Did You Know You Can Redeem Airline Miles After You Die?

Death is never an easy issue to think about. An even tougher though is deciding what will happen to all your assets and belongings after you die. We often think about what will happen to our money, property and family heirlooms, but what about our air miles?

Most people seldom think about what happens to their air miles when they die, but they really should, especially if you have accrued a mass amount of miles. In many circumstances, these miles are as good as cash with some reports stating that 500,000 is worth as much as $4,000 to $10,000 depending on the airline.

Several scenarios come into play with each airline having its own individual rules, but there are ways to keep your miles active after death. Let’s look at the ins and outs of this delicate situation.

1. The Rules Differ Per Airline:

Yes, it’s true, before you think about what to do with you miles, you first have to read up about what you are permitted to do. Since there are many different airlines, we won’t go everyone here, but here are some examples:

Delta states in their paperwork that miles belong to the company and cannot be transferred in any circumstance, including death.

Jetblue also states that points are non-transferable but they do have a Family Pooling program which gives a little more leeway.

United Airlines, the rules are a bit more lenient. They do state that the miles cannot be transferred but do mention that there are options in certain circumstances if discussed with United directly.

Still, even though some of these airlines state that you are out of luck, there are some loopholes.

2. So What Options Do you Have?

Although the airlines would prefer to keep your miles to themselves after you pass away, there are some things you can do to keep them to you or your family, and you can start now. Keep in mind that most of these methods are only really worth it if you have a lot of miles saved up. It’s not always worth the trouble if you have very few.

Perhaps the easiest way to keep your points alive is to share your account information with the person or persons that you plan to keep your miles after you die. This is as simple as sharing your account number and password with said recipient. In this way, you are essentially keeping the airlines out of the decision.

The best part about this scenario is that 99% of the time, you don’t have to prove your identity to use your miles. Most of the time you just enter your account information, and the system takes the user’s word for it.

If you are a major miles saver, you might even consider adding your airline miles into your will. The note that you leave within your will should entail which of your family members will receive your miles and how you want the recipient to use them (if you have a preference).

If your family member has passed away with a lot of amount of miles, your final option is to simply contact your airline, explain the situation and see if they can transfer the miles to your account per their guidelines. Sometimes you never know unless you ask.

3. Save Your Miles With the Mileage Club:

If you are a frequent flyer and you want to use the miles you currently have, or you want to acquire more for the future, start with the Mileage Club . We have miles on multiple airlines for as little as 1.85 cents each, and we even offer signing specials.

If you are mileage buffs like we are, you know how important your miles are, so prepare for the future and make your miles become the gift that keeps on giving.