Frequent Flier Miles
A couple of months ago, Air New Zealand ran into a bit of a media storm after a Christchurch woman realised she could not book a flight using her father's shared Airpoints, just a week after his death. At the time the airline said it was "standard procedure" for membership rewards accounts to be closed "on receipt of notification of the member's death". As stated in the scheme's terms and conditions, the airline said, a member's points cannot be controlled by another person. "Airpoints Dollars are owned by the member and those not redeemed at the time of the member's death are cancelled unless a formal claim is made by the beneficiary of the member's estate." The airline's customer service team later backtracked on "null and void" Airpoints, and in the Christchurch family's case, Jaclyn Philpott and her mother were able to use her deceased father's Airpoints account. What a legal and emotional qua...