Dan1113

Am looking into maybe booking a one way award travel from Brazil to the UK (and booking the return myself). I have 37k miles, and it seems that for MileagePlus, I need 47.5k for the dates I checked.

My two questions are -
Is 47.5 the lowest it ever is for this route, or might I snatch a deal? I've been checking other dates but that seems the best.
And if it is, any easy ways to earn 10k (being based in the UK)? I am guessing not. :/

rankourabu

you can buy 10k miles for $220 - search the forum for Award Accelerator.

And yes, 47.5k will be the lowest.

Dan1113

Thanks!

WineCountryUA

to answer for yourself in the future see UA MP Award Chart (UA has had the wrong chart, June 2011, posted -- I have send a couple of messages to UA weeks ago about this but has not been correct)

Dan1113

Can someone help me understand these award accelerators? Couldn't quite figure it out - though am I correct that it is only for elite members? I am just a normal member. United seems to want to charge me about 400 for those 11k I need.

aacharya

Whole thread on it. Not just for elites.....

sbm12

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.755 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

There is also the interactive chart which is quite useful: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps/mileageplus/awards/travel/awardTravel.aspx.

WineCountryUA

there area couple of ways to buy miles
1) Purchase Personal Miles -- this is usually the most expensive AND the slowest methods (24-48 hours). Look like that was the one you looked at.

2) Mileage Award Accelerator
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...questions.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...es-2013-a.html

This is a bit more effort and complexity but tends to be cheaper and posts in a few hours or less in most cases. With an itin, UA provides an option to bu more award redeemable miles (RDMs) (and as an add-on option Elite Premier Miles -- PQMs). The miles is offered is roughly based on the mileage the itin would earn but if you purchase this option now, the Accelerator miles post now (not when the trip is taken). If you don;t have a active itin or the offer does not fit you needs, you can book a itin, buy the miles and cancel the itin. (if done right for free -- such as within 24 hours) lots of steps but the price can be between low $200 to $300 for 11K miles. See the above threads for the details.

You don't need to be an elite to do either approach.

Yes it is useful and appears to be correct -- but it is just sloppy to have a the wrong chart posted (and worst, months after notice sent via multiple channels)

Dan1113

Thanks

GregMM

Saver Economy from Southern South America to Europe is 47.5K, but Saver Economy from Northern South America to Europe is only 40K, if you're close enough to one of those countries to fly from there instead.

Northern South America Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Surinam and Venezuela

Southern South America Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay

Dan1113

Booked it today. Found the perfect solution to my missing miles...my mother had 12k about to expire that she was never going to use, so she paid the fee to transfer them to me.