Originally Posted by
travfar
I'm booking flights for my parents. Can I accrue their miles onto my Mileage Plus number? The system seemed to bawk when I booked it for my dad saying the name didn't match. But it didn't have a problem when I booked for my mom.
The closest legitimate thing you can do is purchase them with a United Airlines credit card. Some earn as much as 3 RDM for each $1 spent, which could easily be more than the flight miles on some routes.