Flash Sale: United offering Mileage Plus miles purchase with up to 100% Bonus Miles

Buying miles and points can represent a great deal, especially for premium air travel. Loyalty programmes tend to advertise these sales as discounts or offer a bonus on purchased miles. United MileagePlus has launched its latest promotion on purchased miles, valid through September 17, 2023, 2359 hours Central time. United is offering up to a 100% Bonus on purchasing miles in this round of the promotion, which is a tiered one.

Buy United MileagePlus Miles with up to a 100% Bonus.

Through September 17, 2023, 11:59 PM Central Time, United MileagePlus is offering a tiered bonus on purchased miles. The promotion offers up to a 100% bonus at the top end of the promotion. Not just that, an enhanced 225,000 miles buying limit has also be brought in per calendar year with the onset of this promotion.

It usually costs 3.5 US Cents per purchased mile when you buy United MileagePlus miles, apart from a 7.5% excise tax charged in the US. For those who received the 100% bonus miles offer, the tiering is as follows:

  • Buy 5,000+ miles, get 50% bonus miles
  • Buy 15,000+ miles, get 75% bonus miles
  • Buy 40,000+ miles, get 100% bonus miles

With the 100% bonus, one can buy 225,000 miles at the price of 1.88 US Cents per purchased mile (INR 1.55 per mile).

Note that United MileagePlus limits members to purchasing 225,000 MileagePlus miles per account per calendar year, including any bonuses being offered. This is the maxed-out version of the offer for you. If you are buying 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?

Typically, these point purchases are processed through Points.com and not directly by the hotel or airline. However, you will almost always pay in USD/EUR/GBP, not INR. So, the best cards to earn a bonus are Citi Prestige, Axis Reserve or American Express Platinum Charge Card, as these cards offer an international spending bonus. Beyond these, look at any card that provides a reduced foreign exchange spend conversion or one where you want to meet any minimum spend requirements.

Is it a good deal to use United Miles to buy flights?

While there is a bit of variability in the redemption of miles, MileagePlus redemptions usually represent a good deal.

  • India – Japan Economy Class travel starts at 27.5K miles one way
  • India – USA Business Class travel starts at 100K miles one way
  • India – Japan Business Class travel starts at 60K Miles one way
  • Europe – India Business Class travel starts at 60K Miles one way

One of the great features of United Mileage Plus is that United does not pass on fuel surcharges to customers. Another great feature is the fact that United MileagePlus miles don’t expire. So, you get to keep your miles no matter what. And you can use them on Star Alliance member airlines for redemption as well.

Bottomline

United MileagePlus is offering a bonus on purchased miles, with up to a 100% miles bonus. With this sale, MileagePlus miles can be acquired for US Cents 1.88/ INR 1.55 each at the top end. The promotion is valid for the miles purchased till September 17, 2023 (11:59 PM Central Time) or September 18, 2023 (10:29 AM IST). Crunch the numbers before you buy.

Do you plan on buying United MileagePlus miles with this promotion? 


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About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

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Comments

  1. hi, with miles offers I’ve generally seen you compare the mile cost to the cash cost of a business class ticket. But I assume most of your readers may still fly economy (as do I). Do these offers not make sense for economy tickets?

    • @Akshay, in today’s scenario, even with Economy Class tickets internationally, you will come out ahead I believe. Business Class of course becomes much more affordable with the buy miles scenario. Hope that helps.

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