How to check if you're eligible for 2,500 bonus miles for being a United credit card holder

Dec. 02, 2019

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2 min read

How to check if you're eligible for 2,500 bonus miles for being a United credit card holder

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Now through January 31, 2020, United is teaming up with Chase to give away 2,500 bonus United MileagePlus miles to targeted United co-branded credit card cardholders. Why? "Just because."

If you're a cardholder, all you need to do to claim the bonus miles is browse to the promotion's landing page, enter the last four digits of your credit card number, your MileagePlus account number, complete the reCAPTCHA challenge and click "get my bonus miles."

Unfortunately, not all United co-branded cards are eligible. First, this seems to be targeted only for cardholders of the United Explorer Card. Even so, not all cardholders are eligible for these free 2,500 bonus miles. If you're not eligible, you'll get the following error message:

If you're targeted, don't expect to get the miles immediately. The terms and conditions note that you need to "allow 6-8 weeks after the promotion ends on January 31, 2020 for 2,500 bonus miles to post to your MileagePlus account."

At current TPG valuations, the 2,500 bonus miles are worth around $33. Considering the annual fee on the United Explorer Card is a reasonable $95 per year -- currently waived the first year -- it's understandable that this offer isn't available to all cardholders.

If you don't have the United Explorer Card yet, the card is packed with valuable benefits like priority boarding, two, one-time United Club lounge passes per year, a first free checked bag for the primary cardholder and up to one companion on United flights and an up to $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit.

New applicants can earn 40,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

Featured image by (Image courtesy of United Airlines)

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