Best Points System For Pooling/Sharing

Capital One tops our list because of its simplicity and lack of limitations. You can share Capital One miles with any Capital One member who also has a miles-earning card. There are no limits on the number of transfers or the amount you can transfer, and you can even move cash back to someone with a miles-earning card. The one small drawback is that you have to call to complete the transfer, since it cannot be done online.

Air Canada Aeroplan has the best pooling and sharing option among airline loyalty programs. You can set up a Family Sharing program with up to eight family members, where everyone pools miles into a shared balance with no fees. Everyone’s points go into the same pool, everyone can see the total when logged in, and anyone with redemption privileges can redeem from the shared balance. The Verified Family Lead controls access to those redemption permissions. Best of all, if there is an elite status member or a primary Aeroplan credit card holder in the group, everyone receives benefits like preferred pricing on award tickets.

Chase has a good system that is easy to use, but it can only be done with a household member at the same address or a business co-owner. You can transfer points to another household member at no cost and also to airline or hotel partner accounts in their name. To transfer to loyalty accounts, they must be an authorized user on your card. You have to call once to link your accounts, but after that you simply navigate to “Combine Points” on the website or app and follow the instructions from there. There is no limit on how much or how often you can transfer.

Citi has some pros and cons with their system. The best part is that you can transfer points to anyone with an eligible Citi card. You can share and receive up to 100,000 points per year. The biggest limitation is that points expire 90 days after transferring. This is not a big deal as long as you wait to transfer until you have a specific redemption in mind and are aware of the expiration policy. You also cannot share points earned from the Custom Cash card.

If you are over 21 years old, you can open a points pooling account with JetBlue. Each pool can have up to seven members, and everyone must contribute 100 percent of their TrueBlue points to the shared balance. The Pool Leader can view the total pool balance as well as each member’s individual balance and can grant redemption privileges to additional members. Each person can belong to only one pool at a time. If a member leaves, their remaining points return to their individual account, and the pool cannot add a replacement for six months.

Hilton provides two ways to share points: transfers and pooling. Transfers are quick and simple, requiring only the recipient’s name, Hilton Honors number, and email address. Each member can send up to 500,000 points and receive up to 2 million points per year, with no more than six transfers annually. Points pooling allows up to ten members to combine balances in one place. The pool creator invites members by name and email, and each participant confirms before contributing. Transfers in both methods are usually instant but can take a few days, and both follow the same annual limits and transaction caps.

World of Hyatt members can share points with anyone, with no limits on how many can be transferred in a single transaction, but you can only send or receive points once every 30 days. The unusual part of Hyatt transfers is the process itself: both members must complete transfer request forms and then email or fax them - yes, fax - to initiate the transfer. The transaction can take several days to a week or more to complete.

Marriott Bonvoy members can transfer up to 100,000 points or receive up to 500,000 points per calendar year. Both accounts must be in good standing and open for at least 30 days with qualifying activity or 90 days without. There is a limit of two transfers per month and six per calendar year, whether giving or receiving. The good news is that all transfers can be completed entirely online.

Atmos has a great points pool, but it has one severe limitation that keeps it lower on the list: you can only use it if you hold the Atmos Summit Visa Infinite card. The primary cardholder can set up a network with up to ten additional Atmos Rewards members to share points, and either party can send points to the other. There is no minimum or maximum transfer amount and no limit on the number of transactions. You are not allowed to be part of more than one network.

Rounding out our list is United MileagePlus. There are some good features in this system, but its unnecessary complexity puts it lower on our list. You can set up a points pooling group with up to five members, and sharing is free. All members can contribute, and each person decides how much to add. Once miles are contributed, the member has 24 hours to reverse the transfer; after that, they cannot move them back. Only the pool leader can redeem pooled miles unless they authorize other members to do so. The biggest limitation is that you cannot book partner awards with pooled miles, which is a major caveat. You can participate in only one pool at a time, and if you leave, you lose access to the miles you contributed and cannot join another pool for 90 days. The pool also cannot accept a new member for 90 days. If the pool leader dissolves the pool, miles are split equally among the members.