Sorry if this is not the right place but since this is a general question and I'm looking for answers that may relate to the best available current programs, this might be a good fit...

In general, what are the current rules on FF award certificates meant as gift for others? In other words, if I want to give my miles to someone who may not be a member of any programs (therefore, I can't transfer into their account), I would think I could still have any of my programs -- UA, AA, DL -- issue a certificate that I could then pass on to my friend to use whenever/however they want to use those miles by taking, say, 25K miles from my account to issue a cert for a domestic ticket. Are some airlines better about this than others, or do they all work about the same?

I have a friend who's a meeting planner and has hotel points galore, often more than she can reasonably use. Ironically, she doesn't get to travel much (she plans local events) therefore doesn't have miles. I know she'd love the miles or air ticket. I'm thinking about offering a trade whereby she books me 2-3 nights at one of her program properties and in return I give her a certifcate for a domestic flight but I don't want to do so if it'll only create a hassle for her. Is it still relatively easy to give your miles to someone else via a certificate?

You can use your airline miles, but you must put the ticket in your friends name. For example, I just flew my friend from JAX to BMI and I used my airline points, but I had the ticket issued in his name. I hope this helps.

Thanks for responding. So you have to have a trip in mind already? I remember years ago when my mom gave me an AA award certificate that she'd gotten with her miles. It was, essentially, a "coupon" that I then took to a ticketing office at a later date to issued a flight. That's sort of what I was hoping to do here. Unfortunately, it's hard to find straightforward info on the sites... between all the "buy miles," "donate miles to charity," etc. options, the thing that I'm looking for is buried. I see that AA has an online transfer option, but it seems to have a limit and of course it's only for people who are on AA already. Sorry to bug you all... I'm looking on the sites but can't seem to find what Im looking for, and as I said, since I can use any of these three programs, you might have tips for which one is best now.

Like Jimc, I too have gifted some of my many miles on various occasions but have always made the reservation in the recipients' names. I would suggest that you should call directly each of the airlines in which you have sufficient miles to use for gifting, explain your situation, and ask what options their system permits.

lex

Gator Gal,

I think the issue is more a matter of symantics. As far as I know, there really aren't ceritifcates that are issued any more. Here's what I would do...

Make a certificate for your friend that is really nice and has all of the conditions listed. Basically, it should stay that it is for one standard, saver, whatever award within the continental US and expires in, say, one year.

When she decides when and where she wants to travel, you check for the availability and book the ticket. There may be some issues here that she'd run into on her own, anyway. After you make the reservation in her name, have her surrender to certificate back to you.

I hope this helps answer your questions.

Bob

i think that when you said "trade", you may have violated the rules of most programs. a gift is 1 thing but a trade is prohibited.

DL apparently will still issue award certificates as well as award tickets. If DL is an option for you, contact them (or search or post in the DL forum) to see if they will allow the certificate to be placed in the gift recipient's name.