About Points Pooling

More and more airlines and hotels now offer points pooling (shared accounts), also known as points pooling. Within the same pool, members can usually earn and use points or miles together. For example, points earned by one member from a hotel stay can be used by another member to book a free award night; miles earned by one member from flying can be used by someone else to book an award ticket. With pooling, earning and using points becomes easier and more flexible. In addition, for people who do not fly or stay at hotels very often, the biggest benefit of pooling is that it lets everyone combine the sign-up bonuses from airline and hotel co-branded credit cards, making those points easier to use.

Also, if your family members fly international routes or stay at hotels domestically, they can register an account and join the pool, so the points or miles they earn will not go to waste. After all, the points and miles earned from a single flight or stay

However, each airline and hotel has different rules for its pooling feature, so this article will summarize them for you.

Airline Points Pooling

Unfortunately, the three major U.S. airlines — AA, UA, and Delta — do not offer a pooling feature, although they can all issue tickets directly for other people. Compared with U.S. carriers, airlines in Asia and Europe are more likely to offer pooling.

ANA

ANA members outside Japan can join the pooling program, with up to 8 people in the group, and family members can combine miles for free. However, joining requires 1,000 miles per person.

The requirement for joining is a second-degree family relationship.

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines offers a pool for members outside Japan (JAL Family Club), with up to 9 people in the group, and members can combine miles for free. However, you must be an immediate family member to join. There is also a cost to join: 1,000 miles or $30, and every five years each person must pay 1,000 miles as the membership fee.

British Airways

British Airways was one of the first pooling programs I heard about and used myself, and it’s very convenient. When you book an award ticket, miles will be deducted proportionally from the miles required and the miles available in each account.

Please note that with British Airways household accounts, members at the same home address can share miles without restriction. You can issue tickets for up to five people who do not share the same address.

Other Airlines

  • Frontier Airlines: You can add up to 8 people to the pool, and no family relationship is required. However, you must have elite status or hold its co-branded credit card (official introduction)
  • JetBlue TrueBlue: You can add up to two adults and five children to the pool (official introduction)
  • Emirates Skywards: You can add up to 8 people to the pool. (official introduction)
  • Air France–KLM Flying Blue: You can add up to two adults and six children to the pool (official introduction)
  • Etihad: You can add up to 8 people, and members can combine miles for free. (official introduction)

Hotel Points Pooling

Hilton

Hilton offers a very generous pooling feature, with up to 10 people in a pool. You can transfer points directly between members, and there is no requirement that they be family members — friends are fine too. Other features are as follows:

  • Up to 500,000 points can be transferred out each calendar year, and up to 2,000,000 points can be received
  • At least 1,000 points per transfer
  • Transfers are free, and elite status cannot be shared
  • Transfers do not extend expiration dates
  • Up to 6 transfers per year to people in the pool (this 6-transfer limit is separate from the 6 transfers per year allowed for direct transfers to other members)

However, to join the pool, you must have been an HH member for at least 30 days and have at least 1,000 Hilton points in your account.

At check-in, you book with your own Hilton account using a family member’s points, while the name and other details belong to the third party. So you should not run into any trouble at check-in — just use your own ID when you check in.

Marriott

Marriott also has a similar pooling feature, called a points pool. In other words, you can transfer points directly from one person’s account to another. The features are as follows:

  • Point transfers require the recipient’s name and Marriott account number, and both sides must have been enrolled for at least 30 days (with qualifying activity such as a stay), or 90 days (without qualifying activity)
  • Minimum transfer is 1,000 points, in increments of 1,000
  • You can transfer up to 100,000 points per year to other accounts, and each account can receive up to 500,000 points per year

Hyatt

Hyatt also allows you to transfer points to a third party without restrictions, as long as you fill out the form below. The form can be submitted by email to the designated address. You can only transfer or receive points once every 30 days. This is also essentially a form of points pooling.

Tips for Using Points Pooling

Sharing Elite Benefits

In general, even if you are in a pool, one member’s elite status cannot be shared with the others. Keep in mind that if you are staying at a hotel with an elite member, you should transfer the points to that person’s account and book using their account so you can also enjoy the elite benefits. At some hotels, if they are not very strict, you can check in first and still receive the related benefits even if the elite member is not present.

For airlines, that is not possible. The person flying gets whatever benefits their own status entitles them to, and cannot gain extra perks through the pool.

Combining Bank Points

If you and your friends plan to use points together to book a hotel or award flight, AMEX and Chase do not let you freely combine points. But you can first transfer the points to the airline or hotel account that will issue the ticket or booking, and then use the pooling feature to combine them for redemption. Of course, be sure to pay attention to the time it takes to transfer points from the credit card program to the hotel or airline, as well as the time it takes to move them into the pool.

Collecting Miles and Points from Relatives and Friends

If you have relatives or friends who do not collect airline miles or hotel points, or who do not use them very often, you can help them sign up for the relevant accounts and then add them to your pool. That way, their points can be used by you. Here’s a useful trick: airline miles can be credited to one program within each alliance, so you can credit all oneworld miles to a BA account and then use them together in the pool; Star Alliance miles can go to ANA; SkyTeam miles can go to Air France.

Alternatives to Pooling

Sharing points through pooling is still very convenient, but some people who want to use points may not meet the pooling requirements, or they may want to buy or sell points. We have covered related topics before. However, please be especially careful: if you are issuing tickets or booking rooms for someone you do not know, do not openly admit it, or you may risk having your account shut down.

If you are truly issuing tickets or booking hotels for family members, the pooling feature is usually the more convenient option. After all, you can book directly under their names, and you won’t run into problems with denied check-in or boarding. If you are selling to third parties, using pooling may create a risk of later account closure or misuse concerns, so you may want to consider direct point transfers or booking on their behalf instead.