It is never too late to start earning frequent flyer miles. Bit by bit, those miles will significantly accumulate, perhaps enough for a holiday trip. And, despite the fact that kids might not be on any sort of journey as frequently as adults, there are masses of approaches to hold one’s bills active. Some applications like Alaska’s Mileage Plan even waive expiration guidelines for kids. They come under the frequent Flyers.
If you are traveling with a child or children and wish to earn miles, then it is mandatory that you must purchase a seat each for your kids. Airlines will not allow parents or guardians having seated their kids on their laps on the flight to be eligible for earning such travel points.
In this travel guide prepared by Treknova, we will share with you in detail on how you can open frequent flyer accounts for your kids. Also, we will look into the age restrictions that affect the eligibility for your kids earning the miles on their current and future flights.
Eligibility of Kids For Opening Frequent Flyer Accounts
- All major U.S. airline carriers allow minors of any age to accrue miles in a frequent flyer account, as long as they are travelling on their own ticket. So, as soon as you buy a seat for your child, you should get an account opened immediately. However, not all international airlines allow mileage accrual for kids, which is perhaps where some misinformation comes from.
- The only thing you have to do is fill out the registration form for the flyer program which is available on most of the Airlines’ websites. But Some airline gives an option to combine your accounts, for example, British Airways offers a “Household Account” option which will let the family members easily combine points. Similarly, U.S.-based airline JetBlue also has an option for family pooling.
- COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998) this act requires that children under the age of 13 get approval from a parent or there need to have a guardian before entering personal information online. For some businesses, this is accomplished by checking a box to confirm that an adult’s permission had been granted or that the adult filled out the information for the child.
- United Airlines includes a disclaimer at the top of their website’s page and actually raises the bar to 18. Thus, according to their restriction, “Only adults (18 years of age or older) should fill out the MileagePlus enrolment form. A parent or legal guardian can enroll a child under 18 by providing the child’s information.”
- In a similar manner, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines check the birthdate you enter at the top. and if it is too recent a new checkbox will appear at the bottom of the page requesting compliance with COPPA’s terms: “I acknowledge that this enrolment is for a customer who is under 13 years old. I also acknowledge that I am the parent or legal guardian of this child and consent to their participation in the Rapid Rewards® program and/or to receive promotional e-mails.”
How U.S. Airlines Allow Children to Have Frequent Flyer Accounts
You already know that flying with a small kid isn’t always easy, but historically it wasn’t always easy to open a frequent flyer account for your children either. There can be any sort of extra steps for creating all these accounts for them minors with red-tape like enrolment and consent forms, phone calls and the necessity of extra email addresses.
The approach taken by Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines is also impressive. If you are underage, the system just does not process the application. And you must ensure that you get your date of birthright, since the airlines always match your ticket information with your frequent flyer information.
If you attempt to create an account for your child with Delta Air Lines, you will be asked to download and complete a separate online registration form. This requires a signature from the parent or guardian and should be faxed or sent via e-mail back to customer service.
Delta is committed to protecting the online privacy of children underage. To enroll your child in the SkyMiles program, download the registration and parent form and follow the submission instructions. In situations where if you encountered an error, you can quickly contact Delta support for assistance at +1 888 750 3284. You will be provided instructions to complete enrolment. Delta has a no expiration date policy on SkyMiles accounts these days. That means even very infrequent travelers should have Delta SkyMiles accounts no matter what.
Similarly, if you attempt to create an account for your child with Alaska Airlines, you will be asked to call customer service. Fortunately, wait times are often short. You can contact the airline’s customer service at +1 800 252 7522 or via e-mail at mileage.plan@alaskaair.com between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm (Monday – Saturday) Pacific Time.
Alaska Airlines
How kids can enroll: A parent or legal guardian can enroll a child in Mileage Plan online if they are at least 13 years old, or by directly contacting the airline’s customer care at +1 800 654 5669 or the reservations toll-free number +1 800 252 7522. If you prefer doing it online, simply visit the airline’s website and click the “Sign Up” button located at the top of the homepage.
Details required: The details required include a minor’s name, gender, date of birth, address, and phone number, plus an e-mail address and preferred user ID if you sign up for an online account. Make an Alaska Airlines reservation/booking.
Children under the age of 13 years are not eligible for an online My Account profile but can be enrolled in Mileage Plan by calling Alaska Airlines at +1 800 252 7522.
American Airlines
How kids can enroll: A parent or legal guardian can enroll a child who is 13 years old or younger. You may do so online. Simply visit the airline’s website and select the “AAdvantage” link, then click again on the “Join AAdvantage” button.
Details required: The details required include a minor’s name, date of birth, gender, address, e-mail, phone number, a preferred username, and three security questions. If your child has a Known Traveler Number, you are required to provide it on the enrolment form as well. Know more about American Airlines reservations and bookings.
Notably, American Airlines recently ceased expiring the miles of children who are enrolled in AAdvantage as children are now exempt from the requirement to earn or redeem miles every 18 months until after they turn 21.
Delta AirLines
How kids can enroll: Parents and guardians can enroll their children who are 13 years old and under online for a SkyMiles account. This can be done by simply clicking a button certifying they are the parent or guardian. You will need to provide an e-mail address, user name, and password and answer two security questions such as father’s middle name, first school, or first pet.
Details required: The details required include a minor’s name, date of birth, and address.
As a new member, the child can receive mileage credit for flights taken up to nine months prior to enrolment.
Frontier Airlines
How kids can enroll: Parents and guardians can register their children who are 13 years old or younger for their own Frontier frequent flyer account online. To do so, simply visit the airline’s website and click the “Sign Up” button located in the upper right corner of the homepage. You may also contact the airline’s call centre at +1 801 401 9000.
Details required: The details required include a minor’s name, gender, date of birth, address, telephone number, plus an e-mail address if signing up for an online account.
As with adult Frontier Miles accounts, your child’s miles will expire after six months if there is no activity. However, Frontier does offer family pooling to those with elite status or the co-branded Frontier credit card, so it is possible to pool child and parent miles together.
Hawaiian Airlines
How kids can enroll: Parents and guardians can enroll their kids in HawaiianMiles online. To do so, simply visit the airline’s website and click the “Join Now” button located on the top of the homepage. Or, you may also contact their reservations at + 1 800 367 5320 or the HawaiianMiles service centre at +1 877 426 4537.
Details required: The details required include a username and e-mail address for online account, plus name, gender, date of birth, address and phone number. You will also have to set up three account security questions, select any e-mail subscriptions and accept the terms of the HawaiianMiles program.
Hawaiian Airlines considers anyone aged 18 years or under a minor, but a parent or legal guardian can sign up their child for a frequent flyer account.
JetBlue Airways
How kids can enroll: A parent or legal guardian can enrol their kids who are 13 years old or younger for the JetBlue TrueBlue program. To do so, simply visit the airline’s website and log in into your TrueBlue account, then open the drop-down menu next to your name in the upper right corner. Choose the “Enrol a child” option.
Details required: The details required include a minor’s name, date of birth, e-mail address, phone number, physical address, gender, Known Traveler Number (if your child has Global Entry or TSA PreCheck), and whether you want your child’s points pooled with your family account. JetBlue offers family pooling to all members, with no elite status or credit card required.
Your child’s e-mail account must not be used by any other JetBlue member.
Southwest Airlines
How kids can enroll: A parent or legal guardian can enroll their kids in the Southwest Rapid Rewards program. You can do so online by visiting the airline’s website and selecting the “Enrol” option at the top of the homepage. Or, you may simply do it via the Southwest mobile app or by contacting the airline reservations at 1 800 248 4377.
Details required: The details required include a minor’s name, date of birth, gender, address, e-mail address, username and answers to two security questions.
Spirit Airlines
How kids can enroll: A parent or legal guardian can enroll their children who are 13 years old or younger. To do so, visit the airline’s website and sign up online by clicking the “Sign-In” button on the homepage, then click again on the “Sign Up Now” button.
Details required: The details required include a minor’s name, date of birth, e-mail address and physical address.
However, Spirit miles expire very quickly, so this might not be worth your time unless your kiddo flights Spirit every couple of months.
United Airlines
How kids can enroll: A parent or legal guardian can enroll their children who are under 18 years old. To do so, visit the airline’s website and sign up online by clicking the “Sign in” button at the upper right of the homepage, then click the “Enrol in MileagePlus” button.
Details required: The details required include a minor’s name, date of birth, gender, address, phone number, and e-mail address.
Only individuals 18 and older can sign up for a United MileagePlus account on their own. A parent or legal guardian must enroll their children who are under 18 years of age. Learn Should You Turn Your Frequent Flyer Miles Into Gift Cards?
Conclusion
At least within the U.S., it is never too early to sign your kids up for a frequent flyer account, especially now that miles from many airlines like Delta, JetBlue, United and Southwest never expire. Even American Airlines will no longer expire the miles of kids until after they turn 21. So, start your kids earning miles now and they can get a free award ticket down the line.
