jsloan

If it's a connection, yes. However, the "Perk" (yes, it's a stupid name. ) allows you more flexibility than that. With my example, you could book EWR-LHR, stay for a few days, then go to FRA, stay a few days more, and then return to EWR. (There are other, more creative things you can do as well, but this is one of the simplest). It is intended as a replacement for the stopover that United previously allowed on award flights.

If your intent is a simple round-trip, with or without connecting flights, you can safely split it into two awards as you've described. But if you're looking to spend time in a second destination, the Perk is useful -- but it requires a round-trip award.

nosecohn

Got it. Thanks.

Brendan

Try to find somebody with enough Mypoints points to put 4000 UA miles into your account.

polychro

Have you considered mileage plusX? I accumulate redeemable miles much faster than flying. Example: recent $355 Legal seafoods bill (large family) gave me 355x5 plus 25% + 355 = 2574 miles (25% bonus if mileage plus branded credit card used). Miles are credited instantly. Compare with a recent flight EWR-GVA, 3850 miles on a cheap ticket gave me 1890 miles, and that is for platinum elite.

jsloan

MileagePlus X is great, but it's not going to be cheaper than buying miles outright. It may be a better value, if you use it for things that you were going to buy anyway, but if you're purely looking at the costs of acquiring the miles, it's not competitive with Award Accelerator.

sinus

Any hint for fast 800 miles which I need for redemption? Already signed up to OpinionMiles so it's not an option. Considered eMiles but the transfer can take some weeks and I want to book in a few days.

henrus

I'm 367 miles short for a reward flight and looking for ideas.

As an Australian with no domestic Star Alliance flights I rarely fly *A or a least not enough to earn huge amounts of points. The last 12 months has seen me earn 14,633 miles which I'd like to put to good use with a 15,000-mile redemption from Japan to Taiwan (possibly stopping in Korea or Okinawa for 20 hours on the same ticket - a paid cash ticket would be $1000 if I did this).

Problem is I'm 367 miles short and would need to acquire some more miles. Here's my problem...

- The smallest amount United will sell me is 2,000 miles for US$70 (given taxes are an extra $30 and low cost carrier direct flights are only $110 it seems a bit excessive to do this)
- I can't earn any miles from dining/shopping/fuel as I don't have a US account
- None of the Australian credit cards I've got have United as a transfer partner
- They expire mid next year (and I've got no points earning *A travel planned between now and then so want to use them)

I'm trying to find a solution that doesn't cost more than what a direct ticket would and am struggling.

The best I've come up with to date is to purchase 3000 Marriott points for $37.5 then transfer them into 1100 United points but surely there has to be a better way to get 367 miles into the account.

nutsbr

I would signup to MyPoints (1)(2) with a random US zip code. They will not activate your account but then you can e-mail them saying you are traveling*. I haven't tried but you can also use the Opinions Miles Club as well (3).

Mileage Plus Shopping works even if your account isn't based in US. But since it most likely involves delivering a physical good in US, that might not work for you. The MileagePlusX, where you can get a lot of online services (such as Uber gift cards and so on), as you said only works if you are physically located in US (the app uses your geolocalization) regardless of your account.

Hotels: you can also try to book a hotel at United (4) if you have any trip soon before the one Japan/Taiwan. They usually credit the points fairly quick after the checkout date. You can also use Booking.com (5) or RocketMiles (6) too. Note that points will be credit after checkout in all these cases, so this is the case if you have any upcoming trip soon where you make the points then redeem for your Japan/Taiwan trip.

I would even consider signing up to The Economist for a Digital subscription for £12 for 3 months (7) which would give you 1k points. Read the fine print to see if it would work for you, I never tried as it is not valid for current subscribers (which is my case).

(1) https://www.mypoints.com/landingPage?cmp=1261
(2) https://www.mypoints.com/landingPage?cmp=911
(3) https://www.opinionmilesclub.com/gen...09.87.115.194&
(4) https://hotels.united.com/
(5) https://shopping.mileageplus.com/me____.htm?gmid=4791
(6) https://www.rocketmiles.com/united-3k-bonus/
(7) https://shopping.mileageplus.com/me____.htm?gmid=1926

* This is actually what happened to me – it looks like they were looking my IP address, my account is non-US as I live in Europe but I got the points. My girlfriend did the same but over VPN with a UA US account, and their support said VPN might get the activation delayed as they don't support that. They activated the account manually. Very strange but it worked out for both of us.

nutsbr

All your UA points will renew for another 18 months if you have any activity on your account. Since you said they expire only mid next year (about 18 months from now), you don't need to rush in generating these new points as you would win more time to plan your Japan/Taiwan trip if you, for instance, sign up for MyPoints later this year. Obviously, there is no guarantee UA won't change their award chart and the leg you now need 15k points might require more points in the future.

sol95

henrus

nutsbr thanks, I knew others would have better solutions. I'm now only 251 miles short as I've just gone through all flights in the past year and realised a domestic Air NZ flight was missing. The Economist claims to be only $1 per week and miles credited after 60 days so should cost less $12 assuming everything goes to plan.

I've got specific dates in mind as there is a specific time I need to be in Taiwan so I thought I might as well add on a few extra destinations (Qantas points from Tapei to Osaka, then burn the United points to get back to Taiwan).

United also allows layovers up to 24 hours so I figure why not spend 24 hours in a new city (well I've been to Seoul before but Okinawa or Sapporo would be new) - would be nice if you could force long layovers on the United site.

sol95 thanks for the suggestion, I'd thought about card points but it seems like a lot of effort for what is now just 251 miles (about $4 if The Point Guys valuations are correct).

IADFlyer123

henrus

I can't even download the app - Not available in Australia

BThumme

Grab a one day hertz rental car (if you have UA status) or 2 day if you dont and use the United discount and promo code.

nutsbr

It only works if you are physically in US. I tried to buy things when in Europe and the payments got declined. I got in touch with the support and this is the response I got:

"In case you didn’t already know, the MileagePlus X app can only process purchases when the user is physically located in the 50 United States (or District of Columbia).
If you were physically in the 50 United States (or District of Columbia) when you tried making your purchase, please let me know so we can research this issue further. If you reply, please include your MileagePlus account number. This will help with our research."