

[Mattg]

This bit from the quoted Qantas T&Cs:

Qantas Loyalty will close the Member’s account on notification of the Member’s death.

... is not entirely correct in my recent experience. For tidyness, I rang to close a deceased siblings QFF account ( which I had full access to and couldn't see any " close account" option within it) and was told that Qantas required a copy of the death certificate to close the account. Didn't sound right but I haven't bothered to call and re check or to send them the death certificate.

How bizarre that Qantas makes it that difficult to close a frequent flyer account. I guess they are trying to prevent someone from "fraudulently" closing another person's account by claiming they have died, although I'm not sure what benefit that would bring to anybody.

If it's that difficult to close an account, it makes me wonder how many of QFF's claimed 13.6 million members are actually still alive.

 

[Seat0B]

They become easier to use?

...because you have all eternity to wait for seats to come up

 

[GrahamBRI]

I have a printed copy of all my points accounts (no account details) and their associated terms and conditions relating to death, stored with my Will. I then use a password manager to share my account passwords with my next of kin. Hopefully this will give any of my next of kin (who are not dead, like me), the knowledge and opportunity to re-appropriate my points. I note on that printed copy, not to close my accounts, as I have lifetime memberships I wish to keep in my afterlife.

 

[Guvner]

I can't think of one valid reason why anybody would notify Qantas of a loved one's death, except where there's an employee/employer relationship.
Bizarre.

 

[mrsterryn]

I can't think of one valid reason why anybody would notify Qantas of a loved one's death, except where there's an employee/employer relationship.
Bizarre.

I know when I had to do mum and dad's respective estates I just wanted everything tidied off. That included various reward schemes like Qantas.
I still , 8 years for dad and 6 years for mum , randomly get mail for them.

 

[Happy Trails]

They go to live on a farm.

 

[GrahamBRI]

I know when I had to do mum and dad's respective estates I just wanted everything tidied off. That included various reward schemes like Qantas.
I still , 8 years for dad and 6 years for mum , randomly get mail for them.

Good call! That can be tough.
I am hopeful that in respect to my next of kin, every piece of frequent flyer correspondence post my death, puts a smile on their faces as they remember my passing and the rewards I left behind….. that being said, I don’t get much physical stuff, all email now…….. something only google can read and be annoyed with.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Given the call centre wait times, dying of boredom while on hold is a possibility.

 

[GSP]

If in the situation where you had access to a person's account who passed who had already given you those details, it does seem logical based on this article to just transfer them out and leave it at that.

Actually if was ever in that situation (in control of passed family member's account) and it was QFF, I'd transfer out all but 15 points which is the equivalent of a unmatched Red Planet survey and allow QFF to take the 15 points of inactivity after 18 months and allow them to "think" they had a win.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Given the call centre wait times, dying of boredom while on hold is a possibility.

Try Amex travel. One dies of old age on hold.

 

[Kremmen]

What Happens to Frequent Flyer Points After You Die? is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

Fortunately, my dad was sensible enough to give me his Qantas account details before he died for me to transfer his points out.

This is yet another area where US-based frequent flyer schemes are much better. The article is incorrect about some details. American, Alaska, United and Delta all transfer miles at the direction of the estate's executor. Some of their T&Cs allow them to charge a fee. Some of them say they won't do the transfer. In reality, they do it and without charge. Forms vary. United is the most burdensome, requiring a JP or Notary to witness it, but scanned and emailed is fine. In my experience, they all do it very quickly (1-3 days), except Delta which took 7 weeks.

Don't forget hotel points. Likewise, major US-based ones will transfer. Marriott has one ridiculous "feature" though. Their 100k/ calendar year transfer limit applies, so if the deceased has over 100k points, you have to keep contacting Marriott annually for however long that takes.

 

[cove]

I suggest you don’t call.
We still have sports ticket entitlements that we didn’t transfer on death. Will probably need to fix that when he would be about 110. No rush……
Do share your passwords for points with your beneficiaries.

 

[JohnK]

I still have over 1million QFF points and close to 1million IHG points. I don't have any family that wish to travel and little one is too young.

Plan is to use points ASAP and stop hoarding in future.

 

[BCons]

4 years ago I was able to xfer points and close my late father's Velocity acct with maybe 2 phone calls and an email. Had to send them a copy of death certif. Its a bit ghoulish doing this, but when you are an executor you become used to organisations wanting proof of the circumstances..

 

[prozac]

I have never used QFF points to book a seat anywhere yet. Let's say something happened to me. Would my wife or kids be able to book redemption flights in their name/s by accessing my account?
What about Amex? When you are ready to make a redemption booking you must transfer points from Amex to the same name FF account in the airline you are booking with. Any way around this so family can access your points?