Points and miles are great. Points and miles that get you and your favorite people on the same plane? Even better.
But booking award travel for someone else is where a lot of travelers get tripped up … and it can be an expensive mistake. We regularly hear from readers who are about to pay $330 to send 30,000 Delta SkyMiles to a friend, when they could have booked that friend's ticket themselves for free.
And then there are the foreign airlines with hoops of their own. Some make you register travel companions hours or even days before you can book for them. Others won't let you book for friends at all, only family.
Here's why you should (almost) never pay to transfer miles between accounts, the handful of exceptions where it makes sense, and the international airlines with the strictest rules about who you can book for.
Don't Pay to Transfer Miles to Others! Why & How You Should Book for Other People
We get asked this all the time: Should I transfer my miles to my friend or family member to book a flight?
The answer is almost always, “No!”
Why? Two reasons:
- The airlines usually charge you a fee to transfer miles between accounts, and it's rarely a good deal. Take Delta, for example. To transfer miles, you must pay 1 cent per mile plus a $30 processing fee. That means sending 30,000 SkyMiles to your friend so they can join you on the group trip will cost you $330.
- You can usually just book an award flight for someone else free of charge! Instead of sending 30,000 miles to your friend for $330 so they can book the flight for the group trip, you can just book it for them. It makes no difference to them – they still get to have their own frequent flyer number, PreCheck number, and benefits attached – and it will save everyone $330 in the process.
Thrifty Tip: Use this Amex Offer to transfer up to 30,000 SkyMiles to another traveler, free of charge!
The Exceptions: When You Should Transfer
There are a few exceptions for when you should transfer points between accounts, and that's because a few programs make it free.
For one, if you have Capital One miles, you can transfer them freely between other Capital One users' accounts. By combining your Capital One miles with another user, you can then transfer them to an airline or hotel partner and book for your friends and family there, all in one fell swoop.
Chase Ultimate Rewards are also shareable between cardholders, but only if you are in the same household … at least officially. In recent months, members of our team have been able to combine Chase points with family members (same last name), without sharing an address – but that's not a guarantee. This is a solid strategy for families and roommates, but it probably won't work for your friends' group trip because you all need to share the same billing address.
Other banks like American Express and Citi don't allow these kinds of transfers between accounts, period. With Amex, there is a workaround: You can transfer points from an Amex account to another person's loyalty program (think Delta, FlyingBlue, Hilton, etc.), but only if they've been an authorized user on your account for at least 30 days.
Finally, there are cardholders of Alaska's Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Card – Alaska's top-tier credit card. If you hold this card, you can combine Alaska Atmos miles between accounts for free. It's a one-of-a-kind perk that could make holding this card worth it … in the right situation.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways is the latest airline to add restrictions on booking flights for other people. With Qatar, if you plan to fly with a spouse, family member, or friend, you must register them as companions before you can book flights for them.
First, you need to have a Qatar Avios account that is at least 30 days old. That means you should sign up for an account ASAP.
Qatar makes this a little confusing by having two different categories for these companions, which they call “My List” and “Family & Friends.”
- “My List” – this is for people who already have a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account of their own. You can add up to four others to this list.
- “Family & Friends” – this is for people who do not have an account with Qatar. You can add up to nine people to this list.
The “Family & Friends” list is likely the most common list you'll use for your companions. We tested this recently, and it was a smooth process.
To register others, navigate to your profile settings on your dashboard. You'll have to send them an invite by email, and then once they agree to join your list, you'll need to go back in and approve it.
Japan Airlines (JAL)
To book with Japan Airlines (JAL), you also need to have your account open for at least seven days in order to redeem miles, but JAL also restricts who you can book tickets for, too.
According to JAL's terms and conditions, you can only book international award tickets for yourself, your spouse, and family members “within two degrees of relation” to you, which includes siblings-in-law and their spouses. What does that mean? Here's JAL's handy graphic.
Most importantly, the airline makes it extremely clear that “friends and acquaintances” are excluded.
Travelers online have said that some JAL agents don't check your marriage documents if you want to book for a friend or significant other – but there is a chance you'll be asked for proof, and it could be a costly mistake.
All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Like its Japanese counterpart, you can only register family members and “relatives within two degrees” to book international award tickets. And like JAL, ANA has a handy guide to show you who's eligible.
You can use this link to log in and add your registered family members.
In the case of ANA, you can register up to 10 users at a time and you may be required to verify your relationship with another ANA user, although it's unclear how that verification process works. Travelers online have also reported getting around these family requirements, but it seems even less likely that JAL.
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific uses what it calls a “redemption group” to allow award bookings for others. In these groups, you can select up to five people to join your group, and it's not just limited to family.
Travelers who join your group can be anyone you want, and they don't even need an Asia Miles number to be included.
Here's the catch: You have to pay a $50 service fee to change one of your redemption group members online (or $75 over the phone or through other channels) unless you have Cathay Diamond status. The first five members of your group are free of charge.
EVA
Booking flights for more than one person is tricky when using EVA Infinity MileageLands miles (Yes, that's the real name of the program.)
With EVA, every traveler has to have the required miles in each of their own accounts in order to book. You don't need to book separate tickets, you just have to have the separate miles.
Basically, there are two paths you can take:
Path 1: Each Traveler Transfers Their Own Points to EVA
On this path, all travelers on the same reservation have their own Capital One or Citi accounts and can transfer points to EVA. They simply transfer their own points and book with EVA.
Path 2: Set Up a Transfer Nominee (Takes 24 Hours!)
This way is more complicated, but if not everyone has the points to book separately, this is how it has to be done.
In your EVA account, go to “Manage My Account” and click “Nominee List Management.”
There, you enter the additional passenger's EVA member number and click “Nominee Registration.”
From there, you have to wait 24 hours for the nominee to process and become “effective”, at which point you can transfer EVA miles instantly between your two or more EVA accounts to book.
For this, you'll need to transfer all the required credit card points to EVA, then transfer them to the other accounts to book.
Turkish Airlines
With Turkish, you'll likely have to pick up the phone to book for more than one person for the first time.
This disclaimer (pictured below) on the Turkish site outlines the airline's strange policy of not letting you redeem for more than one person … but only if it's your first time. For that first redemption, you'll need to pick up the phone and call Turkish to book for more than one person.
In fact, if you are logged in to your Turkish account, you can't even search for more than one passenger. To search for the award space to book for more than one person, just log out of your account, and it should appear as normal, strangely.
Be ready to pick up the phone to book two or more with Turkish, and don't log in to your account until after you've found award space.
Read our full guide for more on how to navigate Turkish's Miles and Smiles bookings!
Singapore
To book for others with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, you need to add them as “nominees.”
You can add up to five people to your nominee list at a time, and those nominees can't be changed for six months. After those six months, you'll need to pay a $30 or 3,000-mile fee to change the nominee seat online. (It's $50 or 5,000 miles by fax if you're reading this from 1991, too.)
In addition to the nominee list restriction, you cannot redeem flights for nominees within 72 hours of travel, meaning these redemptions won't work for super last-minute flights.
Notably, children or infants will count toward your five included nominees.
Bottom Line
Traveling is better with friends and family, but you shouldn't have to pay a premium to do it. While many airlines allow you to book for others, some foreign airlines – namely Asian airlines – require you to jump through a few hoops first.
Follow these steps, and you'll be the group trip hero the next time you come across a hot award deal.
