Strategically buying miles & points can represent a great deal, especially for luxury travel. United Airlines MileagePlus has just launched its latest sale on purchased miles, though different members may be targeted for different offers.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased United MileagePlus miles
Through 11:59PM CT on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, United MileagePlus is offering a sale on purchased miles. Different members are sometimes eligible for different offers, so you’ll want to log into your account and see what you’re eligible for. The best offer seems to be for up to a 100% bonus. The 100% bonus is tiered, as follows:
- Buy 5,000-14,000 miles, get a 50% bonus
- Buy 15,000-39,000 miles, get a 75% bonus
- Buy 40,000-87,500 miles, get a 100% bonus
How much does it cost to purchase United MileagePlus miles?
United MileagePlus ordinarily charges 3.5 cents per purchased mile, plus a 7.5% federal excise tax. That’s before any discounts or bonuses. If you’re eligible for a 100% bonus and maxed out this promotion, you’d receive a total of 175,000 miles at a cost of $3,292.19, which is a rate of 1.88 cents per MileagePlus mile.
Of course the purchase rate is a bit higher if you’re only targeted for a smaller bonus, but this seems to at least be a pretty popular version of the offer.
How many United MileagePlus miles can you purchase?
United MileagePlus limits members to purchasing 175,000 MileagePlus miles per account per calendar year. Note that this limit applies after factoring in any bonuses, so even when United offers a bonus on purchased miles, you can still only purchase a maximum of 175,000 miles.
If you do buy United miles, it can take up to 48 hours for them to post to your account.
Which credit card should you buy United MileagePlus miles with?
United MileagePlus mileage purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending.
Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach a minimum spending requirement, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending, like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review), Citi® Double Cash Card (review), or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review).
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- Earn 2x Venture miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- Earn 2x Venture miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Is buying United MileagePlus miles worth it?
United MileagePlus doesn’t publish an award chart, neither for travel on United, nor for travel on partner airlines. Therefore there’s some variability in terms of award costs. On top of that, we’ve seen a few MileagePlus devaluations in the past few years, including the program increasing redemption rates on Star Alliance partners, and charging more for last-minute award tickets.
Nonetheless there are some situations where redemptions through MileagePlus represent a good deal. To give some examples of one-way redemption rates:
- Transatlantic business class awards for travel on United flights start at 60,000 miles
- Transatlantic business class awards for travel on partner airline flights start at 77,000 miles
- Transpacific business class awards for travel on United flights start at 70,000 miles
- Transpacific business class awards for travel on partner airline flights start at 88,000 miles
My general hesitation with buying MileagePlus miles is that I think there are other Star Alliance programs with better redemption rates and/or program policies, including Air Canada Aeroplan and Avianca LifeMiles. Both programs often sell miles at a lower cost, and Air Canada Aeroplan also has a lucrative stopover policy.
On what airlines can you redeem United MileagePlus miles?
United Airlines belongs to the Star Alliance, so you can redeem MileagePlus miles on all Star Alliance airlines.
On top of that, you can redeem miles on some of United’s other partner airlines, including Aer Lingus, Azul, Eurowings Discover, Vistara, and more.
How much are United MileagePlus miles worth?
Everyone will value mileage currencies differently, but personally I value United MileagePlus miles at ~1.3 cents each. I tend to value points pretty conservatively, and there are many ways to get more value from MileagePlus miles than that.
Do United MileagePlus miles expire?
United MileagePlus miles don’t expire. There’s no activity required to keep your account mileage balance alive, but rather you can keep your miles no matter what.
What other ways can you earn United MileagePlus miles?
If you’re looking to earn United miles, MileagePlus is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, so you can convert Ultimate Rewards points into United miles at a 1:1 ratio.
See this post for the best credit cards for earning United miles.
Bottom line
United MileagePlus is offering a promotion on purchased miles, and different members may be targeted for different offers. Some members are eligible for a bonus of up to 100%, which would be an opportunity to buy miles for 1.88 cents each.
This could be a chance to acquire MileagePlus miles at a fair cost. However, in general I’d personally prefer to buy miles with Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles.
Do you plan on buying United miles with this offer?
When I went onto the United website to look at the deal, I was offered 100% after 40k points purchased but they would let me purchase up to 112,500 points + the bonus of 112,500 points even though the bottom of their site states "Bonus miles count toward the 175,000-mile annual limit per account. You may purchase up to 175,000 miles per account per calendar year.." Your article mentioned a maximum of 87,500 points. What...
When I went onto the United website to look at the deal, I was offered 100% after 40k points purchased but they would let me purchase up to 112,500 points + the bonus of 112,500 points even though the bottom of their site states "Bonus miles count toward the 175,000-mile annual limit per account. You may purchase up to 175,000 miles per account per calendar year.." Your article mentioned a maximum of 87,500 points. What happens if I would purchase that full amount of 112,500? They also state at the bottom of the purchase screen "Buying miles counts as a United® purchase when made with your United MileagePlus card. You’ll get the miles you buy, plus miles for every $1 spent." Does that mean that somehow their points purchased through points.com with one of their cards is different than if we would purchase them using our Amex Platinum to get the 5x points? I'm mainly asking because I'm looking at opening a United CC and purchasing these points would help or completely cover the purchase agreement to get the bonus miles so I'm looking at my best options including applying for the Citi Premier Card. Thoughts?
Thanks for no reply OMAT since my question on 9/5/22. I thought I had some legitimate questions in addition to your article that others might have but I guess that doesn't matter. It's the first time I've commented on any of your articles in the half year or so I've been on here and after this I'm not sure I will bother again.
But avianca lifemiles site is worst and cant find much availability
Woohoo.
I already bought my limit and United offered to extend my limit by 50000 miles. I will prolly pass, I have enough for the trip planned.