Loss of Qantas Platinum 1 member points due to members accidental death....

[Pushka]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

But the T&Cs say the points disappear when the account holder dies.

Note that's not "when Qantas is informed the account holder has died".

They have to be reliably informed of the death. Unless like my MIL pension fund they trawl through death notices. But if you'd read through my earlier posts I'm pretty much in agreement that Q had the right to cancel the account. If they had read it in a death notice then I understand that as it happened to us with MIL. I don't think accepting the word of an employer is.

 

[drsmithy]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

They have to be reliably informed of the death. Unless like my MIL pension fund they trawl through death notices. But if you'd read through my earlier posts I'm pretty much in agreement that Q had the right to cancel the account. If they had read it in a death notice then I understand that as it happened to us with MIL. I don't think accepting the word of an employer is.

I don't disagree that closing the account in the circumstances given was wrong, I was just making the point that "Those points belong to each account holder unless they wish to give them to family." isn't correct. The points disappear as soon as the person has died, so there can't be any posthumous transfer of points [that complies with the T&Cs], regardless of what the account holder may have wanted to do when they were alive. So from Qantas's perspective that they learned of the death "the wrong way" is irrelevant - the end result would have been the same. The only complication would have been if the person was still alive, but their account had been closed and points removed.

 

[oz_mark]

Perhaps the moral of the story is that in the event of a death of a QFF member, relatives etc need to tread carefully in getting ticket refunds and flying bodies home....

 

[Pushka]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

I don't disagree that closing the account in the circumstances given was wrong, I was just making the point that "Those points belong to each account holder unless they wish to give them to family." isn't correct. The points disappear as soon as the person has died, so there can't be any posthumous transfer of points [that complies with the T&Cs], regardless of what the account holder may have wanted to do when they were alive. So from Qantas's perspective that they learned of the death "the wrong way" is irrelevant - the end result would have been the same. The only complication would have been if the person was still alive, but their account had been closed and points removed.

I meant given to the family while they were alive and able to do so. They've yet to work out a way for people to gift posthumously (and I'm sure that lawyers don't think of Q points in a will. )

My point about being reliably informed of a death is that it leaves it open for people who have an agenda to advise of a death when that isn't the case.

 

[drsmithy]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

I meant given to the family while they were alive and able to do so. They've yet to work out a way for people to gift posthumously (and I'm sure that lawyers don't think of Q points in a will. )

But the account holder was already dead in the OP's case - like I said, the only complication would have been if they were still alive (in which case I expect they'd be able to restore it, though it would probably require some pushing).

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

Wouldn't it be a better idea for all airlines to allow members to nominate a beneficiary (who must also hold a ff number with that airline) so in their event of the death of a loved one their points could be transferred legally to that person.

It doesn't seem right that the points are lost entirely because someone died.

I wonder how many points get written off annually in circumstances such as these?

 

[badseed]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

Whilst Qantas state in their T&C's that the points have no monetary value, I can pretty much guarantee that would not stand up to legal scrutiny. They definitely hold a value on QFF's books, and any 'reasonable' person would also certainly assign them a value, expressed monetarily.

Merely having a line in a blanket terms and conditions document is not usually enough to enforce such a negative outcome for a consumer (i.e. a loss of all points).

In this case it should be the consumers' estate who should be able to realise the value of the points. I would think that would work out better for QF in the long run anyway, as it gets the partner or the next generation flying with QF.

 

[Archphoto]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

We recently had a story in the local paper, which had one of the top legal firms in the state, advising that people leave their passwords etc with their wills, so that all their social media could be accessed in the event of their death.

With all the social media sites etc floating around - some people could be leaving a book the size of a small paperback for their next of kin to read!

The points obviously have value - regardless of what QF "say", after all if they didn't, why would almost every CC around the world be aligning itself with one airline FF program or another. Hmmm, maybe to get your butt into their seat, enjoy the "free" flight and plan yet another (and another, and another) flight that you'll end up needing to actually pay for.

Goodwill goes long way; obviously some marketing bods don't see this as a positive spin for their company - rather an annoyance, perhaps?

 

[nlagalle]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

If Qantas put a monetary value on points, we could well end up with the ATO jumping in and putting an FBT on it.. at the moment they have left it alone.. I would hate to see that change.

 

[cove]

Re: Deceased Qantas Plat member points.... Here's what happened, one year on.

Shipping bodies home as oz_mark posted would be a risk to the points stash if you were to use Qantas as their rules are quite clear.

 

[Deleted member]

Maybe there could be say a 6 or 12 month delay on the closure of the account so that points could be used and or distributed.
If QF say there is no value then what would be the problem form their point of view?