United Airlines MileagePlus is once again back with the buy miles promotion for December and potentially the last bonus offer for this year. United Airlines has been constantly offering a mixture of discounts and bonuses on miles purchased every month and recently it frequently offered a 50% discount.
Purchase MileagePlus Miles With Up To 100% Bonus
Through December 22, 2022, United MileagePlus members purchasing miles will receive up to a 100% bonus tiered as follows:
- Purchasing between 5,000-19,000 miles, you’ll receive a 40% bonus
- Purchasing between 20,000-49,000 miles, you’ll receive a 70% bonus
- Purchasing between 50,000-87,500 miles, you’ll receive a 100% bonus
How Much Does The Miles Cost With Bonus
With the current 100% bonus promotion, members are able to purchase up to 175,000 miles for US$3,292.19 including taxes and fees. This is 1.88 cents per mile which is half the usual price.
United Airlines’ MileagePlus limits the maximum number of miles purchased to 175,000 miles per calendar year with the bonus included. So during the 100% bonus promotion, the maximum amount of miles members can buy is 87,500 miles.
Redeeming United MileagePlus Miles
United MileagePlus program is one of the most used programs to earn and redeem flights. However, there is no published award chart so members have to access the United’s website to check individually. United also devaluated its award redemption, increasing the redemption cost so you’ll have to research thoroughly in order to find the best deal.
From time to time, MileagePlus has good redemption rates, especially on one-way awards. For example:
- A one-way from New York to London cost as low as 60,000 miles on United Airlines.
- A one-way flight from New York to the EU costs around 77,000 miles on partners.
- One-way from the US to Japan cost as low as 70,000 miles on United Airlines.
- A one-way flight from the US to Japan cost around 88,000 miles on Star Alliance partners.
Summary
Through December 22, 2022, United Airlines’ MileagePlus program is offering up to a 100% bonus on purchased miles.
With this promotion, members can buy miles at a rate of 1.88 cents each. I value United MileagePlus miles at 1.29 cents per mile so the offer does not stand up to the level I wouldn’t buy a whole load of United miles as there are better programs that offer better promotions.
