“United miles on sale with a 100% bonus…..yes please!” My friend Rich sounded excited. He’s a long-time United flyer. He does monthly commutes from Hawaii to California so he can never have enough United miles. When I saw this sale I let him know about it, and then I took a look at it for myself. I don’t fly United metal very often, though last year I did have a great trip home from Europe in First Class in their now retired plane. I do book a lot of flights through United using Star Alliance partners, though. I’m partial to Star Alliance airlines when I go to Europe or Asia. Sometimes the best and quickest way to top up miles for an award trip is to simply purchase miles from an airline, especially when they have 100% bonus sales going on. We all like to travel more, for less! I keep a list of airline point promos handy to see if they’ll work for me. Depending on your travel plans, this might be worth checking out.
Promotion Details
This United miles sale just got started, and runs through September 6, and offers up to 75,000 bonus miles when you purchase miles. A 100% bonus sale doesn’t come around very often. You can access the promotion HERE. Never buy miles without a near future need for them, but if you need to top up an account or you’re planning a trip, this deal could work for you. With United miles the maximum you can buy per year, per account is 150, 000 miles (including the bonus.)
Here’s how the effective cost breaks down by tier:
- Buy 5,000-14,000 miles (30% bonus)
- Buy 15,000-29,000 miles (70% bonus)
- Buy 30,000-44,000 miles (85% bonus)
- Buy 45,000-75,000 miles (100% bonus)
If you max out this promotion, you’ll pay $2,821.88 for 150,000 miles — for an effective cost per mile of 1.88 cents.
How to Buy United Miles
If you’re planning on utilizing this promotion, here’s what you need to do:
- Visit United’s Buy Miles page.
- Click on Buy Miles.
- Enter your United MileagePlus account number and last name.
- Select the number of miles you want to buy and fill in the required information to finalize your purchase.
Want to check and see how many United miles you’ll need for travel awards? You can find the United MileagePlus interactive award chart here.
Bottom Line
As always, let math be your friend and make sure you have a planned use for these miles. If you do plan to take advantage of this offer, the link can be found here. Whether or not you buy airline miles when promotions are running, it’s good to know about your options. We all like to travel more, for less! I keep a list of airline point promos handy to see if they’ll work for me. Remember, never buy miles without a near future need for them, but if you need to top up an account or you’re planning a trip, double miles are hard to beat.
Are you a buyer of United miles at these prices? I sat out the last sale in July hoping for a repeat, and now it’s here. It takes a 100% bonus for many of us to be interested. Where’s your next United miles redemption taking you?
Another thing, I used my United MileagePlus card recently to top up on points and they were counted as united purchase. So instead of one mile per dollar, I got two mile per dollar. That I believe did not happen in the past.
That’s a good deal, Thomas. Thanks for reading and letting us know.
A cash grab via an affiliate link rather than a measured, rational evaluation of the “deal” being touted.
UA’s Award Accelerator is *ALWAYS* available at very similar prices. This is not a massive savings nor an especially unique experience by any stretch.
But thank goodness six different affiliate links pepper the post.
Hey Seth, Massive and unique; you must have read those words in some other post. Thanks for reading and adding your two cents. Have a great day!
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