I’m a fan of loyalty programs that allow you to pool your points. This lets you build up a significant points balance and get rewarded more quickly. For example, some programs allow an entire family or household to pool the miles they earn, so you can potentially earn a free ticket that way after just one trip.
It looks like another program will soon be introducing points pooling. Lufthansa Miles & More is celebrating their 25th anniversary, and has a press release about how they’re celebrating. In May 2018, Lufthansa will introduce mileage pooling, allowing up to two adults and five children to bundle their award miles. Miles earned can be redeemed by both adults on an equal basis for any Miles & More redemption.
Lufthansa thinks that increased redemption opportunities through their program will increase member engagement, which is probably true. We’ll have to wait another couple of months to learn the full details of how this points pooling will work (will this really be “family” pooling, or will they allow people registered at the same address to pool points?), though it sounds fairly promising.
There are quite a few loyalty programs that already let you pool points, though the terms associated with it vary significantly. Possibly my favorite program in this regard is Hilton Honors, as they straight up allow you to combine points with up to 11 other Hilton Honors members, for up to 500,000 points per year. Through this feature you can transfer your points to someone else’s account at no cost, and then they can redeem the points however they’d like.
As far as airlines go, British Airways allows household accounts, where you can pool Avios with up to six other people registered at the same address as you. This is a solid program, though the major downside is that you’re limited in terms of the people outside of your household that you’re allowed to redeem Avios for.
I look forward to seeing how Lufthansa’s points pooling will work. I’m excited about the concept, though hopefully they don’t add too many unnecessary restrictions.
Is this launched? I cannot seem to find details anywhere.
VA do it as well and they allow status
https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/Info/FamilyPooling/
@TravelinWilly - not if you use the credit cards by milesandmore....then miles do not expire as long as you spend more than 3000€ per year (earn 1500 miles with your card).
@Adam - should work for all Miles&More since it is the same programm but branded differently.
I’d say the major downsides to British Airways are:
1. Mediocre airline for Business Class travel.
2. Numbingly high fuel surcharges TATL.
3. Most connections go through London Heathrow, which is its own distinct hell.
Then I’d put the details of Household Accounts.
Wait: Need to put before Household Accounts the fees required to pick a seat at booking, even if flying in Business and paying $500 or more in fees for a OW TATL ticket.
Thanks for the reply Ben, still better tha no pooling!
Expiring miles and stingy First Class avail ability equals a no go for me
Hey Ben, would that work also for status miles or just award miles? Cheers from Italy
@ Larry -- Unfortunately just award miles.
Asiana also allows pooling for immediate family.
Is this only for Lufthansa, or will this work for non-Lufthansa Miles and More programs aswell? (Such as LOT Polish which uses the Miles and More program)
As per https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/household-accounts, you can add people other than family members
"Once you have a Household Account, you can create a list of family and friends, so you can spend your Household Avios on more people who are important to you, and who don't live at the same address as you."
You just have to go through the hassle of administering the list. They also get a bit annoyed if you make too many changes...
Hey Lucky, you definitely can book BA awards for people not in your household......you just add them as a “friend” and it works exactly the same. I’ve got a full household and quite a few friends saved in my account.
A real enhancement would be if M&M were to stop expiration of points after three years. That's a huge downside to their program.
Fantastic...finally! Thanks for sharing!