United’s newest MileagePlus promotion is offering up to a 50% discount when you purchase miles, through March 31st. United runs a huge operation out of Newark, and I’m always price checking their flights against those at LaGuardia and JFK, because honestly, it’s not THAT hard to get to, especially when you take the train.
(READ MORE:Â The cheapest and best way to get from Manhattan to Newark Airport)
A United Express Q200 landing at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. Image courtesy of Jay Bowie.
Let’s take a look at what this bonus means in terms of purchase cost.
This is a flash sale which you can access here.
The bonus is targeted, and different people will see different bonuses. You’ll have to log on to your account to see what bonus you’re targeted for.
The bonus I saw was tiered:
- Buy 0 – 9,000 miles – no bonus
- Buy 10,000 – 39,000 miles – 30% discount
- Buy 40,000 – 79,000 miles – 40% discount
- Buy 80,000 or more miles – 50% discount
In order to get the maximum discount, you’d need to purchase at least 80,000 United miles. With the discount and with the “tax recovery fee, your 80,000 miles would cost $1,505.
That’s like spending 1.88 cents per mile, which is an okay deal, but not one I’d do in most scenarios. Unless I needed to top off my account, I would not speculatively buy points at this level. As a reminder, United lets you buy 200,000 miles a year (inclusive of bonus points), so be careful with this promotion if you’ve already purchased points this year.
As a point of information, the highest bonus I’ve ever seen for purchasing United miles is a 100% bonus, so this is about as good as it gets
Full Buying United Miles Terms and Conditions
Here are the full terms and conditions:
- Promotional offer valid between 8:00 a.m. CT on March 20, 2024, and 11:59 p.m. CT on March 31, 2024.
- Promotional offer not applicable to past transactions.
- Bonus miles count toward the 200,000-mile annual limit per account.
- You may purchase up to 200,000 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.
- 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.
The Bottom Line
My recommendation would be to avoid this opportunity unless you need to top up your balance in order to make a redemption.
(SEE ALSO: When is buying miles worth it? Only in these 3 instances)
If you do need to get those few extra points, it makes sense to buy at least enough miles to take advantage of the discount. If you do plan to take advantage of this offer, the link can be found here.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
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