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What happens to your points and miles upon death? A complete list

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Sadly, this is a question I get from time to time and it’s one that you are much better are preparing for when everyone is healthy and happy than when that dreadful day comes and you’re overwhelmed with emotions. I tasked AI with making a list of rules and company policies so that it’d be a one-stop resource for you to bookmark. In addition to the information below I wanted to add some of my thoughts, and some universal workarounds, nothing shady, to corporate policy.

  • If you have points in a transferrable currency like Amex, Chase, Capital One, Citi, etc You can almost always transfer those points to an Authorized User’s transfer partner account
    • For instance, if your spouse passes away and you’re an AU on their Amex account, you could move the points into your Aeroplan account as long as you’ve been an AU for 90 days
    • The best partner accounts that I would move points into are… ( these would give you access to all 3 alliances and you could extend the expiration, if applicable, on these accounts with activity )
      • Aeroplan
      • Alaska
      • British Airways
      • FlyingBlue
      • United
      • Virgin Atlantic
  • Note that Chase allows households to combine points thus circumventing the official rule
  • Note that Cap1 allows you to combine points with any other member so long as that member earns the same kind of miles you do
  • Bilt has unofficially said they would permit a transfer to a partner program or another members account upon death.

 

 

 

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
  • 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 2x on all other travel
  • 10% Anniversary Points Boost
    • each account anniversary you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
  • Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
  • $95 Annual Fee

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex®  and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

1 Comment

  • Christian May 9, 2025

    Thanks so much for this. Is there a way to download the spreadsheet? I’m actually doing my estate – sounds a lot more grand than I deserve – planning and a copy of this would be super helpful.

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