In light of news that Anthony Boudrain had included his frequent flyer miles in his will, I wrote about how each of the major airline and hotel programs handle miles as part of an estate and what you need to do to make sure your points can be used by whomever you intend.

What I didn’t cover at the time was how transferrable bank points work when you pass away. With an airline frequent flyer program, if you don’t want to go through the rigmarole of dealing with transferring points with their published procedures (or if you have miles with an airline that won’t allow transferring poitns) it may work to just ensure your intended beneficiary has your account login information so they can book tickets using your miles.

That doesn’t work as well with bank points since financial accounts are going to be closed as part of the estate process. So looking at how they handle accumulated points is even more important.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Chase’s terms and conditions say you forfeit your unused points with you die.

Any points accrued shall be permanently forfeited if your Account has been closed, or upon the Cardholder’s death.

However Chase tells me this is what actually happens in practice, “If we’re notified of a cardmember’s passing, points on the card will be automatically redeemed for cash in the form of an account statement credit.

American Express Membership Rewards

American Express will allow a one-time redemption when the member passes away. They explain,

When a Card Member passes away, a designated authorized survivor/executor may be eligible for an one-time redemption of the points, either by redeeming them for a gift card, or by transferring the points to a Membership Rewards transfer partner program. We encourage individuals to call our customer service team who can walk them through this process.

Citi ThankYou Rewards

Citi ThankYou points will allow points redemption for cash rewards.

Loss upon Death. You will lose your Points upon your death, and your estate, successors and assigns have no property rights or other legal interests in such Points, except under this circumstance:

Cash Rewards Option. If we receive a written request within one (1) year of your death from the executor or administrator of your estate, along with evidence satisfactory to us of your death and the identity and appointment of the executor or administrator, we can allow Points remaining in your ThankYou account to be redeemed for Cash Rewards. Contact the ThankYou Service Center at 1-800-THANKYOU (1-800-842-6596) for more information.

Barclays

Barclays is actually the most difficult, I think. They tell me their rewards points “are not transferable, and therefore may not be transferred to another party following a cardmember’s death.”

That said I suggest always talking to the bank or loyalty program because exceptions are often made in difficult circumstances, despite what official rules say.