United Airlines Extends Mileage Purchase Bonus to September

United Airlines has extended a promotion allowing MileagePlus members to purchase miles with a bonus of up to 95%. This offer is valid until September 30, 2026.

The airline's monthly purchase promotions typically max out at a 100% bonus or a 50% discount. However, United has now implemented stricter limits on how many miles members can acquire. Members can buy a maximum of 50,000 miles, including any bonus miles, within any consecutive 90-day period. The annual purchase cap remains at 200,000 miles per calendar year. This represents a significant reduction from the previous limit of 200,000 miles per transaction.

Purchase Methods and Pricing

Miles can be bought through the Buy Miles, Gift Miles, or Multiply Miles options on United's website. All purchases count toward the annual 200,000-mile limit. With the current 95% bonus promotion, the effective cost per mile is 1.93 US cents.

Evaluating the Value of Purchased Miles

The report suggests buying United miles "is likely yes if you use them for international business or first-class tickets between expensive city pairs." It cautions that members should always check the specific mileage requirement for an award flight and compare it to the cash price of a ticket, as United's award pricing has undergone several recent changes.

The author of the source material expressed skepticism about the new 90-day cap, stating, "I don’t think United’s new cap of 50K miles you can buy within any 90 days makes much sense, given how devalued they have become." They noted that while the miles can still be valuable for some United-operated awards, they "rarely work mileage requirement-wise on Star Alliance partners, except some short-haul awards in economy."

Key Terms and Conditions

The promotional offer runs from 8:00 a.m. CT on September 8, 2026, to 11:59 p.m. CT on September 30, 2026. Bonus miles are counted toward the 50,000-mile rolling limit, and bonuses are calculated on a per-transaction basis. Purchased miles are non-refundable and do not count toward earning MileagePlus Premier status.

Canadian residents are charged GST/HST, with Quebec residents also subject to QST. Purchases made through the official buymiles.mileageplus.com website count as a United purchase when using a United MileagePlus credit card, earning additional miles on the spend. The transactions will appear as "Points United Miles" if a service called Powered by Points is used.