Transferring Delta SkyMiles after my spouse passed - truth or internet wives' tale?

This article has some ideas:

https://www.weareatticus.com/learn/how-to-close-delta-air-lines-skymiles-account-after-someone-dies

I have no idea but wanted to say that I am very sorry for your loss.

I hope that you are able to transfer the miles to your account.

If you know the password for this account , use the miles to make a flight reservation online. Do not inform them of his death until you have used the miles.

My experience was that this was far easier than hoping someone would be willing to transfer the miles, because they don’t have to do so. The Wall Street Journal had a good article a few years back ( The Middle Seat column) on this topic. I was even interviewed for it :).

Lesson to everyone else: Have a list of sign ins and passwords written down where your spouse knows where it is. It makes a huge difference!

I did this with American, so that may not be helpful. Since I was the keeper of airline information, I had his password and FF #. I used miles for kids to fly in for the funeral and then later, when I had time to think, I transferred the balance to my account (we did not have a joint account). All done online. Still haven’t told American he will no longer be flying with them…..

The AA credit card was just a different thing and I cancelled that.

I'll just add that I am so sorry about your loss and hope you are able to use the miles. Carol and TexasTravelMom are trustworthy in their advice NOT that others are not but I know they are posting from first hand experience.

This may or may not be helpful, but my FIL who is in his late 80's (he will not be flying anymore) recently gifted us the accumulated mileage in his Alaska Airlines account (we use this airline a lot) and with his account information and password, I can use the miles for anyone no problem. When I called Alaska airlines and asked about transferring the miles into my account, I was told that would cost $50.00. Um, no thanks, I will just book online with the account information.

I am so sorry for your loss. You should have no problem transferring your husband’s miles to your Skymiles account or just using the miles if you have not told Delta that he passed away.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Here’s a link to the thread on Flyertalk. If you read the most recent postings on this it does appear that if you inform Delta that your spouse is dead your miles disappear. Hopefully you can figure out a way to access his account without Delta knowing and just use the miles which is what people advise. (Note that this phone thread that I’m linking to is 20 years old at the beginning and the rules have changed so don’t start at the beginning start of the end for info - 20 years ago Delta was nicer now they’re not)

And even if they will transfer them to your account, the cost of that transfer is outrageous. My mother has about 10,000 miles stuck in her account because I can’t use them and it would cost more to transfer than then it would to book a ticket with cash.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/2065070-what-do-miles-when-someone-dies-definitive-thread-57.html

So sorry for your loss. If you can log into the account, another option would be to purchase a Delta gift card with the miles. You can access that option in the section to redeem SkyMiles. Redeeming for a Delta gift card doesn't give you as good of a rate as simply using the miles, but it is far better than losing them!

Thank you all for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your kind thoughts and advice.

One more note from personal experience: I never informed any airline but had the login for my mom’s mileage accounts. We depleted miles with Delta, American and Alaska by just booking flights while logged in. It defied logic that an airline get rid of the miles she earned and so I just used them up as quickly as possible.

Account Deletion & Mileage Expiration

Under the SkyMiles Mileage Expiration policy, miles do not expire. Delta reserves the right to deactivate or close an account under the following circumstances:

Fraudulent activity occurs.
A Member requests an account closure.
A Member is deceased.

https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/program-resources/program-rules

Use the info as you see fit