Skift Take
United is one of the biggest U.S. airlines to allow friends and family to combine miles — at no extra fee — to redeem award tickets.
United Airlines announced Thursday it will allow friends and family to create joint accounts to pool frequent flier miles through its loyalty program.
The move is intended to make it easier for friends and family to use miles when booking award tickets for flights and was spurred by an uptick in family and friends travel since the pandemic, said Luc Bondar, the chief operating officer of United MileagePlus.
“Social travel we think is a really important trend in the travel landscape,” Bondar said. “And so mileage pooling is a really distinct innovation for the loyalty space.”
United is the first of the Big Four airlines to allow pooling miles with no extra fees. Typically, airlines let customers transfer miles to other acc