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It was exciting when MileagePlus first launched its free United miles pooling feature, and it's exciting for a second time now that it has launched it again. While we've seen pooling with some low-cost airlines, United is the first of the Big 3 U.S. airlines to make this jump. Let's look at the details.
United Mileage Pooling is Back
After launching the feature and pulling it down to tech issues, United MileagePlus members can now pool their miles with others for free.
Why is this such a big deal? Because historically airlines have charged you to transfer rewards from one account to another. While you could get around this limitation by simply booking an award ticket in another's name, being able to freely combine your miles can make a significant difference to folks.
Related: Which Rewards Programs Let You Pool Points and Miles With Others for Free?
For example, those who don't fly often and don't have many miles can now pool them to make an award ticket attainable. The same is true for families who want to book their tickets together so that they're seated together.
Perhaps most importantly, however, is that complimentary miles pooling allows those with elite status to really maximize their perks. For example, say you have one United Premier 1K member in your group. Their status entitles them to benefits like additional checked luggage and airport lounge access. However, you must be on the same itinerary as them to take advantage of these benefits.
Now, with the addition of miles pooling, elite members can more easily extend their perks to those they're traveling with.
The same is true of those who hold a co-branded United credit card, which allows passengers traveling on award flights to score complimentary upgrades — a benefit not extended to other award travelers.
There is no limit on the number of miles you can pool each year, so frequent flyers and those looking to fly in business class should have no issue accumulating enough miles for a redemption. This is also great for parents who've created accounts for their children to start earning miles; then, when a family trip rolls around, pool the miles to book your family's holiday.
Related: Sweet Spots with United Airlines MileagePlus Awards
How United Miles Pooling Works
You can add up to five people to a pool, and anyone over 18 years old can be the pool leader. Pool leaders can invite up to four people into the pool — friends, family, work buddies, you name it. There is no minimum age to join a pool or have a United MileagePlus account. Do note that you can only belong to one pool at a time.
However, there are a few quirks. For instance, a pool member can leave a pool at any time but cannot join another pool for 90 days. You'll need to be strategic about whom you invite to your pool.
Additionally, if a member voluntarily leaves a pool, they can’t depart with any initially contributed but unredeemed miles. The MileagePlus miles will remain in the pool for the current pool members. With these restrictions, it's a good idea to contribute miles only before booking an award flight. That way, you won't forfeit your miles should you leave the pool.
And perhaps the biggest quirk of United's mileage pooling feature is that the miles redeemed from the pool are only good for United- and United Express-operated flights. Partner flights are off-limits.
Creating a United pool
To create a pool, head here. Alternatively, find it when logged into your account and clicking on “Miles pooling” in the menu.
On the next page, you'll see information about your pool or options to create a pool if you aren't already in one. Once you begin the process of creating or joining a pool, you'll see rules about the pool leader deciding the redemption rights for pool members and what happens to miles if the pool is dissolved (they're distributed equally among pool members).
United mileage pooling drawbacks
There are some very important restrictions on how you can use United pool miles. Unlike MileagePlus miles held in an individual account, pooled miles can't be used for upgrades, onboard purchases, or to book partner flights. That last item is quite limiting; pooled miles can only be used to book United- and United Express-operated flights.
In recent years, the value of United miles has declined faster for redemptions on United-operated flights than for partner award bookings—especially in the case of premium cabin tickets. Once miles are contributed to a pool, you only have 24 hours to reverse the transaction. After that, the transfer is permanent, and the miles you contributed will be subject to the new rules.
That said, the limitations shouldn't be a problem if you're careful to only contribute miles to the pool when you have a redemption in mind that doesn't conflict with these restrictions. Unlike some programs that take an all-or-nothing approach to mileage pools, United let's each member decide how many of their individual miles to contribute and when to do so.
Bottom Line
This is great news from United Airlines and makes it significantly easier for those traveling together to book awards. More than that, however, it allows families and elite members to make travel simple while also maximizing their benefits. For a comprehensive look at this frequent-flyer program, check out our complete guide to United MileagePlus.
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