When You Can (And Can’t) Book a Flight for Someone Else

One of the highlights of collecting points and miles is experiencing luxury travel without the luxury price tag. But what if you want to help book travel for friends and family who aren’t as savvy with points and miles as you are? The rules and restrictions around using rewards to book travel for someone else vary by airline.

Generally, you can book a flight for other travelers. However, while some airlines place no restrictions on who you can book flights for, others limit you to booking award flights for travelers linked to your loyalty account. Meanwhile, a handful of programs limit you to redeeming miles only for select family members.

Here’s what you need to know about these rules and when you can book award flights for someone else.

Leveraging Lesser-Known Programs To Book Award Flights

Thanks to the adoption of dynamic pricing, award travelers often find themselves using lesser-known frequent-flyer programs to book flights. Flexible rewards currencies have made it easy to transfer points to dozens of airline partners, but it’s equally easy to get confused if you aren’t familiar with each program’s rules.

For instance, while you might be very familiar with the rules and restrictions for legacy carriers like Delta Air Lines, you might get a better deal booking a Delta-operated flight through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. If you’ve never flown with Virgin Atlantic before, you might not be as familiar with the policies surrounding award redemptions.

Or, the best points and miles to get to Hawaii might involve booking an American Airlines-operated flight through Qatar Airways Privilege Club. However, you’d be subject to Qatar’s award booking rules, even though the flight is operated by American.

Understanding award booking rules is especially important because points transfers to airlines are final. There is no worse feeling than moving hundreds of thousands of points to an airline partner only to find out you can’t use them to book flights for other people.

Which Mileage Programs Allow You To Book a Flight for Someone Else?

Here are the restrictions on booking award tickets for others using airline miles across most major loyalty programs, along with each carrier’s policies on pooling miles into a single account. We included all airline partners for the following transferable point currencies: Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou^® Points, Bilt Points, Capital One Miles, American Express Membership Rewards points, Wells Fargo Rewards, and Rove Miles.

Airline Frequent Flyer Program	Restrictions If Booking Award Flights For Other People	Family Pooling/Sharing
Aer Lingus AerClub	None	No
Aeromexico Rewards	None	Yes
Air Canada Aeroplan	None	Yes, Aeroplan Family Sharing joins up to 8 family members.
Air France/KLM Flying Blue	None	Yes, Flying Blue Family pools can have up to 2 adults and 6 children.
Air India Maharaja Club	You must have completed at least two Air India or Air India Express flights across different booking reference numbers before you can redeem a flight for someone else. After that, no restrictions.	You can set up a Family Pool for a small fee and invite up to 8 additional members.
Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards	None	Cardholders of the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card can create a sharing network with up to 10 other Atmos Rewards members, including friends and family.
American Airlines AAdvantage	None	No
ANA Mileage Club	You can only redeem for ANA Family Account (AFA) members.	Only for members residing outside Japan, can nominate between 2-8 family members within 2 degrees of kinship to AFA. Registration fee of 1,000 miles per member.
Avianca LifeMiles	None	Elite members can create family pools with up to 2 adults and 5 minors.
British Airways Club	You can book awards for members of Household Account, plus up to 5 individuals on the Family & Friends list. No restrictions if you don’t use a Household Account.	Up to 7 members living at same address can share a Household Account and pool Avios.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	Redeem for members in your nominated Redemption Group – first 5 nominees are free and then $50 each time a nominee is replaced.	No
Delta SkyMiles	None	No
Emirates Skywards	None	Up to 8 family members can join an Emirates Skywards My Family account.
Etihad Guest	None	Up to 8 family members can share an Etihad Guest Family Account.
EVA Infinity MileageLands	You can only use miles to book a flight for someone else if you are traveling with them.	No
Finnair Plus	None	No
Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club	You can only redeem miles for up to 10 beneficiaries that you list in your account.	Up to 10 members can join a Fortune Wings Family Account.
Iberia Club	You can list beneficiaries so they can use your Avios without you having to accompany them on a flight.	Up to 7 people can join an Iberia Family Account.
JAL Mileage Bank	You can only redeem tickets for family members within the second degree of kinship.	Up to 9 members in JAL Family Club. Primary account holder must reside outside of Japan – 1,000-mile fee per family member, plus 1,000-mile renewal fee every 5 years.
JetBlue TrueBlue	None	Up to 7 friends and family members can combine points through JetBlue Points Pooling.
Lufthansa Miles & More	None	Yes. 2 adults and up to 5 children can pool miles with Mileage Pooling.
Qantas Frequent Flyer	You can only redeem points for eligible family members.	You can transfer points to eligible family members free of charge with Qantas Family Transfers.
Qatar Privilege Club	You can add up to 4 people to join “My List,” so you can redeem Avios for them when booking flights. They must stay in the list for at least six months.	Qatar Privilege Club Family Programme allows up to 9 family members to pool miles. The Family & Friends program allows you to pool miles with up to six non-members.
SAS EuroBonus	None	Up to 8 members (friends or family) can be part of a Point Sharing group at any given time.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	You can add up to 5 Redemption Nominees. Nominees must stay on account for a minimum of 6 months – free to add people, but costs between $0-$30 to remove, depending on elite status.	Yes – KrisFlyer for Families lets parents can transfer miles from their children for a small fee.
Southwest Rapid Rewards	None	No
TAP Miles&Go	You can select up to 10 people to join your List of Beneficiaries each calendar year.	No
Thai Royal Orchid Plus	None	No
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles	You must add someone as a travel companion before you can redeem miles for their ticket.	Parents with elite status and unmarried children under 25 can pool points with the Family Membership feature.
United MileagePlus	None	Up to five people (friends or family) can be in a United MileagePlus pool.
Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles	You can only redeem miles for someone else if you hold elite status.	Up to 10 members can join a Family Account.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	None	You can add up to 9 household members who live with you to a Virgin Atlantic Household Account.

Airlines that let you book award flights for anyone

Most airline mileage programs allow you to redeem miles for anybody. This includes all U.S. carrier rewards programs, the major Gulf carriers, most European programs, and, although not included in the table, flexible rewards currencies via their respective travel portals.

Unlike U.S. frequent flyer programs — which allow you to book award flights for anyone — many overseas programs place restrictions on who you can book awards for using your miles. That said, if you’re only redeeming your points or miles for your immediate family (parents + children), you shouldn’t have a problem. Keep in mind that you may need to register your family member beforehand, so make sure to leave yourself enough time.

Airlines that only allow you to book award flights for designated people

There are several programs, including Singapore KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and TAP Miles&Go, that only allow you to redeem miles for people specified in your account. You can nominate a limited number of people (they don’t need to be family), and there is typically a minimum duration of 6 months that a member must remain attached to your account. These programs often charge a hefty fee for nominee replacements to discourage foul play.

If you have a British Airways Household Account set up to pool Avios, you can use the pooled miles only for family members or up to 5 additional people on your Family & Friends List. However, there are no restrictions on booking travel for others if you don’t have a Household Account.

Related: How families can work together to pool points and miles

Airlines that restrict award bookings to a limited number of family members

Unfortunately, the most restrictive policies are found in Asian frequent flyer programs that offer some of the best sweet spots in award travel.

Both Korean SKYPASS and Asiana Club allow you to redeem miles only for immediate family members and limit you to 5 linked members per account. They also require documentation to prove family or spousal relations. ANA Mileage Club and JAL Mileage Bank limit the booking of award flights to family members within two degrees of kinship.

JAL allows you to redeem miles for family members within two degrees of kinship.

Why Not Transfer Airline Miles to Someone Else To Book an Award?

Most frequent flyer programs typically charge a fee to transfer points between accounts. This fee could be anywhere between 1 and 2 cents per mile. Unless you’d redeem miles for far more than the fee, transferring miles to someone else’s account is usually not worth the cost. There are some exceptions, however. For example, Qantas Frequent Flyer allows family members to transfer points to one another for free.

Related: Which rewards programs let you pool points and miles with others for free?

Final Thoughts

The good news is that it’s relatively straightforward to redeem your miles on tickets for other people. The ability to book award tickets for anyone is a feature that U.S. frequent flyer programs provide better value than their foreign counterparts. Before transferring points, make sure you read the terms and conditions to be sure you can book travel for others.

And for programs like Asiana Club, Korean SKYPASS, and ANA Mileage Club, it’s essential to set up your account ahead of time, add your family members, and ensure all documentation is submitted to prove the relationship before transferring points.