Best way to book flight with 4 different Rapid Rewards accounts

[eric_sd_ny]

Hello, 

Casual viewer, first time poster. 

We are looking to book a flight from San Diego to NY. My wife, me, and each of my kids (both minors) have a separate RR accounts. My wife's has enough points to purchase 2 tickets with her RR points. My account is short about 1500 points to cover a full ticket but each of my kids' accounts has about 5500 points. 

What is the best way to maximize the points and book the flights? I was thinking about transferring 1500 points from on of my kids accounts to mine to book my flight using all points. Then, purchasing the last flight in cash. 

If we do this, we will have 3 separate reservations, including a minor with their own reservation. Can we merge 3 reservations into one after purchasing? 

Thanks in advance for any insights!

[bballflyer]

Do you have a chase card that you can transfer points to Southwest such as a Chase Sapphire?  I find that to be the most economical way to "top off" points.  Otherwise you can transfer between RR accounts but it costs;  Look at the price between that and to purchase miles, I think they have a sale on points going on at the moment but don't know.

As for the minors, you always have to link minor accounts to an adult and their check in should be sequential with the adult they are linked to so you don't have to merge those.  There isn't a way to merge unfortunately so you may want to look at booking the adults on the same reservation first then link the minors to it;  I like using one way reservations, look to see if booking one way reservations helps you at all in terms of getting the most from the miles you have. 

[Cancelled_Vacay]

The fees to transfer RR points are almost as much as the RR points are worth, and purchasing RR points comes at a premium. You could purchase 2,000 RR points for $60, but the value when applied to flights is only about $27. Maybe that’s worth it to you to use up your available points balance and might make sense if you don’t fly frequently. To best use everyone’s points you will likely end up with multiple reservations, and based on the age of your kids might need to be done over the phone.