Using another's points and miles questions.
 

First I want to say thank you and what a great resource for acquiring points and miles. I just wish I had started this years ago but it seems I've been lucky enough to have been able to receive the mega sign up bonuses (3 X AA for 225K, AMEX Gold 75K, Continental 50K, Sapphire 50K) that have been out there for the last few months.

Now that I need to take a break on my credit card sign-ups I have started to sign my Mom up ( AA 75K ) and am trying to figure out how I can use them. She doesn't like to travel and is more than happy for me to use her miles/ points. I know that B.A. has a family account and that Hawaiian Airlines and SPG let's you move points freely between accounts. So I'm waiting for the 100K BA promotion to return and am thinking of the Hawaiian CC's next.

I'm pretty new to all this so what I would like is any advice on combining and using points and miles from another's accounts. I would think that couples that have separate accounts would be familiar with this. I know that on Southwest you can use miles to get others tickets. Are all airlines FF/ hotel programs like this? Should I find ways to move her points/ miles into my accounts? Can I use her miles to buy a one way ticket and then use my miles for another one way back? How can I maximize her sign-ups and take full advantage of this?

Thanks, any and all advice would be appreciated.

You can redeem miles for tickets for people other than the account holder. However, you typically cannot combine miles from two accounts to buy a single ticket. So you could get yourself a ticket with your mother's miles, but her miles would have to cover the whole thing. You couldn't combine half her miles and half your miles.

Yes, but many airlines now allow a one way booking, so much easier to use a moderate amount of miles.

OK, I can't combine miles for a ticket but can use them in my name for a ticket. With one ways, if I need to, I can use my miles to get there and my Moms for a one way back That works for me.

Just stay away from DL miles. A lot of pitfalls.

AA, CO/UA are all quite nice. If you want to go to Asia, using AA awards on Cathay First class is a great use of miles.

AA, CO/UA are the two programs I have accumulated miles. I also have a RT in Southwest. I'll stick with those three and get some hotel points for now.

I use AA, CO/UA for international and Southwest for domestic flights. I travel twice a year, one domestic and one international where I go to different parts of the world and wander around for a couple months in the winter.

I usually fly coach so I can keep my miles for other trips but might go first class on my next trip if I can keep enough miles for one other international trip. I'm thinking I can get some nice CC bonuses in a couple years so why not.

Can you also book hotel rooms in someone else's name?