United Airlines begins letting customers accumulate frequent flyer miles

Here's the friendship test: Can you share your frequent flyer miles with your friends? United Airlines You're betting that customers will be open to it.

The airline on Thursday began letting members of its MileagePlus loyalty program accumulate their frequent flyer miles and tap that inventory for flights on United.

The Group Leader can choose up to four other family members or friends to participate in the shared account. Leaders must be at least 18 years old, but pool members can be of any age, so families can use their child's mileage piles to purchase tickets.

Customers will still maintain their MileagePlus accounts and can decide how much they want to contribute to the pool. These miles can be redeemed for flights and other products on the United website or app.

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

United is not the first airline to offer loyalty points pooling. JetBlue Airlines Allows up to seven customers to accumulate frequent flyer miles, while… Frontier Airlines Up to eight people are allowed to accumulate miles. Airlines also generally allow customers to transfer miles to others, but this often comes with a fee.

“The mileage pooling strategy is to attract less frequent travelers to moderates and get them and their family members involved in the program,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst and founder of consulting firm Atmosphere Research Group. “By allowing family members to pool their reward points together, it increases brand favorability across the family… just like with toothpaste.”