Originally Posted by
robbert
This is another example of :-:Best in Class:-:
With the old NW and with all other airlines that I know of the only thing that mattered was that the account where the miles were coming from were from an elite, it did not matter who was flying. DL is alone here that they require the elite member to be on the PNR. This really sucks if you want to fly family members over or gift a trip to a friend and fly with with them on a paid ticket.
I apologize if my responses to the OP were unclear, as you seem to have misunderstood - if an elite member (or non-elite member) does want to book an award ticket with their miles for someone else, they can. And they don't need to be in the same PNR (or a linked PNR) or traveling at all to do so.
I was trying to advise the OP as to the procedure when the miles are coming from a Medallion account, in the case where the Medallion member's name will not be on the ticket, and will not be traveling with the person whose name is on the ticket. Again, I apologize for any confusion that I created.