What Happens To Your Avios Points When You Die?

Discussing what happens to your Avios points when you die may not be the most exciting topic, but it is important to address, particularly if you or a loved one has accumulated a substantial number of points. As Avios points can be worth at least 1p per point for flights, they can hold significant value. Therefore, it is crucial to understand what happens to your points after you pass away.

What happens to your Avios points when you die?

Many people may assume that their Avios points automatically pass on to their family members or loved ones after death. Unfortunately, this is not the case. British Airways’ terms and conditions state that any unused Avios points, Tier Points, and Lifetime Tier Points accumulated by a member at the time of death will be cancelled. See clause 3.12.2 here – https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/terms-and-conditions

This can be disappointing news, particularly if you have accumulated a substantial amount of Avios points that could be worth thousands of pounds. The last thing you would want is to forfeit them to British Airways.

Is there a way around this?

There are two slightly questionable ways you can avoid this happening to you…

• Firstly, you can share your account details with someone you trust to use your points after you pass away. They can book flights using your points without needing to use a credit card in your name.
  
• Secondly, you can set up a household account with people who share the same address as you. This way, they can use your balance as well as their own to make bookings.

It’s essential to remember that you may want to ensure that someone has access to your account in case the worst happens. One million Avios is worth around £10,000, not small change to most people! So it’s unlikely you’d want BA just to ‘cancel’ them. With this in mind we recommend that you make sure your loved ones can make use of your Avios points if something happens to you.