Alaska and IHG

[Anonymous]

Somewhat new to credit card rewards. I was wondering if:

A) I can use my Alaska card to book a flight for my mom to earn the 3x points? I am not sure if she would have problems at the gate since I will not be traveling on the itinerary and it is on my card?

B) can I redeem my IHG points for her hotel stay if I will not be staying at the hotel, or do I need to be there? I don’t want to tell her she has a few free nights and she ends up having to pay.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Somewhat new to credit card rewards. I was wondering if:

A) I can use my Alaska card to book a flight for my mom to earn the 3x points? I am not sure if she would have problems at the gate since I will not be traveling on the itinerary and it is on my card?

B) can I redeem my IHG points for her hotel stay if I will not be staying at the hotel, or do I need to be there? I don’t want to tell her she has a few free nights and she ends up having to pay.

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Welcome to MyFICO

A) You definitely will get the 3X points for buying your mom a ticket.  She won’t have any problems 

B) It’s possible but can be more problematic.  It usually involves adding an ‘additional guest’ to your reservation.  Here are a couple articles talking about this very issue;

https://millionmilesecrets.com/guides/use-points-to-book-room-for-others/

https://www.pointswithacrew.com/can-i-book-a-hotel-for-someone-else/