Foreigner
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Can you inherit frequent flier miles? | Stuff.co.nz
Another asset to add to your estate planning checklist.
Another asset to add to your estate planning checklist.
I would not pay too much credence to the article given it's looking at it from the perspective of NZ law.
I think ordinarily a claim on miles would be extinguished following death of account holder. An express wish to pass on those miles to someone else would be better.
The executors or administrators of a deceased Member’s estate may instruct VRPL to transfer Points to another Membership Account and/or redeem Points associated with the deceased Member’s Membership Account, within 12 months after the Member’s death. If the executors or administrators do not give these instructions within 12 months, all unused Points associated with the Membership Account will be forfeited. Status Credits associated with the Membership Account are personal to the Member and will be forfeited automatically on the death of the Member.
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If points/miles are hoarded with the likes of Amex and Citi, the situation could be very different.
Amex does not consider points the property of the card holder and does not allow any transfer.
My family know not to notify anyone but family.....my will has an attached a4 with every online email, bank, Facebook, AFF, frequent flyer etc with instructions to drain my accounts....churning cards means it is updated regularly.
Amex does not consider points the property of the card holder and does not allow any transfer.
This is from Amex US site:
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/...s/membership-rewards-points-distribution.html
I would like to think that similar applies in Australia.
What happens overseas is irrelevant, different laws. Amex very clearly say no transfers and they are not property.
Generally it seems most programs have cancellation clauses in event of death of a member. QF, BA, SQ, CX, Avianca LM. There are some clauses that state cancellation, but open it to negotiation (AA, EK) with executor. Of course unless the death occurs whilst travelling on the airline, the airline is not going to know the member is dead until notified, so there is certainly wiggle room if somebody has access to passwords & account numbers and no-one notifies the airline.
Exceptions include VA Velocity (see quote below), US Airways, MH Enrich.
My family know not to notify anyone but family.....my will has an attached a4 with every online email, bank, Facebook, AFF, frequent flyer etc with instructions to drain my accounts....churning cards means it is updated regularly.
That's a wise step. I'll do similar myself. Only concern remains of reward accounts with credit providers Amex and Citi. They likely become the first to know when cardholders pass away. The best scenario would be if points could be transferred to FF accounts where they don't expire.
Slightly OT but they can certainly be included in a divorce settlement - I know someone who had >1,000,000 QF points that had to be family transfered over 5 years.
...the airline is not going to know the member is dead until notified, so there is certainly wiggle room if somebody has access to passwords & account numbers and no-one notifies the airline.
And to use the points after the death of a member, where not allowed, could potentially be fraud
I think it is all a matter of timing and instruction. If the account holder have a specific direction, while alive, that they want the other person to use the points, then doing so would not misrepresent that use.
8.3 Membership will terminate automatically on the death of a Member. Qantas Points earned but not yet redeemed or transferred prior to the death of the Member will be cancelled. Qantas Loyalty will close the Member's account on notification of the Member's death. Qantas Loyalty will not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever suffered by any person as a result of such cancellation.
looking at QF for example it says this:
Unfortunately nothing there about 'wishes of the member'. When the member dies their membership is automatically deemed terminated.
If the member wished their points to be transferred, the argument would be that they should have done so while alive. It is a simple process, and they could even aithorise someone to do it by giving their PIN.
Do I agree with the policy? Should a company have a windfall from the death of a member? Absolutely not. I see no valid reason for it. But could an airline cancel an award ticket/points transfer they suspect was made in contravention of the rules? As they stand, probably yes.