Jan 9, 2015, 4:29 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
United announces "MileagePlus Miles Never Expire" (effective immediately)
Archive thread: Consolidated "How to Keep/Refresh Expiring Miles" Thread [ARCHIVE]
If you want to keep all your existing miles, and thus want some new miles to post quickly and reliably, here are some ways, from cheapest to most expensive:
Archive thread: Consolidated "How to Keep/Refresh Expiring Miles" Thread [ARCHIVE]
If you want to keep all your existing miles, and thus want some new miles to post quickly and reliably, here are some ways, from cheapest to most expensive:
- Book an award ticket and then cancel at no cost within 24 hours.
- If you have a United credit card, downgrade it to the no fee version that gives 1 mile/$2 and use it every so often. Will help with aging as well which is good for your credit score.
- Dining option still works (as of May 22, 2014). Posted to United in about 3 weeks after activity. I think it is one of the easiest options. No need to even take survey if you dont want extra survey points. I didn't do it.
- Buy a gift card and trade it to United for miles. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/21020349-post702.html for an example that cost $15, and resulted in miles posting in under 24 hours. If you are not a U.S. resident, then buy an acceptable gift card on eBay and ask seller to email you the gift card number and pin. The gift card can be purchased with anyone's credit card (or cash) and applied to anyone's M+ number (name on credit card and M+ account need not match). It is not known if e-gift cards work. Physical gift cards known to work are:
- Buffalo Wild Wings (available for as low as $15 at Walgreens pharmacy). Note this card did not have a pin. Leaving the pin field empty in the submission worked fine.
2013 Update: - Ref, Ref
- Online bought GCs (i.e. e GCs) are not working successfully - Failed: Walmart, Lowes, NewEgg
- Store bought cards that worked recently as per some members: Buffalo Wild Wings, Target
- Buffalo Wild Wings (available for as low as $15 at Walgreens pharmacy). Note this card did not have a pin. Leaving the pin field empty in the submission worked fine.
- Buy miles directly from United. http://www.ualmiles.com/PersonalMile...Personal+Miles. The minimum purchase is about $75.
- Mileage activity from third parties -- rental car, hotels, .... -- look for previously not posted activity
- Buy a ticket on united.com, and once it tickets, purchase award maximizer. Look for a flight with a short distance, such as COS/DEN to keep the award maximizer cost low. Miles will post in under 24 hours. Cancel ticket within 24 hours to get a full refund.
2013 Update: Ref, Ref
This seems to be the simplest way to do it for low cost, without much running around or waiting or donating miles.
- Bought an IAH > Austin ticket for 69/79 $.
- Went back in to change/ modify ticket reservation and then Award Acc was offered - 500 miles for 17$. Bought it.
- Miles posted in few hours. Cancelled the ticket. Refund to Visa card pending.
Note: Buy any low cost short distance ticket, go back in and buy award accelerator and then cancel in 24 hr after award miles post. . - Make a purchase using MileagePlus X – Shopping App to Earn Additional Award Miles / Introducing MileagePlusX -- miles reportedly post very quickly. Doesn't work if the name on credit card doesn't match the name on the M+ account.
- Another option if you are in he United States is with BP gas stations with their BP Driver Rewards program. They give at least 1 mile per gallon. Signing up is free and the miles post instantly.
Have a look here: https://www.mybpstation.com/united
- Magazine subscriptions
- Charitable giving
- Mileage Purchases -- generally a poor use of miles
- Reinstatement Miles for a fee -- if the expiration is as recent as 18 months ago, roughly 0.5 to 1 cpm.
- Find a recent (last 12 months typically) hotel stay or rental car credit that has not yet been posted. If the date was prior to expiration that should reinstate the expired miles.
Consolidated "How to Keep/Refresh Expiring Miles" Thread
Jan 2, 2015, 6:15 am
#1
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Potomac Falls, VA
Programs: AA Plat 2MM, MR Gold, Avis Pref
Posts: 41,109
Consolidated "How to Keep/Refresh Expiring Miles" Thread
I inadvertently let some miles expire in my son's account, not a huge number but for $50 IMHO its worth reinstating those miles
my question is, from the day that they are reinstated, does he receive a new 18 month clock start from the date of posting?
my question is, from the day that they are reinstated, does he receive a new 18 month clock start from the date of posting?
Jan 2, 2015, 3:13 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, UA Platinum, Alaksa MVP 75K, Air Berlin Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,389
Most likely, although the new mileage expiration date listed under My Account would be your definitive answer after the reinstatment.
Jan 4, 2015, 2:32 pm
#3
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,319
Expired miles - reinstatement question
This may be a bit of a hindsight, but I'll ask anyway.
I've just discovered a dormant UA (legacy UA) mileage plus account with about 30K miles in it, which expired last year.
I quickly paid to reinstate them (charge is in process on CC, though miles did not show up back on account yet - btw, does anyone know how long it takes?) and plan to merge that account with my primary MP account once miles are posted.
Then it occurred to me that I was an active MP member (and held a United credit card) during the lifetime of the other account. Should that have been sufficient to reinstate the miles (without having to pay $100)?
I've just discovered a dormant UA (legacy UA) mileage plus account with about 30K miles in it, which expired last year.
I quickly paid to reinstate them (charge is in process on CC, though miles did not show up back on account yet - btw, does anyone know how long it takes?) and plan to merge that account with my primary MP account once miles are posted.
Then it occurred to me that I was an active MP member (and held a United credit card) during the lifetime of the other account. Should that have been sufficient to reinstate the miles (without having to pay $100)?
Jan 4, 2015, 2:46 pm
#4
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.997MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,867
This may be a bit of a hindsight, but I'll ask anyway.
I've just discovered a dormant UA (legacy UA) mileage plus account with about 30K miles in it, which expired last year.
I quickly paid to reinstate them (charge is in process on CC, though miles did not show up back on account yet - btw, does anyone know how long it takes?) and plan to merge that account with my primary MP account once miles are posted.
Then it occurred to me that I was an active MP member (and held a United credit card) during the lifetime of the other account. Should that have been sufficient to reinstate the miles (without having to pay $100)?
I've just discovered a dormant UA (legacy UA) mileage plus account with about 30K miles in it, which expired last year.
I quickly paid to reinstate them (charge is in process on CC, though miles did not show up back on account yet - btw, does anyone know how long it takes?) and plan to merge that account with my primary MP account once miles are posted.
Then it occurred to me that I was an active MP member (and held a United credit card) during the lifetime of the other account. Should that have been sufficient to reinstate the miles (without having to pay $100)?
I probably would have tried MPSC first for a freebie but too late for that now.
Jan 4, 2015, 3:22 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,852
What's the Current Best Way to extend my Sons Account (he is 17) once read to buy some music somewhere through UA (like 1 song) but IIRC you need to be 18.. Any other thoughts. Just read the 500 mile donation (that may work) Thanks in advance and Safe Travels..
Jan 4, 2015, 3:26 pm
#6
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Potomac Falls, VA
Programs: AA Plat 2MM, MR Gold, Avis Pref
Posts: 41,109
As I understand this, I have 18 months to do this from the time they expired correct?
Since they expired four months ago, I'm in no hurry to pay up and extend until either 1. I need the miles or 2. the 18 month window approaches in order to give myself the most bang for the buck relating to extending the life of the miles.. is there a down side to this?
finally, does the gift card transfer still exist as an option to extend accounts? - never mind, I just saw where it works
Jan 4, 2015, 3:33 pm
#7
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.997MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,867
....Since they expired four months ago, I'm in no hurry to pay up and extend until either 1. I need the miles or 2. the 18 month window approaches in order to give myself the most bang for the buck relating to extending the life of the miles.. is there a down side to this? ...
Jan 4, 2015, 3:40 pm
#8
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,607
Fwiw I found the restaurant.com credit to be the easiest way to preserve UA miles. 500 miles that I would be happy to throw away and I get a $25 credit on restaurant.com. I may or may not ever use it but if I do it's not bad value and if I don't it's a cheap way to keep the miles active.
Jan 4, 2015, 3:54 pm
#9
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,852
digitalmediastore.mileageplus.com
First link on Spend Miles was broken use the second..
I used this one:
http://digitalmediastore.mileageplus...ate=2014-01-07
Thanks and Safe Travel..
Jan 9, 2015, 3:38 pm
#10
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 101
Lose Miles in April --- What to do?
I will be losing about 20k miles in April unless I have some activity and I'm not sure what to do. I obviously haven't flown United in a while and don't have any immediate plans but I hate to lose them. I'm thinking about applying for the chase card just to keep the account active but 30k is not very attractive. Any other thoughts?
Jan 9, 2015, 3:47 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: SFO/CDG
Posts: 320
I will be losing about 20k miles in April unless I have some activity and I'm not sure what to do. I obviously haven't flown United in a while and don't have any immediate plans but I hate to lose them. I'm thinking about applying for the chase card just to keep the account active but 30k is not very attractive. Any other thoughts?
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jan 9, 2015 at 4:23 pm Reason: cleanup after move
Jan 9, 2015, 3:50 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,893
There's a lot easier way to get miles to keep everything active then applying for a CC, especially if you don't actively want miles to use immediately. There used to be a thread somewhere with the cheapest or easiest ways to get them, for example. Even earning or using 1 mile will keep all of those 20,000 active for another 18 months. a few ideas:
- Log into the MP shopping portal and buy something: if you want cheap, a $1.29 iTunes song will earn you a mile or two (can't remember exactly); if you want something you are buying anyway, there are tons of stores in there and surely one you use for stuff you need - for example, if you have an HP printer, the HP store earns miles for cartridges, GroupOn is in there if you buy vouchers, etc. from them, and drugstore.com has stuff everyone uses, etc. You can look up stores by name/category, so see where you normally shop and see if those places are there
- Donate some miles to an org in need that MP partners with, or have a family member transfer a minimum amount of miles to you (or vice-versa)
- You can use miles for a newspaper/mag subscription - perhaps not the best value of miles, but it will work
- Sign up for MP Dining, add your CC, and look up restuarants near you that participate - if you dine out even semi-frequently in even a mid-size city, there's bound to be a couple that participate that you go to at least once in a while.
- Log into the MP shopping portal and buy something: if you want cheap, a $1.29 iTunes song will earn you a mile or two (can't remember exactly); if you want something you are buying anyway, there are tons of stores in there and surely one you use for stuff you need - for example, if you have an HP printer, the HP store earns miles for cartridges, GroupOn is in there if you buy vouchers, etc. from them, and drugstore.com has stuff everyone uses, etc. You can look up stores by name/category, so see where you normally shop and see if those places are there
- Donate some miles to an org in need that MP partners with, or have a family member transfer a minimum amount of miles to you (or vice-versa)
- You can use miles for a newspaper/mag subscription - perhaps not the best value of miles, but it will work
- Sign up for MP Dining, add your CC, and look up restuarants near you that participate - if you dine out even semi-frequently in even a mid-size city, there's bound to be a couple that participate that you go to at least once in a while.
Jan 9, 2015, 4:19 pm
#13
Formerly known as UATexasFlyer
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: AUS
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Plat, Natl. Car Exec Elite, UA 1MM, *G
Posts: 451
Easy way is to buy a song on the mileage plus digital media store. http://digitalmediastore.mileageplus.com/
Jan 13, 2015, 4:39 pm
#14
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 137
Any way to stop miles from expiring?
I had some significant life altering problems occur in 2010,as a result I have not traveled in 4 years. I have 75,000 UA miles that are expiring on 3/2015. Given all the new rules etc. is there any way to stall that expiration? Can I pay a fee to extend or buy some sort of an advanced ticket? Please advise.
P.S. much appreciate any response, I just am no longer up on the rules/strategies/tricks anymore.
P.S. much appreciate any response, I just am no longer up on the rules/strategies/tricks anymore.