Question
My friend's husband was killed Memorial Day in a motor cycle accident. Since then she has been using a joint WP credit card for bill paying. It has accumulated many miles since his death.
She called to take his name off the credit card account. All the miles were designated to go into his world perks account. She was told that the miles couldn't be transferred to her WP account. Of course she was distraught and asked the credit card person what could she do. She was told not to mention his death to WPs and just go ahead and book tickets from the account.
Is there no way to get these miles transferred so she doesn't have to worry they will disappear? It was a joint credit card and very obvious that any use of it since his death would have been her purchases.
What can she do?
Answer
Your friend will be able to use the miles without any problem but the advice to "not mention the death" is key. To keep the WP account active your friend should keep the US Bank card open as long as possible and not take the husband's name off it. She could always order some flowers or something once every three years too using his WP number.
WP account are considered 'active' only by additions to the account at least every three years. So using a free ticket will not be considered activity that continues the account longevity.
This could be posted or moved the the NW forum for more response and better info.
I hope your friend comes out of this okay.
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Thank you Dudemon. I debated which area to post this in originally. If I post it over at NW forum will it cause "double posting" trouble?
My specific question is: Will a large corporation like WP credit card give personal assitance to a customer when they truly need it. Especially when it is so very obvious
1. the miles balance was low before the accident as the couple had just used most of them
2. the miles activity since the accident/death has been accrued by the widow
As in most marriages, this couple divided "household chores." Just one aspect of the division was how the wife searched for flights while the husband planned trip itineraries and paid the bills. Wading through account numbers, passwords and fine print has been an ordeal in itself piled on top of dealing with the insurance issues that come with a catastrophic accident involving fire, flights to and stay at an out of state burn unit.
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I would use the miles from his FF acct until they are all gone w/o mentioning the death. Then never use his FF acct again. I think once they know he is deceased, the acct & miles will be lost. I've heard of people bequeathing FF miles in wills, but I don't think the airline will transfer miles --- at the very most they will make you pay to transfer. I would continue to use the card until she tops off the acct to a usable award level & then cancel the card, still w/o mentioning the death. Or cancel the card when it's annual fee time again and make up the miles a different way (idine, purchases, etc). Remember that the moment you cancel, any untransfered miles will be permanently lost (as I forgot about w/ my United visa :( ).
There's no reason to mention the death at anytime, as I think that would just cause problems. A NW FF acct can just sit there at 0 miles (or NW may close it after x years of nonactivity)
You can ask the moderator to move the topic to the NW section.
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I think I understand the question..maybe not. However, I have combined spouses frequent flier accounts (CO & NW) by submitting a death certificate and a letter of explanation.
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I think I understand the question..maybe not. However, I have combined spouses frequent flier accounts (CO & NW) by submitting a death certificate and a letter of explanation.
If that's true, I think that's exemplary. How long ago was this? The person could call NW customer service a few times & anonymously ask about it (a few times to make sure she gets the same - hopefully correct - answer). There's been alot of changes the last few years in the FF world.
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I think it may get more attention.
Thank you everyone for your helpful comments.
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If that's true, I think that's exemplary. How long ago was this? The person could call NW customer service a few times & anonymously ask about it (a few times to make sure she gets the same - hopefully correct - answer). There's been alot of changes the last few years in the FF world.
I have worked with a number of people who have lost their spouses and needed to combine FF accounts. The last time I did it was June 14 of this year with Delta. I have also done this with CO several times within the last year. If you want to PM me I can give you the a letter format I have used