Tip: Triple Dip Your Mileage Earnings With MileagePlus X and Shopping Portals
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
We've talked about how the MileagePlus X app is a great tool to earn extra United miles. Working somewhat like a traditional shopping portal, you buy electronic gift cards from retailers and get 1 to 5 bonus miles for each dollar spent on a gift card (occasionally, the bonus can be as high as 10 miles per dollar). Plus, you'll receive a 25% bonus if you're a United MileagePlus Explorer Card holder.
But what many don't know is that you can actually do some significant triple dipping by using the MileagePlus X app in conjunction with a shopping portal. For example, you can buy a Nike gift card through the app and receive 5 miles per dollar spent.
The second dip is the miles you'll get from using your credit card to buy the e-gift card. The third dip is by using your e-gift card to shop at Nike.com through an online shopping portal, therefore earning you even more miles.
Potentially, if you wanted to make a $100 purchase at Nike today, a triple dip would look something like this:
- Dip 1: 625 United miles through MileagePlus X (5x plus 25% bonus )
- Dip 2: 100 miles for the purchase of the e-gift card with your credit card (1x)
- Dip 3: 200 United miles through the United MileagePlus Shopping portal (2x)
So, on a $100 purchase, you could earn 925 miles. And if you wait, many shopping portals have big bonuses, like a couple of weeks ago you could earn 15 miles per dollar at Nike and many other retailers. With triple dipping, you could have earned 2,225 miles on a $100 purchase! Make sure to use a shopping portal aggregator to find which portal has the biggest bonus.
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| 5X miles | Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel |
| 2X miles | Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day |
Pros
- Stellar welcome offer of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Plus, a $250 Capital One Travel credit to use in your first cardholder year upon account opening.
- You'll earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, which means you won't have to worry about memorizing bonus categories
- Rewards are versatile and can be redeemed for a statement credit or transferred to Capital One’s transfer partners
Cons
- Highest bonus-earning categories only on travel booked via Capital One Travel
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app