I’m not sure why this has become a popular topic this year but it has! This was my second interview this year on the topic. First it was the Financial Post in March and now this week it was Global Calgary. The Global piece was spurred by a press release from Loyalty One last week on the subject (they are also featured in the interview) which provides a good summary of what I and others have said you should do. Also earlier this year Delta SkyMiles changed their rules that SkyMiles cannot be bequeathed and are lost upon death. So as you can see, it has become popular! The topic however should not be ignored, you really should treat all your miles and points as you would your financial matters, investments and other important issues when it comes time to pass on.
As I mentioned in the Financial Post article and the Global Calgary piece, the very first thing you should do, no matter what age you are, is provide your loved ones with your account numbers and login credentials so that they can access your accounts should you come by an untimely death. They can then decide whether it is pertinent to transfer those miles/points to their accounts (some programs charge a fee for this), let the miles/points expire (only if there is no use for them, ie you only 100 miles in an account) or use them up via your login credentials (this would be the case for programs like Delta SkyMiles).
What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you have a plan in place to make sure there is someone who can use your miles and points? I would love to hear from you!