Your Kids' Frequent Flyer Accounts, Done In 30 Minutes

Every flight your kids take with a ticketed seat can earn miles in their name — and most families leave those miles on the table for years. Setting up the accounts is a one-evening job with a decade of payoff: by the time they're teenagers, the family's "free" balances include theirs.

Every Kid Can Have An Account

None of the big US programs has a real minimum age — they just want a parent doing the signing:

Program	Kids' accounts	The wrinkle
American AAdvantage	Yes, any age	Add the birth date — it powers the under-21 expiration shield
Delta SkyMiles	Yes, any age	Under-13 enrollment needs parent consent
United MileagePlus	Yes — "no minimum age"	—
Southwest Rapid Rewards	Yes	You attest you're the parent/guardian
JetBlue TrueBlue	Yes	Under-13s are parent-managed
Alaska Atmos Rewards	Yes	Children's accounts open by phone, then link online

Their Miles Outlive Childhood

The expiration picture is friendlier than it used to be:

• Delta, United, JetBlue, Southwest: points and miles never expire. Set and forget.
• American: miles normally expire after 24 months of inactivity — but members under 21 are exempt; the clock only starts at their 21st birthday. This is why the birth date on the profile matters.
• Alaska (Atmos): points don't expire, but long-dormant accounts can be frozen — a phone call revives them; don't let a kid's account sit untouched for years with a big balance.

The Lap Infant Rule

A lap infant earns nothing — no seat, no miles, even on an international ticket where you paid a real fee for them. The moment a child flies in their own purchased seat, they earn like any adult. That's one more quiet argument for buying the toddler a seat on longer flights.

Make The Miles Usable

Kids' balances scattered across programs are trivia; connected to the household they're travel. The pooling guide has the full map — the short version: United pools up to five people and JetBlue up to seven (kids welcome, free), Delta and American don't pool at all, and Southwest transfers cost real money, so Southwest balances just get spent from the kid's own account when the time comes.

The 30-Minute Setup

1. Enroll each child in the programs your family actually flies — with their legal name and birth date (spelling matters at TSA age cutoffs, and AA's expiration shield needs the birthday).
2. Save the numbers where the family will find them — wherever you already keep the adults' account details.
3. Join the free pools that fit (pooling guide).
4. Add the kids' numbers to every booking, every airline, every time — including partner flights; credit doesn't happen retroactively without a fight.
5. If you're doing Global Entry as a family, note their trusted-traveler numbers in the same place — the airport perks guide covers why the kids' memberships are now free.

Policies verified August 2026 against program terms and dated sources.