Earn Bonus Miles With United MileagePlus Shopping Elevated Offers Through October
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Earlier this month, we told you about how you could earn bonus United miles when shopping through the United MileagePlus Shopping portal with its increased offers. Although those increased offers at select retailers ended last week, there's good news — United's announced that there are additional bonus offers through nearly the end of the month.
As a reminder, with these increased offers, you won't only be getting bonus United miles, but with every purchase, you'll also have the opportunity to win a grand prize of 100,000 award miles and $2,500 cash, or one of three first prizes of 20,000 miles each. You earn 1 entry when you register for the sweepstakes, 5 entries when you opt into marketing emails and 5 additional entries for each qualifying purchase (with a maximum of 25 entries per day). If you haven't already registered for this promotion, now's the time to do so.
Whereas the last round of increased offers was split into three groups of dates, this round seems to be a bit more scattered. Be sure to pay extra attention to the dates to make sure you're eligible for increased bonuses at the select retailers. Overall, the dates range from today through October 31, so there's plenty of time to take advantage. Also keep in mind that if you're a cardholder of one of the United MileagePlus credit cards, such as the United MileagePlus Explorer Card, you're already eligible for increased bonuses, but this promotion of increased offers could earn you even more. The card currently comes with a sign-up bonus of 40,000 miles after you spend $2,000 in the first three months.
Here are the elevated earning levels for retailers between October 13 and 15:
| Usual Bonus (cardholder) | Usual Bonus (non-cardholder) | Elevated Bonus (cardholder; non-cardholder) | Applicable Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kohl's | 2 | 1 | 4; 3 | 10/13 |
| JCPenny | 3 | 2 | 10; 10 | 10/13-10/14 |
| Gap | 2 | 1 | 6; 3 | 10/14 |
| Under Armour | 4 | 3 | 12; 12 | 10/14 |
| Apple | 1 | 1 | 3; 3 | 10/14-10/15 |
| Bose | 2 | 2 | 8; 8 | 10/14-10/15 |
| Macys.com | 2 | 2 | 8; 8 | 10/14-10/15 |
| JCPenny | 3 | 2 | 6; 6 | 10/15 |
Be aware that some of these offers only last for one day, such as today's offer with Kohl's. Non-cardholders can get especially generous offers from JCPenny and Under Amour — you'll earn the same bonus as cardholders. Also keep in mind that if you're looking to buy something from JCPenny, you're best off doing it on October 13 or 14 rather than October 15 because the bonus is higher — you'll earn 4 more miles per dollar.
Here are the elevated earning levels for retailers between October 17 and 19:
| Usual Bonus (cardholder) | Usual Bonus (non-cardholder) | Elevated Bonus (cardholder; non-cardholder) | Applicable Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Balance | 4 | 3 | 15; 15 | 10/17 |
| Neiman Marcus | 3 | 2 | 10; 10 | 10/18-10/19 |
| Saks | 4 | 3 | 10; 10 | 10/18-10/19 |
| Horchow | 3 | 2 | 9; 6 | 10/18-10/19 |
| Gilt City | 10 | 7 | 20; 20 | 10/18-10/19 |
| Hollister | 1 | 1 | 2; 2 | 10/18-10/19 |
| Lord & Taylor | 4 | 3 | 12; 12 | 10/18-10/19 |
| Jones NY | 3 | 2 | 9; 6 | 10/18-10/19 |
As you can see, you can get pretty solid value at some of these retailers, such as the nearly 3x increase for non-cardholders at Gilt City.
Here are the elevated earning levels for retailers between October 21 and 23:
| Usual Bonus (cardholder) | Usual Bonus (non-cardholder) | Elevated Bonus (cardholder; non-cardholder) | Applicable Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neiman Marcus | 3 | 2 | 10; 10 | 10/21 |
| LivingSocial | 2 | 2 | 6; 6 | 10/21-10/22 |
| Microsoft Store | 2 | 2 | 6; 6 | 10/21-10/22 |
| Horchow | 3 | 2 | 9; 6 | 10/22-10/23 |
Keep in mind that some retailers on this month's list may appear more than once. For example, Horchow appears from October 18-19, as well as October 22-23 and October 25-26. Make sure to check the list to be sure you make your purchase when your offer is the highest. In this example, October 18-19 and October 22-23 will give cardholders a better bonus than from October 25-26.
Here are the elevated earning levels for retailers between October 25 and 26:
| Usual Bonus (cardholder) | Usual Bonus (non-cardholder) | Elevated Bonus (cardholder; non-cardholder) | Applicable Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eBags | 6 | 4 | 12; 12 | 10/25-10/26 |
| Horchow | 3 | 2 | 6; 6 | 10/25-10/26 |
| Abercrombie | 1 | 1 | 2; 2 | 10/25-10/26 |
| Shoes.com | 4 | 3 | 8; 6 | 10/25-10/26 |
| Gifts.com | 6 | 4 | 12; 12 | 10/25-10/26 |
In this round of bonuses, you can get some great value especially if you're a non-cardholder. Non-cardholder bonuses will be the same as those for cardholders at select retailers, so you're getting exceptionally more value if you're a non-cardholder — but that shouldn't deter cardholders from shopping during this time.
Here are the elevated earning levels for retailers between October 28 and 29:
| Usual Bonus (cardholder) | Usual Bonus (non-cardholder) | Elevated Bonus (cardholder; non-cardholder) | Applicable Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergdorf Goodman | 3 | 2 | 6; 6 | 10/28-10/29 |
| Nike | 5 | 2 | 15; 15 | 10/28-10/29 |
| Lands' End | 3 | 2 | 6; 6 | 10/28-10/30 |
The last round of elevated bonuses offers some great value, especially at Nike. Cardholders will get a 3x miles bonus, while non-cardholders will get a nearly 8x bonus from the usual earnings. The other two offers during this range could also give both cardholders and non-cardholders a great value.
Example
Here's an example of how this promotion can earn you a potentially significant amount of bonus miles. If you're buying a purchase at Nike that'll cost you $240, you could get some pretty valuable miles out of this promotion. Normally, you'd get 1,200 miles if you're a cardholder (480 for a non-cardholder), worth about $18 based on TPG's most recent valuations (about $7 for non-cardholders). However, with this elevated bonus, you'd earn 3,600 miles for the purchase, worth about $54 — a pretty valuable increase.
Bottom Line
In general, all of your online shopping should be done through airline shopping portals. Missing out on an opportunity to earn valuable airline miles when making purchases you would make in any case is a no-no for any frequent traveler. And with this United MileagePlus Shopping bonus, there's even more incentive to do so. Thankfully, with the carrier extending these bonuses through nearly the end of the month, there's now even more time to take advantage.
