How to use your miles for other people and when you should do it

Sometimes the most rewarding use of miles is when you redeem it for others. Whether using it for family, friends, or employees, the redemption process is virtually the same as when doing it for yourself.  Most programs do not restrict who you can redeem your miles for, but some restrict it to a limited number of family members or specified people. Some redemptions for other people offer particular advantages

Every situation is different and you should carefully weigh the pros and the cons. We have prepared some ideas on what to consider when making that decision.

1. If you are traveling with someone, but only have enough miles for one ticket, use your miles for the companion rather than for yourself.

Traveling on a paid ticket will help you to build on your miles and airline status (as you are likely a person who has it).  Also, you will get the flexibility to change the travel companion if your friend can no longer go, or plans change.  

2. When you need to pay for someone’s travel and it is a one-time deal that may fall through.

Flexibility is the main advantage of award tickets.  Regular tickets are usually non-refundable with the ability to rebook in the future, but only for the same person. When you are flying someone out for a job interview or flying out someone for a specific project (consultant of some sort, nanny, etc.) who may cancel, a ticket for miles may be your best option. Using your personal miles or maybe miles you accrued from a corporate credit card is a good way to minimize the risk for situations that are a one-time deal.  

3. If you plan an international trip with your child, but have miles for only one ticket, use miles for an adult and buy a child ticket in case there is a child discount.

While it is a thing of the past for domestic travel, internationally many airlines still offer discounts for children under 12. If the same discount is not offered for an award, you will save some money by using miles for yourself and buying a ticket for the child with a child discount.

Of course, you should balance the costs and benefits here against point 1 above.  If there is no child discount, then pay for your tickets and use miles for the child.  Keep in mind certain airlines restrict online purchases of unaccompanied children (you may need to do this through a call center or a travel agent).

4. Split the trip and book one-way instead of transferring miles between accounts. 

When you have enough miles but they are not evenly split between accounts, try to book a one-way ticket rather than paying fees to move miles between accounts. Loyalty programs often offer the option to transfer miles to another person for a fee. However, in most cases, this is a bad idea as the fees charged by the programs for this are way too high to make sense. We recommend that you transfer miles between accounts only if someone is very close to the required number of miles for an award ticket.

5. If you have credit card points, you may transfer them to another person’s mileage account. 

American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards would allow you to transfer points directly to another person's mileage account in certain cases. In the case of AmEx you can do it if that person is one of the additional card non-primary cardmembers on one of your accounts.  Chase allows you to designate one person in addition to yourself as a household member whose mileage accounts you can convert your points to (you can change that person once a year). Citi ThankYou Rewards allows you to transfer up to 100,000 points a year to another person who is also a Citi ThankYou points account holder (they do not have to be related to you or have a card on your account).  There are some caveats to watch out for, however. The transferred points will expire within 90 days, so the recipient should be ready to transfer them to their frequent flyer program before they expire. Also, only credit card earned thank you points can be shared.

All of the major American and European-based frequent flyer programs allow you to book award flights for anyone, but that is not the case in Asia or Australia. Let’s take a look at the booking policy for major programs.

Frequent flyer programs that allow you to book award flights for anyone else with no restrictions.

Most of the loyalty programs are very easy to use. There are no restrictions for booking an award flight for someone else. You just need to put the required name in the passenger field.  Here is a list of programs that allow you to redeem miles for other people. 

• Aeroplan 
• AeroMexico Club Premier
• Alaska Mileage Plan 
• American AAdvantage 
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Delta Skymiles 
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• Flying Blue 
• HawaiianMiles
• Iberia Plus
• True Blue
• Miles&More
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• United Airlines - Mileage Plus
• Southwest Rapid Rewards
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 
  
  

Frequent flyer programs that limit redemptions for non-account holders.

Here is a list of programs that place restrictions on who you can book an award flight for:

• ANA Mileage Club - limited to spouses and relatives within two degrees of kinship.
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - redemptions are limited to the nominated people on the account (up to 5 people). Thereafter, a member may replace an existing nominee or add a new nominee to replace a previously deleted nominee up to three times per membership year. It costs $50 to replace an existing nominee.
• Japan Mileage Bank - awards can be used by the Japan Mileage Bank member, the member's spouse, relatives within the second degree of kinship, and the spouses of members' brothers and sisters.
• Korean Air SkyPass - award tickets can only be booked for yourself or family members. 
• Qantas Frequent Flyer - you can redeem miles only for family members.
• Singapore KrisFlyer – number of people who can redeem awards is limited to up to 5 people. Unlike other programs, you do not need to be related. You can change the nominees for a small fee, once every 6 months.
• TAP Miles&Go. If you want to book an award ticket for another person, you will need to send TAP a signed authorization letter within 24 hours after the booking. 

Bottom line 

Booking award flights for someone else is a good feature of loyalty programs. American and most of the European airlines have long abandoned restrictions and you can freely book tickets for anyone! 

In case of any booking restrictions, you should try to set up your account in advance, add nominees or family members and send all required documents to the airline. You will be ready when flights are available for booking.

The rules of each program are different, so always check before you do anything!