United announced that it has launched MileagePlus miles pooling, which the carrier calls a new way for members of the loyalty plan to contribute and combine their miles into a joint account. Available on United.com, groups of up to five members can now share and redeem miles in one linked account. United allows any MileagePlus member — whether relatives or close friends — to be in a pool with other members. United said it is the first and only major US airline to offer this feature.

United cited a 2023 U.S. Family Travel Survey that showed that 81% of parents report an intent to travel with their children in the next year, and nearly 60% report concern about travel affordability. The introduction of MileagePlus miles pooling, said the announcement, aims to make travel even easier for families or groups looking to get away; even the youngest family members can contribute as there’s no minimum age to become a MileagePlus member.

MileagePlus miles pooling is now available to all MileagePlus members by logging in to their accounts on United.com. Any MileagePlus member over 18 years old can become the pool leader and create a pool for free when logged in to their account on United.com. It works as follows:

• Pool leaders can invite up to four of their family, friends or close travel companions of any age to join the pool if they have an active MileagePlus account.
• When logged in to their MileagePlus account on United.com, members will be instructed on how to contribute miles to the group pool as well as how to redeem pooled miles for award flights on United and United Express (the carrier’s regional network).
• There are no limits on the number of miles that may be contributed to an active miles pool.
• Pooled miles can be used when booking a ticket on United.com or in the United mobile app.

For example, if a group of friends is planning an upcoming summer getaway and each friend has an individual MileagePlus account, they can combine all, or a select number, of personal miles into one central “pool” that can be used to purchase flights and offset the cost of ticket prices.

Contributing miles to a MileagePlus miles pool will not affect an individual member’s Premier status. Only members who travel on a ticket using pooled miles will earn any eligible Premier qualifying points (PQP), not the member who contributed them. Members cannot pool PQP, Premier qualifying flights (PQF), PlusPoints or TravelBank cash.

Image: Shutterstock