United and the MileagePlus mystery: mileage-sharing program disappears within hours (resurrected)

After a couple of days she came back live the feature that enables mileage pooling between groups of relatives within United's MileagePlus program. After the disruptions the new section is once again reachable.

Something didn't work in the house United Airlines in the last few days. And this vola is not about defective aircraft, but of the frequent flyer program MileagePlus.

Only a few hours after the announcement of miles pooling - that is, a platform that allows program members to share non-qualifying miles with friends and family for free-the airline has made a resounding about-face, canceling this option.

What is miles pooling and how it works

Usually the frequent flyer programs are designed to allow individual travelers to earn miles by purchasing specific airline tickets, but they do not allow miles earned by different family members to be combined or transferred from one traveler to another (except by paying a hefty fee).

 

In recent years, however, many carriers have geared their loyalty programs veros a family-friendly vision. British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France-Klm, Etihad and others allow families to accumulate points in one joint account or move miles from one account to another.

Also ITA Airways in recent days launched Volare Adventure, the cards that allow even minors to accumulate points , and the possibility of creating a Flying Family, i.e., a group of people who can share the non-qualifying points of the tricolor carrier's loyalty program.

United's announcement

Thus, on the afternoon of Thursday, March 21, United Airlines announced with pomp and circumstance via press release the launch of a major operation: it is "the first major U.S. airline. to allow members of its loyalty program, MileagePlus, to share miles with family and friends."

In the same hours the United's website and app offer pooling through a dedicated landing page with all the information and directions to join. The proposal seems revolutionary for the U.S. market:

• the groups composed for a maximum of five members can share and redeem miles through a single account;
•  any MileagePlus member over the age of 18 can become the pool leader and create a pool for free when they log in to their United.com account or via app;
• pool leaders can invite up to four family members, friends or close travel companions of any age to join the pool if they have a MileagePlus account and there is no minimum age to enroll in the program;
• all members of the pool can redeem the miles they have accumulated for award flights on United and United Express;
• there is no limit to the number of miles That can be poured into a pool.

Finally, according to United's press release, "if a group of friends is planning an upcoming summer vacation and each friend has their own individual MileagePlus account with their respective number of miles, they can combine all or a selected portion of their personal miles into a central pool that can be used to purchase flights and offset the cost of ticket prices."

Miles pooling platform goes offline

All this good news, however, remains only words. Within hours of the launch, in fact, United "shuts down" the platform of miles pooling on both app and website.

The dedicated page carries only one sentence reporting only generic and "unexpected" technological problems that do not allow the service to be offered. "We are looking forward to restore our new feature soon of miles pooling," the company's website concludes.

Not even 24 hours have passed since the launch of the platform, and if it were not for the aforementioned press release, throughout United's website there is no mention of miles pooling. The dedicated landing page does not presents not even the basic information.

A spokesman for the US company, according to some US newspapers specializing in aviation, even refused to condividing more details about what happened or to estimate a useful date for the online return of miles pooling.

The MilesagePlus revolution can wait, then. Although pooling would allow the redemption of prize tickets only for United and United Express flights - zero possibilities then for other airlines Star Alliance such as Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Turkish, etc.-the service remains of great interest to the U.S. market, since among the North American big carriers only JetBlue offers something similar.

It remains to be seen whether d United's turnaround is only related to a technical problem, or whether it should be counted among the U.S. giant's most glaring gaffes.