United Airlines has launched another buy miles sale, allowing MileagePlus to buy miles at a 100% bonus for four days through December 31, 2023. United Airlines has monthly promotions for buying miles, but they all max out at a...
United Airlines has launched another buy miles sale, allowing MileagePlus to buy miles at a 100% bonus for four days through December 31, 2023.
United Airlines has monthly promotions for buying miles, but they all max out at a 100% bonus or a 50% discount. In addition, the airline occasionally increases the miles you can buy in a calendar year from 175,000 to 250,000.
You can access and see your bonus on United’s website here.
Price at 100% Bonus:
The cost of a mile under this offer is 1.88 cents each.
Does it make sense to purchase the United miles?
The answer is likely yes if you use them for international business or first-class tickets between expensive city pairs.
United has stopped publishing award charts but recently launched a website that featured award deals (read more here), and Star Alliance charts are now gone (read more here). In addition, many awards have become way overpriced in the MileagePlus miles required (read more here).
Conclusion
It can make sense to buy miles if you redeem them for international premium cabin awards or short-haul ones that are competitively priced. You can always redeposit the miles (with or without a fee) if travel restrictions, bans, or other changes occur.
You should not buy miles unless you have either 50% off or a 100% bonus offer.
Terms and conditions of this sale:
Promotional offer valid between 8:00 a.m. CT on December 28th, 2023, and 11:59 p.m. CT on December 31st, 2023. Promotional offer not applicable to past transactions. 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. Miles will generally be credited to the recipient’s MileagePlus account when the transaction is complete; provided that certain transactions may take up to 72 hours. Bonuses will be calculated on a per transaction basis only. The bonus amount applicable to a transaction is shown in the chart. Transactions may not be aggregated to calculate the bonus. The credit card used in the transaction will be billed immediately upon purchase. Mileage rates and other fees and offer terms are subject to change. Miles purchased are nonrefundable. Purchased miles do not count toward MileagePlus Premier® status. See here for all Terms and Conditions applicable to this transaction, which include United’s Privacy Policy and the MileagePlus Program Rules. GST/HST is charged to Canadian residents. QST is charged to Quebec residents. If you use Powered by Points to purchase United MileagePlus miles. Transaction will appear as ‘Points United Miles’. 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. Pricing is only available for purchases made through buymiles.mileageplus.com.