Quick Points: How to pool United miles with family and friends - The Points Guy (2024)

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In March, United Airlines announced that United MileagePlus members could begin pooling their hard-earned miles with friends and family to reach their travel goals sooner. This is an ideal situation for those with kids — there is no age limit on who can earn MileagePlus miles — and those who are short on miles for an award flight and want to cut the cost of their trip.

If you don't have enough miles in your account to book your next redemption but a friend or family member has a small amount they are unlikely to use, you could consider pooling the miles together so that at least one of you can use them to book an award flight.

It's also a handy option if you wish to book a group trip and use miles from different accounts on the same reservation. So, if you want to know how to pool your United miles, keep reading to learn more.

Related: Best United Airlines credit cards

The first step in pooling your miles is deciding who will be the "pool leader." This can be any United MileagePlus member who is at least 18 years or older. Whoever is designated the pool leader will control the pooled miles within the group. (Note: You can only be part of one pool group at a time.)

If you don't wish to be the pool leader, it is a good idea to select someone you trust with your miles to facilitate the booking. They will manage the miles in the pool and authorize pool members to redeem them. Though you can allocate the number of miles you want to contribute to the pool group, once miles are transferred to a pool, you cannot undo the transfer.

To create a pool, click on "MileagePlus" on the United.com homepage, then "My account." On the left side of your account page, you'll see a drop-down arrow for MileagePlus. Click on it, and you'll see "Miles pooling." There, you'll be directed to the miles pooling page, where you can click on "Create a pool." Once you agree to the terms and conditions, you can create your pool.

The pool leader can invite up to four MileagePlus members to join their pool. These members don't need to be related to the pool leader (and even if they are, it is no problem if the surnames or postal addresses are different).

You can also invite friends and even children, provided they are MileagePlus members and the total pool, pool leader included, does not exceed five members.

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Remember, pool members can only belong to one MileagePlus pool at a time and cannot contribute or redeem miles within the first 72 hours of joining the pool. Pooled miles cannot be used for seat upgrades or redemptions on partner airlines like Lufthansa and Air Canada.

Related: Is Air Canada premium economy worth it on the Boeing 777-300ER from Amsterdam to Toronto?

The pool leader will need the MileagePlus number and email of each member they wish to invite to the pool so they can receive the invitation.

Pool members should monitor their emails to receive the pooling invite. Once they accept the invite, they can choose how many MileagePlus miles they wish to contribute to the pool. Members can choose to transfer their entire miles balance or only a small amount while keeping the rest of their miles in their personal account.

Pooled miles have no impact on a MileagePlus member's elite status.

If the pool leader decides to leave the pool, the miles are distributed equally among the members. Pool members must wait 90 days after exiting any pool before joining another.