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Today only: Book United flights from just 8,000 miles round-trip

Zach Honig
Articles
Zach Honig is Editor-at-Large at TPG, with contributions ranging from articles digging deep on loyalty programs and credit cards to delivery flight coverage to drone photography and much more.
May 06, 2021
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3 min read
United 737 MAX 9 Tour
Today only: Book United flights from just 8,000 miles round-trip
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Following its 4 million-mile giveaway, which launched earlier this week, United is continuing to celebrate 40 years of MileagePlus with a global award sale! Today only, you can book domestic flights from just 8,000 miles round-trip, while international trips can be had for 40,000 miles round-trip.

(Screenshot courtesy of United)

Many shorter routes are eligible for the discounted rate — transcon flights are excluded, but a handful of longer flights did make the cut. Check out this page to see all of the eligible routes.

(Screenshot courtesy of United)

You need to book a round-trip in order to take advantage of the lower rates — in many cases, you'll find that a discounted round-trip can be had for less than the regular cost of a one-way saver award.

(Screenshot courtesy of United)

International flights are considerably more expensive, but the discounts can still be significant, depending on the route.

(Screenshot courtesy of United)

San Francisco (SFO) to Tahiti (PPT) will normally run you 70,000 miles round-trip, for example, representing a discount of more than 40%. Connecting awards will price at the lower rate as well, as long as there's availability in the X or XN fare class.

(Screenshot courtesy of United)

In order to take advantage of the sale rates, you'll need to book Thursday (May 6) and fly between June 1 and August 31, 2021. Discounts are only available for coach awards on flights operated by United, United Express and select partner codeshares.

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If you don’t already have miles in your account, you might want to consider a transfer from Chase Ultimate Rewards — miles post instantly, in our experience, but there's always the chance of a transfer delay, in which case you may not have the miles in your United account in time to take advantage of this sale.

You'll also want to compare fares before you decide to book an award — TPG values MileagePlus miles at 1.3 cents apiece, but it’s easy to get much more value out of your miles than that. With redemption rates so low, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better deal with cash, but it's always worth a quick search just in case.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.