After logging hundreds of thousands of miles, staying in brand-backed chains and boutiques, and utilizing travel rewards credit cards to gain loyalty points and elite membership benefits, you’re probably ready for a vacation. However, in an era of dollar-based earning systems and changing program restrictions that devalue elite membership perks, obtaining substantial incentives can be difficult for individuals, much alone groups. And, with frequent airline miles and hotel rewards points sometimes being shifted into multiple accounts, figuring out how to combine loyalty points without diluting their value is a challenge in itself.
Pick a Program That Allows You to (Cheaply) Pool Points
JetBlue Airways’ TrueBlue program makes it easy to accumulate and integrate JetBlue points at no additional cost. You can always share or give points, but it isn’t a good value on other airlines, according to George Hobica, head of booking website Airfarewatchdog. This is how it works. A Family Pooling account allows up to two adults (21 and older) and five children to add a predetermined proportion of frequent flier points per year without incurring any transfer fees. While it may not appear to be a significant incentive to pool points for one family member’s account (the head of household), when you realize that users get six points per dollar spent when booking flights on JetBlue’s website, it’s clear how the pooling plan simplifies the process.
Hawaiian Airlines also allows users to share points with other HawaiianMiles members; however, only Barclaycard’s Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard holders can receive collected miles without incurring transaction or transfer fees. “Family pooling is very common across non-U.S. programs,” adds Gary Leff, owner of frequent flier blog View From the Wing. For example, British Airways’ Avios customers can link up to seven household accounts. However, there is one caveat: when you redeem Avios points, you will receive points from all accounts, Leff warns. Hobica adds that British Airways is great for those who share an address to pool points and fast accumulate free trips.
Korean Air likewise allows family members to bundle SkyPass points, while Etihad’s Guest Program allows you to combine miles into a single account, and Quantas’ reward program allows users to transfer accrued miles to relatives’ accounts.
Beware of Hidden Fees and Other Caveats
In many circumstances, “the miles will go into the account of the person [who’s] actually flying on the ticket,” adds Zach Honig, editor in chief of the points advice website The Travel Rewards Points Guy. So, “for the most part, you can’t combine miles,” he explains. And, while you can theoretically pool your points for a single reward if you participate in a program that allows you to combine miles, he warns that if each family member books their own award reservation, it may be difficult to accommodate them on the same award trip. If you are redeeming from separate accounts, Honig recommends phoning the airline and requesting to be seated adjacent to each other.
When transferring points from one account to another, keep in mind that unless you use a software that allows you to pool points, you will incur a high price. According to Honig, most programs will go through a third-party site, such as Points.com, and will incur a transfer cost.
Pick Programs That Allow You to Earn Transferable Points or Extend Perks to Others
If you favor value, Honig recommends sticking with a scheme that allows you to quickly transfer points between hotel and airline accounts. He recommends the Starwood Preferred Guest program as an excellent alternative for people seeking flexibility. The SPG program allows you to combine points with other household members and transfer them for qualified partner flights with Delta. Honig notes that transferring points is not usually a quick procedure. “Say everyone only flew twice in the past year.
“If you combine those points, you won’t have enough [award] points for everyone,” he adds. If you have a vacation objective, plan ahead of time and “make sure your points are pulled together before you pull the trigger,” he says. Meanwhile, Hyatt Gold Passport elite Diamond members can extend their status perks to family or friends while booking a hotel stay, owing to the program’s “Guest of Honor” benefit, Leff says. Depending on availability, benefits may include a late check-out, a complimentary United Club airport lounge access, or even room upgrades.
Choose a Flexible Credit Card
Aside from attractive sign-up incentives, several co-branded travel rewards credit cards allow users to combine balances from multiple accounts. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card not only offers a 50,000-point sign-up bonus for spending $4,000 on purchases during the first three months of opening an account, but you can also add several authorized users to earn additional points incentives. Honig suggests that you and your significant other both sign up for a linked rewards card to swiftly accumulate miles. He says that once you have accumulated around 70,000 miles, you will be able to enjoy round-trip economy award tickets to various places.
Stay Organized
To guarantee that your group takes advantage of award travel and Travel Rewards points benefits, Leff suggests that one dedicated family member handles all accounts. He proposes utilizing an online points and miles monitoring service, such as AwardWallet, to keep track of many accounts. To maximize comfort, he recommends receiving your seat assignment at the time of booking and keeping track of flight changes. If you wish to sit together, create a seat alert on Explorecheapflights, which will notify you when certain seats on an airplane become available, he explains.