Unless you are very lucky, it is difficult to find five award tickets to the same destination for the same flight. This is one of the difficulties families face when they try to cash in their frequent flyer miles to travel together for vacations. The ideal reward travel participants are couples and singles who have just one or two accounts in a frequent flyer program. It is easy to manage and they find it less difficult to find scarce award seats. However, when it comes to families travelling together and wanting to spend their loyalty points together, the number of complexities increase with the number of people planning to travel together.
If you are also facing the same situation, here are some ways that can help you travel together this year.
Account Management
While couples and singles can easily manage them using a simple spreadsheet, families will have to make use of online management tools to manage their accounts all in one place. If you have all your accounts in one place, you will be able to make the most use of your miles that you have accumulated over different airlines. Here is a great way to manage all your airline frequent flyer program accounts in one place.
Many travellers are able to find one or two seats together on the same itinerary, but when the number of people increases from two, it can become incredibly difficult. It is always a better idea to book beforehand than waiting for the last moment. This will not only save you a lot of money but will also ensure that all of you travel together. Pooling in miles and points is allowed by the following airlines.
Qantas
Qantas allows the travellers to combine their miles between all the eligible members of their immediate and extended family. This is allowed once every year. The maximum limit of transferring miles is 100,000 miles per transfer.
British Airways
British Airways allows pooling of miles and points between 7 residents of the same address. The redeeming of points is also done across members of the same household, therefore be sure that you calculate your number of miles used before any redemptions are made. This is done under the Household Accounts feature provided by British Airways.
Etihad
Etihad also allows pooling of miles in one account by family members. This is done under the Etihad Guest Programme where a family head is nominated by the families and up to eight guests can be added to the family. This allows family members to pool in miles when they are travelling together and make the most of their frequent flyer programs.
If you are planning a family trip, it is always a better idea to combine the frequent flyer miles of each member so that you cannot only enjoy discounted rates, but can also travel together to have the best experience since the families who travel together stay together!
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