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, which is the program’s first promotion of the year. As usual, different accounts may be targeted for different offers.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased United MileagePlus miles
Through 11:59PM CT on Friday, January 27, 2023, 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 I see for any account I manage is for a bonus of up to 90%, and it’s tiered as follows:
- Buy 5,000-14,000 miles, get a 30% bonus
- Buy 15,000-39,000 miles, get a 60% bonus
- Buy 40,000-92,000 miles, get a 90% bonus
As mentioned above, it’s possible that different members will be targeted for different offers. United often has up to a 100% bonus on purchased miles, so maybe some members are targeted for that.
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 90% bonus and maxed out this promotion, you’d receive a total of 174,800 miles at a cost of $3,461.50, which is a rate of 1.98 cents per MileagePlus mile.
When United does offer a 100% bonus on purchased miles (which is pretty common), you can expect that you’ll end up paying 1.88 cents per mile.
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 90%, which would be an opportunity to buy miles for 1.98 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?
Beware! I bought miles to top off an account for a reward to Australia and it's been 24 hours now and they still haven't shown up in my account...
Mine is buy 50,000+ miles and get 45% off.