Deal Alert: Save 20% on United Awards to Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

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Now may be a great time to use your stash of United miles, as the airline's running a sale on award flights to great vacation destinations. With this deal, United cardholders receive 20% off economy award tickets on flights from the US to Mexico, Hawaii and select Caribbean cities. To receive the discount you'll have to book a round-trip itinerary by August 10 for flights between August 20 and December 13, 2018.

If there's saver economy availability, any destination in Hawaii or Mexico will see the discount. Note that only a handful of Caribbean destinations are on sale, including: Aguadilla (BQN), Havana (HAV), Port of Spain (POS), Santo Domingo (SDQ), San Juan (SJU) and Santiago de los Caballeros (STI).

You'll have to hold one of the following credit cards to take advantage of the promotion:

• United Explorer Card — currently offering a 40,000 mile bonus after spending $2,000 in the first three months.
• United Club Card — currently offering a 50,000 mile sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 in the first three months
• United Explorer Business Card — 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

The information for the United Club card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

If you don't have any United miles in your account you can transfer them in instantly from Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. Note that the discount only applies to round-trip saver economy awards on United metal (no flying in first or business), and it's not stackable with the United Excursionist Perk.

Airline: United
Routes: US to/from Mexico, Hawaii and select Caribbean destinations
Cost: 28,000 miles + taxes and fees for round-trip economy flights
Dates: Book by August 10, fly from August 20 through December 18, 2018
Booking Link: United
Pay Taxes and Fees With: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare), Chase Sapphire Reserve, Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express, Citi Prestige (5x on airfare plus excellent trip delay insurance) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel)

Here are some examples of what you can book:

Houston (IAH) to Port of Spain (POS) for 28,000 miles + $62 round-trip in October:

Chicago (ORD) to Cancun (CUN) for 28,000 miles + $86 round-trip in October:

San Francisco (SFO) to San Juan (SJU) for 28,000 miles + $11 round-trip in October:

Chicago (ORD) to Honolulu (HNL) for 36,000 miles + $11 round-trip round-trip in October:

Newark (EWR) to Kahului, Maui (OGG) for 36,000 miles + $11 round-trip round-trip in November:

Maximize Your Purchase

Don’t forget to use a credit card that earns additional points on airfare purchases, such as the American Express Platinum Card (5x on flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Citi Prestige (5x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.