Passengers check in for United Airlines flights at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, Dec. 13, 2022.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Here’s a friendship test: Would you share your frequent flyer miles along with your pals? United Airlines is betting customers shall be open to it.
The airline on Thursday began allowing members of its MileagePlus loyalty program to pool their frequent flyer miles and tap into that stash for trips on United.
A “pool leader” can pick as much as 4 other relations or friends to take part in the joint account. The leader needs to be not less than 18 years old, but pool members may be any age, so families can use their kid’s miles piles toward tickets.
Customers will still retain their very own MileagePlus accounts and may resolve how much they wish to contribute to the pool. Those miles may be redeemed for flights and other products on United’s site or app.
Individuals can resolve how much to contribute to the pool, and there is a commitment: “Once those miles are within the pool …they stay within the the pool,” said Luc Bondar, chief operating officer of United’s MileagePlus loyalty program.
United is not the primary airline to supply loyalty points pooling. JetBlue Airways lets as much as seven customers pool frequent flyer miles, while Frontier Airlines allows as much as eight people to pool miles. Airlines also generally allow customers to transfer miles to others, but that usually comes with a fee.
“The strategy for mileage pooling is to appeal to less-frequent to moderately frequent travelers and get them and their relations engaged in this system,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst and founding father of the consulting firm Atmosphere Research Group. “By allowing members of a family to pool their award points together, it increases brand preference across the family … identical to with toothpaste.”
