If you’re a frequent traveler, you know how useful points can be, whether you’re racking them up or spending them. It stands to reason that you’ve chosen your credit card based on the rewards program being offered; accumulated points can be worth thousands of dollars. But, can points be transferred to an heir or a spouse? That’s an important consideration.
According to Advisor’s Perspective: “Most credit cards offering points that can be redeemed for travel expenses or other rewards say that points have no cash value and are not actually the property of the account owner, but rather belong to the rewards program. Most card programs’ terms and conditions say that points outstanding upon the card holder’s death are permanently forfeited.”
So, how can you find the loopholes in the system?
Own the Credit Card Jointly
Rather than be just an authorized user, consider being joint users of the same credit card account. If one account holder passes away, the points will remain on the account and the surviving account holder will have access to them. In the case of credit cards, an authorized user has no responsibility to pay any debt associated with the card which is why the points will not be available for them to use if the card closes.
US Bank and PNC Bank allow joint accounts, while Bank of America Cash Rewards, Wells Fargo Wise Visa, and Discover it Cash Back are all rewards programs that offer joint ownership.
Share Login Information
If you and your spouse/partner are not joint users on the same account, then perhaps you should share account login information with each other. This would allow the surviving user to have access to the account and transfer over or redeem points before they are lost. There may be a small fee (1-2.3 cents per point typically) to transfer over points from a credit card to a rewards program or card.
Include Airline Reward Points in Your Will
Although this isn’t concrete, it wouldn’t hurt to include this in your will. It might not matter to some airlines or banks, but some programs have transferred these gifted points without a fee or question.
Fool.com provided an informational chart that showcases the policy of each credit card rewards program. Check it out, here.