Photo Illustration by the Globe and Mail. Sources: Getty Images
The beneficiary: “Annabelle” is a 58-year-old policy manager who just retired. She lives in a city on the East Coast with her long-term, common-law partner. Five years ago, her older brother died unexpectedly, leaving a detailed will with impressive thought and foresight – plus some serious subtext for Annabelle to ponder.
The inheritance: Meticulous and organized, Annabelle’s brother had considered and listed everything you can think of (property, assets, investment accounts, bank account numbers) and some things most of us probably wouldn’t: In an addendum, he listed his Aeroplan number and points balance, which had climbed to more than 500,000.
“My brother travelled so much for work that, even though he loved travelling, he didn’t want to fly even more when he finally had some time off,” says Annabelle. Since she similarly loves travel and had long revelled in his stories from Ecuador, Italy and Peru, the points felt like a poignant gift with a not-so-subtle message to pack her bags and get on a plane already.
What she learned: Whatever her brother’s will said, Aeroplan points are not officially “willable” like the rest of a person’s estate, though the points can be transferred.
Aeroplan, like most rewards programs, doesn’t ask for a beneficiary when you sign up. But forward-thinkers can e-mail the company with their would-be beneficiary’s name, e-mail, mailing address, etc. (Even still, an e-mail from Aeroplan proclaiming anyone bequeathed you a fortune in points is almost certainly a phishing scam.)
Ultimately, inheritors of points (or the will’s executor on their behalf) need to e-mail the company themselves like Annabelle did. It will want the late member’s complete name and address plus Aeroplan number – in Annabelle’s case, listed conveniently in her brother’s will – plus a scanned copy of the death certificate and the will. “Not the entire will,” Annabelle says, “just the page that shows you’re the heir.” If there are two or more beneficiaries, they’ll also need a document from the others relinquishing – or, more likely, also claiming – their share.
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The entire claiming and collecting process was done electronically and the points landed in her Aeroplan account three weeks later, a speed that surprised and impressed Annabelle. “I thought it would take a while, so three weeks seemed pretty fast to me.”
It’s worth noting that if an Aeroplan account is inactive for 18 consecutive months, whether the member is alive or not, accumulated points expire no matter how much they’re worth. (There are no official stats on annual unclaimed points and corresponding cash that goes right back to Air Canada, but surely it’s lots.)
What she did with them: Having always wanted to visit Asia, Annabelle decided to honour her brother with the trip she thought he would have chosen for her. “I imagined him saying, ‘Don’t stay in Canada. Don’t go somewhere you’ve already been. Don’t waste this,’” she says. Moreover, rather than squeeze a rushed visit into her regular vacation weeks, she booked six whole weeks off work.
With her partner in tow, Annabelle used her brother’s points to offset what became more than a dozen flights to and through Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. By doing her research and booking strategically, half of the flights, including a splurge on business class for the long-haul legs from Canada and back, were covered entirely with her brother’s points. “I would certainly have never flown like that without them,” she admits, and in fact she probably wouldn’t have taken the bucket-list trip at all.
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“The sudden abundance of points I had was the impetus I needed,” says Annabelle. With his seeming blessing in hand, she wanted to “use the points very intentionally in his memory.”
Throughout her trip, Annabelle visited many places and temples where she stopped to think of her brother. “There were many moments when I was able to take the time to remember him and be really appreciative of the kind of man and brother that he was to me,” she says.
While the points facilitated the process, the real gift was a wake-up call about living to the fullest that Annabelle heard loud and clear. Upon returning home, she rejigged her finances to take an early retirement. She’s already planning her next overseas adventure.
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