United Airlines begins allowing customers to earn frequent flyer miles

Here's a friendship test: would you share your frequent flyer miles with your friends? united airlines You bet customers will be open to it.

On Thursday, the airline began allowing members of its MileagePlus loyalty program to pool their frequent flyer miles and take advantage of those savings for travel on United.

A “group leader” can select up to four other family members or friends to participate in the joint account. The leader must be at least 18 years old, but group members can be any age, so families can use their children's miles to purchase tickets.

Customers will continue to keep their own MileagePlus accounts and will be able to decide how much they want to contribute to the pool. Those miles can be redeemed for flights and other products on the United site or app.

Individuals can decide how much to contribute to the fund, and there is a trade-off: “Once those miles are in the fund… they stay in the fund,” said Luc Bondar, chief operating officer of United's MileagePlus loyalty program.

United isn't the first airline to offer shared loyalty points. JetBlue Airways allows up to seven customers to accumulate frequent flyer miles, while Border Airlines allows up to eight people to accumulate miles. Airlines also generally allow customers to transfer miles to other people, but that often comes with a fee.

“The strategy for mile sharing is to attract less frequent to moderately frequent travelers and involve them and their family members in the program,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst and founder of the consulting firm Atmosphere Research Group. “By allowing family members to accumulate their rewards points, you increase brand preference across the entire family…just like with toothpaste.”