United Airlines is also offering an opportunity to purchase their miles with a 100% bonus. Unlike the Southwest promotion, there actually are some routes where you could definitely save some money vs. paying for the ticket outright. With that being said, I absolutely would NOT speculatively purchase their miles, especially after the recent announcement that they are doing away with their award chart come November. This promotion goes through end of day tomorrow, Friday, April 12, 2019.Â
With this promotion, the more miles you purchase, the better the bonus:
- 20% Bonus: Buy 5,000-19,000 miles
- 50% Bonus: Buy 20,000-49,000 miles
- 100% Bonus: Buy 50,000+ miles
If you are looking to purchase 50k or more miles, this is definitely one of the better offers as a 100% bonus does not come around all that often. You are also able to purchase up to 175k miles per year (including the bonus miles). Maxing out this promotion to purchase a full 175,000 miles will cost you exactly $3,292.19. Most will find that this promotion will most likely only work out in your favor for business or first class tickets.
Or, if you are in need of United miles, their co-branded credit card just increased the sign up offer to give you up to 60,000 miles. This is definitely a less expensive way to “earn” the miles needed!
- Key Link: United MileagePlus Explorer Credit Card — Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months, plus an additional 25,000 bonus miles after you spend $8,000 total on purchases in the first 6 months. No annual fee for the first year, then $95 a year.
Overall…
I personally will not be purchasing any United miles, even my account is pretty close to being depleted. I do not have an immediate need right now and with the changes moving in November, I have no desire to purchase miles speculatively. I also typically redeem my miles for economy class flights so buying points hardly ever work out for those looking to sit in the back in the plane. I personally care more about my experience when I am at my destination vs. my flight experience so economy class seats work just fine for me!
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I got the 50% off offer and I am yet to fly United! Ever! However, I did purchase points before and used for GlobalFirst redemption so perhaps this is the key factor.