Estate planning as a MileagePlus account holder

United MileagePlus is a major airline loyalty program with miles earned through flights, credit cards, hotel and car rental partners, and a wide range of transfer partners. Members redeem miles for flights, upgrades, hotel stays, car rentals, merchandise, and experiences. Under the program rules, accrued mileage and benefits do not constitute property of the member, and miles are held in the account until they are redeemed or forfeited under one of the triggers the rules list.

When a MileagePlus account holder dies, their miles may be transferred to a designated person at United Airlines's sole discretion. A transfer is not guaranteed, and satisfactory documentation is required before processing any request.

MileagePlus provides a pooling or family sharing option for miles. MileagePlus offers free miles pooling. Any MileagePlus member 18 or older can start a pool and becomes the pool leader; the leader invites other MileagePlus members (family including children, friends, or a mix), to a maximum of 5 people in a pool. Starting a pool is free. Every pool member can contribute miles, and the leader manages the pool and can authorize members to redeem. Members can belong to only one pool at a time, and a member who departs a pool loses access to the pool miles. A contribution is reversible only briefly: United's pooling FAQ states that miles transferred into the pool can be removed within 24 hours, and that after 24 hours transfers cannot be reversed; pooled miles cannot be transferred back out to an individual account. Pooled miles can be redeemed for award travel on United, United Express, and the airline partners United lists on the pooling page (42 named as of this verification, including Star Alliance carriers such as Lufthansa, ANA and Singapore Airlines plus non-alliance partners; Emirates and flydubai are limited to select flights, and Hawaiian Airlines pooled redemptions are limited to interisland flights). Pooled miles cannot be used for Money + Miles tickets. The Miles pooling Terms state that "Miles in the Pool do not constitute property of any individual Member of the Pool, including the leader." Separately, members can gift or transfer miles to another member through the Buy or Transfer Miles program: transfers of 500 to 100,000 miles cost $7.50 per 500 miles plus a $30.00 processing fee per transaction, and purchased miles cost $35.00 per 1,000 miles (minimum purchase 2,000 miles), plus taxes and fees.

What happens at death

The MileagePlus rules address death twice, and the two provisions pull in opposite directions. Under "General conditions" the rules state that awards and benefits, including accrued mileage, "do not constitute property of the Member and are not transferable except as set forth herein," and then: "In the event of the death or divorce of a Member, United may, in its sole discretion, credit all or a portion of such Member's accrued mileage to authorized persons upon receipt of documentation satisfactory to United and payment of applicable fees." Under "Mileage expiration" the rules state that mileage is maintained in the account "until it is redeemed for an award or until it is otherwise forfeited pursuant to" a list of triggers that expressly includes "(e) the death of a Member." So forfeiture on death is the rules' stated default and the discretionary credit is the exception to it. There is no time-based expiry and no beneficiary mechanism; whether any miles reach a survivor turns entirely on United exercising the discretion the first clause reserves to it, on documentation United finds satisfactory, and on payment of whatever fees United applies.