United Airlines plans to announce ‘family pooling’ of mileage this week, as noted by aviation watchdog JonNYC. This is a nice benefit where your kids can help you earn miles towards an award more quickly, and your once a year traveling in-laws can too. Miles get used faster, and become more useful.
- Friends and family will be able to join a mileage pool and add miles to the shared account.
- A pool leader will manage who can join, and who can withdraw miles.
- You can make it so some family members add their miles, but only others can spend them.
- You can only be a member of one pool at a time. Each member decides how much to put into the pool.
UA MileagePlus:
Will introduce *mileage pooling*
Ability to join a group of friends/family and add miles to a collective account.
Each individual decides how many miles to throw into the pool, but once in the pool, those miles can be used however the pool leader had set up.
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) March 20, 2024
Many airlines already do this. Aeroplan has family sharing but has suspended creation of new family share accounts due to fraud. British Airways, JetBlue, Frontier, Air France, and Asiana (among others) offer forms of family pooling.
In 2020, the then-head of American AAdvantage said the reason they didn’t offer this is because they hadn’t figured out “how to avoid secondary markets and gaming.” Clearly Aeroplan hasn’t quite figured this out either. It will be interesting to see how well United’s strategies work.
Ok, so massive further devaluation of awards coming in the next few months? Has to, right?
Would be nice if they would allow pooling of travel banks too
I doubt they will allow a Gary Leff pool where people can pool miles into it and trade miles.
In many families, only one person flies a lot. Adding a kid or spouse may not add much. Besides, now with 5-11 miles per dollar, that’s often less than the old mileage system.
I’m good with it as long as no one pees in the pool.
I’m not sure there’s much room for further devaluation in the near term. With the value of UA miles nearly as worthless as SkyPesos, UA has to create some incentives for people not to abandon its program entirely, in favor of other Star Alliance programs such as Aeroplan. Letting people share their miles is one such incentive.
Will this be an instance where “The Premium” airline follows United?
Johosofat
Or think Caddyshack pool scene
Emirates does this as well and it’s a cluster you know what in figuring it all out as there are so many safeguards and weirdnesses surrounding it. Will be interesting to see how UA manages this. It may be game changing or a nightmare depending on how well it’s thought out.
You mean like how he hyped about UA’s “new Florida hub” just a few weeks ago that turned out to be absolutely nothing ?
Henry LAX , you -cannot- be this stupid– it’s impossible.
And probably congenital.
Delta will match, allowing families who pool 1 million SkyMiles a free one way ticket to Mobile…off season.
@ Gary — Premium Airways will follow. When one person in the pool dies,everyone’s miles will be confiscated and given out as profit sharing to employees.
On most flights, the number of miles required for a round trip ticket is so high that it is not worth attempting to fly using a mileage ticket.
Too many negative changes in the program have taken away the incentive to earn miles.
It is outlandish to pay three to five HUNDRED thousand miles for a round-trip business class to Europe or South America.
Face it, the programs used to be great. Now, it is just a flicker of what they once were.
Because it takes a family to accumulate enough miles for a RT to Fargo in December. Keep spending on those worthless credit cards.
Hopefully one step closer to OPM flyers having to co tribute to a company pool of miles instead of earning untaxed income for themselves
One of the Chase Southwest credit cards offers annual statement credits to offset points transfer cost to other Rapid Rewards members. This seems like a good path for UA to follow: make pooling cost prohibitive for non cardholders (i.e., scummy points brokers) and offer statement credits so that it’s free for loyal cardholding MileagePlus members.
Corporations must be drooling.
Imagine the cost saving when you take the miles your OPM flyers earn on the expensive tickets you are paying for. 75000 points on an OPM ticket to the company pool pays for the next trip.
Who is earing miles anymore?
I suppose they throw a few in my account every time I fly… I don’t even pay attention anymore.
Wow, so many nonsense negative comments here trying to trash the program with no reference to this huge improvement.
The MileagePlus program is incredibly valuable, with excellent award availability across the largest alliance, no surcharges even on partners, no redeposit fees, and no expiration of points. And now pooling. I mean, what additionally could you ask for?
Delta SkyPesos require ridiculous amounts to redeem, while AAdvantage Miles only make available partner awards available with astronomical surcharges.
But I guess that’s all fine – I’ll enjoy all the benefits of the MileagePlus program while you guys get… nothing? 🙂