United has a 50% Buy Miles Bonus Offer. The hitch? That's the best possible bonus, and it's targeted. The bonus amount ranges from 20% to 50%, and most folks seem to be getting a 25% or 30% buy miles bonus offer. Here are the offer details, then I'll discuss whether this could be worth taking advantage of.
- Buy United miles with a 20% to 50% bonus, depending on which offer you're targeted for
- Offer valid until 11:59pm CT, March 23, 2015
- Purchase up to 150,000 United MileagePlus miles per account per calendar year
- Allow 48 hours for miles to post to your MileagePlus account
- GST/HST charged to Canadian residents
In my family's case, all of us were only targeted for a 25% buy miles bonus, for example:
- Buy 2000 miles, get 500 bonus miles for $70 + tax, total of $75.25
- Buy 100,000 miles, get 25,000 bonus miles for $3500 + tax, total of 3762.50
- Buy 150,000 miles, get 37,500 bonus miles for $5250 + tax, total of $5643.75
Worth It to Buy United Miles with a 50% Bonus?
The rates above for my 25% bonus are hardly a bargain: 3 cents per mile, even with the 25% bonus.
Even if I'd been targeted for the 50% bonus, I'd still be paying 2.5 cents per mile, which in my view is too expensive unless you have an immediate need for a United MileagePlus award and topping up your account will save you cash.
Also recall that after last year's United Award Chart Devaluation, United Star Alliance partner awards, such as Asiana A380 First Class Suites, Lufthansa First Class, ANA First Class, SWISS Business Class, etc. are significantly more expensive than awards on United flights. There was an offer earlier this year for Discounted United Partner Business Class Awards but that offer has now expired.
So, while it can still make sense to book United awards if you have a glut of United MileagePlus miles, I wouldn't be rushing to buy United miles or to book United MileagePlus awards.
Instead, I would look at whether there are oneworld award options that you could redeem AAdvantage or US Airways Dividend Miles for–in many cases, for first and business class travel, these will be better value.
Alternative Ways to Earn United Miles
Personally, I am not that focused on earning United miles right now. If it's still around a bit later this year, I do plan to apply for the 50K United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card Bonus Offer, but in general, I'm more focused on earning transferable points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards, particularly with various 5X category bonuses, and also AMEX Membership Rewards points with the targeted 100K AMEX Business Platinum Bonus Offer that I just got.
- Credit Card Signup Bonuses: Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer 1:1 to United miles, so I recommend earning a signup bonus with the 50K Ink Plus (there was a 60K offer, but it has since expired) or 45K Chase Sapphire Preferred.
- Category Spend Bonuses: The next best way to earn miles and points, if you're not earning many from flying, is category spend bonuses. My favorite are via the Ink Plus 5X office supply store bonus, which make possible 5X on all Amazon spend, 5X on all Whole Foods spend, 5X on all Starbucks spend, etc. The Chase Freedom rotating 5X categories are sometimes great as well, particularly this quarter's 5X on all grocery store spend, and next quarter's 5X on all restaurant spend.
- Shopping Portal Bonuses: I don't use this much, since so much of our spend is with Amazon (and Amazon doesn't participate in the miles shopping portals) but every now and then, we'll buy something specific through another online retailer and click through the Ultimate Rewards, AAdvantage or other portal to earn more points. Of course for United miles, you'll want to either be clicking through the United MileagePlus shopping portal or the Ultimate Rewards portal.
- Fidelity Brokerage United MileagePlus Offer: Assuming you have the requisite free cash that can be tied up for 6-7 months and neither you nor your spouse works for a bank, brokerage or other FINRA institution, you could earn up to 50,000 with a Fidelity brokerage account.
Which United Buy Miles Bonus Offer did you get, and do you plan to use it to buy United miles?
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