Strategically buying miles & points can represent a great deal, especially for luxury travel. United Airlines MileagePlus has launched its latest sale on purchased miles. As usual, different members may be targeted for different offers.
While I’ll cover the details of this offer, let me state that I wouldn’t typically recommend taking advantage of this, as I think you’re better off buying rewards with another program, like Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles. These programs often sell points at a lower cost, and have better redemption rates.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased United MileagePlus miles
Through 11:59PM CT on Thursday, March 14, 2024, United MileagePlus is offering a sale on purchased miles. Different members will be eligible for different offers — some members may be targeted for bonus offers, while other members may be targeted for discount offers. You’ll want to log into your account and see what you’re eligible for.
Typically when United has a promotion on purchased miles, you can get a bonus of up to 100% or a discount of up to 50%. However, I know some are being targeted for a 95% 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 or 50% discount and maxed out this promotion, you’d receive a total of 200,000 miles at a cost of $3,762.50, which is a rate of 1.88 cents per MileagePlus mile.
How many United MileagePlus miles can you purchase?
United MileagePlus limits members to purchasing 200,000 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 200,000 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) (Rates & Fees).
- 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 miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- 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 several MileagePlus devaluations over the years. With the latest devaluation, MileagePlus really isn’t very competitive with other programs anymore, in my opinion.
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, Discover Airlines, Vistara, and more.
How much are United MileagePlus miles worth?
Everyone will value mileage currencies differently, but personally I value United MileagePlus miles at ~1.1 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. Generally when United has a promotion on buying miles, you can get up to a 100% bonus or up to a 50% discount, which is an opportunity to buy miles for 1.88 cents each.
This could be a chance to acquire MileagePlus miles at a reasonable 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?
another option for earning - United cruises will give 4x points for cruises booked with United CC (higher for premium cabin types). I'll get about 19k for 2 week cruise, 29k for 3 week cruise + 39k for another - all in the cheap cabins 4x points. And use the CC for more points when paying. I've found they are very competitive on price - beat Costco.