How to Transfer Airline Miles to Another Person

Yes, airline miles are transferable, mostly. American, Delta, United and Southwest all sell a way to move miles from one member’s account into another’s. But the transfer is a paid product, priced so that it’s rarely the cheapest way to get someone into a seat. Avios work the same way, with one extra: a route through Finnair that costs far less than British Airways’ own fee.

This guide compares them side by side and points to the full guide for each program. The fees below were checked in October 2026; confirm the current schedule with the airline before you pay for a transfer.

What each airline charges to transfer miles

Program	Transfer price	Free alternative
American AAdvantage	$5 per 1,000 miles, no processing fee, up to 200,000 a year	Book the award for them from your account
Delta SkyMiles	1 cent a mile plus $30 per transfer	Book the award for them from your account
United MileagePlus	$7.50 per 500 miles plus $30, up to 100,000 miles a year	MileagePlus Pooling, or book for them
Southwest Rapid Rewards	1 cent a point, in 500-point blocks, up to 60,000 a year	Book the flight for them from your account
Avios (British Airways, Iberia, Qatar)	£50 per transfer at British Airways (free for Gold), or €10 through Finnair Plus	A British Airways Household Account, or book for them

The flat processing fee is what makes small transfers expensive on Delta and United. American has none, so 1,000 miles cost the same per mile as 100,000. On Delta, moving 1,000 miles costs $40, which is 4 cents a mile. Moving 30,000 brings it down to about 1.1 cents.

What moving miles costs against buying them

A transfer fee is paid on miles you already own, and it takes them out of your account. Buying adds new miles to the account that needs them and leaves yours alone. The table sets the two side by side, using a 30,000-mile transfer, the most Delta allows in one go:

Program	Fee to transfer 30,000	Fee per mile moved	New miles from us	Our minimum order
American AAdvantage	$150	0.5¢	1.7¢ a mile, as a ready account	50,000
Delta SkyMiles	$330	1.1¢	~1.95¢ a mile	50,000
United MileagePlus	$480	1.6¢	1.9¢ a mile	100,000
Southwest Rapid Rewards	$300	1¢	We book the flight instead	—
British Airways Avios	£50, any amount up to 60,000	About 0.2¢	1.7¢ a mile	50,000
Qatar Airways Avios	Through British Airways	As above	1.5¢ a mile	10,000

Two things stand out. On United, the transfer fee alone comes close to what new miles cost, and you still give up 30,000 of your own. On American and British Airways the fee is low per mile, so moving miles you can spare usually beats buying them.

Book their ticket from your own account

The free option is the same at every airline here: you can book an award for anyone from your own account. The passenger doesn’t have to be the account holder. If what you want is “my miles, their seat”, no miles have to move and no fee is paid.

A transfer only does one thing booking for someone doesn’t: it puts the miles under the other person’s control. That matters less often than people expect.

Pool your miles where the airline allows it

Two programs here let a family share one balance for free:

• United MileagePlus Pooling. One member can invite up to four others, and the pool’s miles can be spent on award travel together, so on United the paid transfer is rarely worth thinking about. The United guide covers how pooling works.
• The British Airways Household Account. Up to six other people at your address can pool their Avios, and the head of the household spends the shared balance. The Avios guide covers it, along with moving Avios between your own British Airways, Iberia and Qatar accounts.

American, Delta and Southwest have nothing like it.

When the other account is short

There’s one case the free routes don’t solve: the account that needs the miles is short, and yours isn’t overflowing. Moving your miles across leaves two accounts that both fall short.

Buying the shortfall fixes it from the right side, with no transfer fee on top. How that works depends on the program:

• Delta and United: the miles go straight into the account making the booking. Our minimum orders are on the Delta and United pages.
• American: we sell AAdvantage miles as a ready account, with the miles already in it, handed over to you. You book from it directly, for anyone. The details are on the American Airlines page.
• British Airways and Qatar Avios: the Avios go into the account making the booking. See the British Airways and Qatar Airways pages.
• Southwest: we don’t sell Rapid Rewards points. We book the Southwest flight for the traveller instead, at a price fixed before anything is paid. See the Southwest page.

For a sense of scale, the cheapest one-way business class seat from New York to London in our latest award searches comes to $1,026 all in, using 45,000 Alaska Atmos Rewards miles plus the taxes. Every route we track is on the award flights page.

Our guide to how buying airline miles works explains the process from quote to delivery.

The one thing not to do

Don’t move miles by sharing a login and booking from inside someone else’s account without the program’s permission. Loyalty programs are strict about who uses an account, and a frozen account costs far more than any transfer fee. Every route above exists so nobody has to do that. We’ve delivered 250 million miles without asking for anyone’s login. If you’re buying miles from anyone, read how to check a miles seller is legitimate first.

The bottom line: Before paying for a transfer, book the ticket from your own account or pool your miles, on United through Pooling and with Avios through a British Airways Household Account. Pay to transfer only when the miles really need to change hands, and on Delta and United only in amounts large enough to dilute the $30 fee.