What Happens to Your Points and Miles After You Die?

Anthony Bourdain remains in the headlines, even a month after his tragic suicide in a hotel suite in France. The cause of the stir in the public eye pertains to his will: he left his frequent flier miles to his wife, a piece of property that in reality is not his but rather still owned by the airline company.

How can he do that? And what do the numerous airlines say about transferring frequent flier miles and points after one's death? Surprisingly, many airlines do not have a problem transferring miles to a designated person upon verification of death and a will, and usually there are no associated fees. Some airlines dictate in their terms and conditions that it may not be possible, but then after speaking with a customer representative it is apparent that it can be done simply with a death certificate and the account information.

See Richard  Kerr, What Happens to Your Points and Miles After You Die?, The Points Guy, July 6, 2018.

Special thanks to Jim Hartnett (Dallas, Texas Probate Attorney) for bringing this article to my attention.