Airline miles transferrable?

[imoldernu]

Policies for bequeathing frequent-flier miles and other loyalty rewards are varied, unclear - chicagotribune.com

Do your frequent-flier miles expire when you do?

It's a simple question that today has a complicated answer.

And it's become more relevant as larger portions of Americans' assets move from the material world to the digital realm — and as they invest time and effort into loyalty programs that have an estimated $50 billion of accumulated value.

Individuals could rack up thousands of dollars' worth of rewards. Yet, policies are varied and inconsistent for bequeathing airline miles and other loyalty rewards to a beneficiary after death, according to a recent study, "Inherit the Windfall" by Colloquy, the research group for loyalty program provider LoyaltyOne.

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Loyalty doesn't always go both ways...
Check the fine print....

 

[jebmke]

Don't most programs have time limits anyway. I know I lost a lot of UA miles when they expired. Most of my AA miles are still unused - I think they expire next year.

 

[Meadbh]

Each program is different and the rules change from time to time. For example, Aeroplan, the program that I use, introduced the ability to bequeath your points in 2011. About the same time, they introduced a 7 year time limit on points. That ticked customers off so much it has now been repealed. So you need to know the rules, and if you plan to kick the bucket and have a program that doesn't allow you to bequeath the points, you may need to take a round the world trip first to use up all your points. Would that be a bad thing?

 

[Fishingmn]

Delta's don't expire - don't know their policy regarding death and how that affects transfer.

You can normally transfer miles but there's a substantial fee to do so.

 

[GrayHare]

Some miles can be transferred to a different person however the places I've seen this permitted have processing fees that are exorbitant.

 

[jebmke]

Each program is different and the rules change from time to time. For example, Aeroplan, the program that I use, introduced the ability to bequeath your points in 2011. About the same time, they introduced a 7 year time limit on points. That ticked customers off so much it has now been repealed. So you need to know the rules, and if you plan to kick the bucket and have a program that doesn't allow you to bequeath the points, you may need to take a round the world trip first to use up all your points. Would that be a bad thing?

from 1998-2009, while working I racked up over a million and a half flight miles (actual flying). The idea of flying around the world doesn't appeal anymore.

 

[ChiliPepr]

Don't most programs have time limits anyway. I know I lost a lot of UA miles when they expired. Most of my AA miles are still unused - I think they expire next year.

One of the things I did to keep my miles active and not completely lose them, is to use them to buy my magazine subscriptions. I think it was something like 1k-3k miles for a years subscription to most magazines.

 

[KiraC]

I recently donated miles to a charity through the airline web site. It's not tax deductible but it will help Make a Wish.