American Express Membership Rewards - Any way to get UA EQM for Amex MR use?

Hi, folks! I have about 100K MR points, and am trying to figure out how to use these to get some EQM on UA. By my calculation, with all the flying I am doing this year, I'll be 10K short of 1K status. Hoping to boost myself up a bit. So, the question is, is there anything I can do with my MR points to get EQM? I was thinking maybe I could book a flight on Air Canada (I think that's the only *A partner you can transfer to, right)? If I do that, will I get EQM? Is there anything else I'm not thinking of? I prefer not to pay with points, as that seems like a really poor value per mile.

Thanks so much!

Trade them in the CC for UA Vouchers..

cross-posting is not allowed on FT

So sorry, cfischer! Not trying to do anything wrong. I'm not exactly sure what cross-posting is. I posted first in UA, and they told me to post here, so I did. Please excuse any unintentional indiscretion. And thanks, MSPDeltaDude, for your suggestion! I'll look into that...

Membership Rewards transfer to three Star Alliance carriers: AC NH and SQ, but no award ticket will earn EQMs. This would be true even if the points could be transferred directly to UA. The only way to use Membership Rewards to earn EQMs is to purchase a paid ticket with your card and redeem through Pay with Points to offset the charge.

You might want to look at the mileage run forum, to find a flight or set of flights that will give you 10K EQM's at a low cost.

Using the Coupon Connection forum requires 180 days membership in FT and 180 posts, and you're a bit short of the latter. If you were eligible, you might have been able to try to trade Amex MR points for UA vouchers that you could use for your mileage run.

Your problem is a very common one, being a few miles short of the next elite level.

Some airlines have credit card tie-ins that allow you to get a certain number of EQM's if you spend a certain amount on their credit card. Delta and USAir do, and I think United does also. But the spend threshold is usually $25,000. That might be pocket change for you, but for many people it's quite a lot to spend in just six months, and it would be even less time if you applied for the UA Explorer card now; it would take at least a few weeks to get it.

Use pay with points to buy a revenue ticket and fly. That's the only way you're going to be able to turn MR points into UA EQMs

Coupon connection is an option, but not a very viable one IMO. Seems like more hassle than it's worth.

You might want to look at this mileage run LGA-IAH-SEA-ANC-SEA-IAH-LGA. You can do a same day turn on that and rake in about 9900 EQMs. If you time it right the ticket can be had for less than $700. I did this one a few years ago to maintain platinum on CO (when platinum actually counted for something...)...What's nice about this route is that it's the most EQMs you can get on a same day turn without having to take out your passport...AND, you have the potential for an upgrade on every segment.

feel free to PM me if I can help further...

That is incredibly helpful!! I'll look into it - thanks!!!

Hi, folks! I have about 100K MR points, and am trying to figure out how to use these to get some EQM on UA. By my calculation, with all the flying I am doing this year, I'll be 10K short of 1K status. Hoping to boost myself up a bit. So, the question is, is there anything I can do with my MR points to get EQM? I was thinking maybe I could book a flight on Air Canada (I think that's the only *A partner you can transfer to, right)? If I do that, will I get EQM? Is there anything else I'm not thinking of? I prefer not to pay with points, as that seems like a really poor value per mile.

Thanks so much!

An expensive way is to take UA's offer and buy miles that have EQMs attached to it. When you purchase your next UA ticket or when you check in, usually it gives you an option to buy miles, there is a further option to make those miles eligible for EQMs.

Doesn't answer your question on MRs but if you don't want to do a mileage run, that is another option.