Apr 13, 2016, 2:50 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
*A programs with some form of family accounts: A3, NH, OZ, TK
Related thread -- UA award tickets no longer inherit status benefits if elite is not on PNR
has it ever been possible to transfer miles to another acct for free or almost free?
*A forum Combining Family miles ... Which SA carrier?? includes a discussion of other Alliances around past 96
Suggestions for using multiple accounts
First an award PNR (or upgrades on a paid ticket) cannot be funded multiple accounts but one can
-- use one-way awards and fund each direction from separate accounts, disadvantage potentially higher cancel and redeposit miles fees, as this would be considered as separate awards
-- For upgrades you can use a different mileage accounts for the outbound and the return
-- place different family members on different PNRs, a disadvantage is they will not inherit elite benefits if one family member is an elite -- however E+ access and boarding/security priority will still work. Baggage allowance could be the biggest downside. Irrops is a second issue but the can be handled manually.
Related thread -- UA award tickets no longer inherit status benefits if elite is not on PNR
has it ever been possible to transfer miles to another acct for free or almost free?
*A forum Combining Family miles ... Which SA carrier?? includes a discussion of other Alliances around past 96
Suggestions for using multiple accounts
First an award PNR (or upgrades on a paid ticket) cannot be funded multiple accounts but one can
-- use one-way awards and fund each direction from separate accounts, disadvantage potentially higher cancel and redeposit miles fees, as this would be considered as separate awards
-- For upgrades you can use a different mileage accounts for the outbound and the return
-- place different family members on different PNRs, a disadvantage is they will not inherit elite benefits if one family member is an elite -- however E+ access and boarding/security priority will still work. Baggage allowance could be the biggest downside. Irrops is a second issue but the can be handled manually.
[Consolidated] Does UA offer "family accounts?" - No
Jun 19, 2018, 8:12 am
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,451
I am sorry if this has been asked millions of times before. My search skills are weak. My wife and I both have mileageplus accounts and she has the United Explorer Chase card with me as an authorized user. Due to this, she will be accumulating points at a higher rate than I will. I know you can transfer points between accounts for a fee but is it possible for couples to pool points when purchasing tickets without having to pay a fee? We always travel together so we would both be ticketed.
I think the only time we would probably want to use the points would be on international trips and we also use SAS Eurobonus. I wonder how that would work as well. Man this stuff can get confusing.
I think the only time we would probably want to use the points would be on international trips and we also use SAS Eurobonus. I wonder how that would work as well. Man this stuff can get confusing.
Jun 19, 2018, 8:23 am
#32
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: BOS
Programs: Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott/SPG/Hilton Gold, PreCheck + Clear
Posts: 2,306
I am sorry if this has been asked millions of times before. My search skills are weak. My wife and I both have mileageplus accounts and she has the United Explorer Chase card with me as an authorized user. Due to this, she will be accumulating points at a higher rate than I will. I know you can transfer points between accounts for a fee but is it possible for couples to pool points when purchasing tickets without having to pay a fee? We always travel together so we would both be ticketed.
I think the only time we would probably want to use the points would be on international trips and we also use SAS Eurobonus. I wonder how that would work as well. Man this stuff can get confusing.
I think the only time we would probably want to use the points would be on international trips and we also use SAS Eurobonus. I wonder how that would work as well. Man this stuff can get confusing.
fumje’s advice is correct: it’s essentially never a good deal to transfer RDMs between accounts. Just use the account that has more miles to buy tickets for both travelers, keeping your segments under the same PNR where possible to avoid any (admittedly unlikely) unpleasantness such as one passenger being bumped while the other is not.
One of the great things about int’l MileagePlus awards is that you have plenty of flexibility to stitch together itineraries based on one-way awards. The only real benefits to round-trip tickets are the Excursionist perk and reduced fees if you cancel or change your itinerary, but while they’re nice, flexibility is more useful.
Jun 19, 2018, 10:22 am
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,365
You can use your wife's points to upgrade both of you, if you want -- or use hers to upgrade the outbound flight and yours to upgrade the return flight, or whatever. If you want to use two different accounts to upgrade the tickets in one direction -- you upgrading your ticket with your miles, she upgrading her ticket with hers -- you'll need to split the reservation first; if you call UA, they can do this for you.
Finally, unless you have no other choice, you should never pay the UA mileage transfer fee to move your miles to her account or vice versa. If you find that you need to top off an account, use Award Accelerator to buy new miles. They're often not much more expensive than the transfer fee, making them a much better value. There's a board thread on this if you're interested.
Finally, unless you have no other choice, you should never pay the UA mileage transfer fee to move your miles to her account or vice versa. If you find that you need to top off an account, use Award Accelerator to buy new miles. They're often not much more expensive than the transfer fee, making them a much better value. There's a board thread on this if you're interested.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jun 19, 2018 at 11:53 am Reason: split thread
Dec 21, 2018, 7:22 am
#34
formerly skyccord
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: United Premier Platinum, Hertz President Circle, Marriott/SPG Premier Plat Elite, Avis Preferred
Posts: 269
Pooled RDM/Award miles
I would love to see this option for families. JetBlue has this and it's a great setup. Transferring miles between accounts hardly ever makes sense from a financial perspective. Anyone agree?
Dec 21, 2018, 7:57 am
#35
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,121
Dec 21, 2018, 11:00 am
#38
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
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Posts: 100,369
If OP wants to fly on UA, IIRC Asiana (like KE in SkyTeam) allows family accounts in *A. I think TK has something similar.
Apr 30, 2023, 10:06 am
#39
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA Lifetime Premier Gold, Pan Am WorldPass (disc.), Hertz Gold, IHC Gold Elite, Marriott Plat. Elite
Posts: 102
A little off topic perhaps, and Moderator, please feel free to move this if necessary, but here is a question:
Does UA offer Mileage Plus Household Accounts, wherein the MP miles of individual family members are also consolidated in one account?
I have such an account with British Airways, and I'm just wondering if this exists for UA, since I fly them much more frequently.
Thanks!
Does UA offer Mileage Plus Household Accounts, wherein the MP miles of individual family members are also consolidated in one account?
I have such an account with British Airways, and I'm just wondering if this exists for UA, since I fly them much more frequently.
Thanks!
Apr 30, 2023, 11:14 am
#40
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: SDF
Programs: -=- UA: GS + 3.9 Million Miler; Hilton: Diamond; Marriott: Gold; Hertz: President's Circle
Posts: 676
A little off topic perhaps, and Moderator, please feel free to move this if necessary, but here is a question:
Does UA offer Mileage Plus Household Accounts, wherein the MP miles of individual family members are also consolidated in one account?
I have such an account with British Airways, and I'm just wondering if this exists for UA, since I fly them much more frequently.
Thanks!
Does UA offer Mileage Plus Household Accounts, wherein the MP miles of individual family members are also consolidated in one account?
I have such an account with British Airways, and I'm just wondering if this exists for UA, since I fly them much more frequently.
Thanks!