Until May 4, Buy United Miles With Up to 50% Discount (1.88 CPP)

Until Monday, May 4, you can buy United MileagePlus miles with up to 50% discount. United runs a “Buy Miles” promotion every few months, with the best offer consistently a 50% discount or a 100% bonus. The 50% bonus applies when you buy 50,000 miles, which results in a purchase price of 1.88 cents per point USD.

United MileagePlus does limit all members to a maximum purchase of 200,000 miles per year and further segmented to 50,000 miles per any rolling 90-day period. Therefore, the 50% discount that kicks in at 50,000 miles is for exactly 50,000 miles and you can’t purchase more — purchasing less brings the discount below 50%.

This promotion is targeted, and appears to not be widely available. My account is offering up to 80% bonus, while other accounts are offerin

Buy United MileagePlus Miles with a 50% discount

Promotion Link to United miles purchase

• Buy 5,000–49,000 miles, and get a 30% discount
• Buy 50,000 miles and get a 50% discount

With a 50% discount, members can buy United miles for 1.88 cents per point USD, including taxes. The purchase price is not bad, but the real limitation is that you can only buy 50,000 miles, which isn’t enough for a lie-flat business class flight over an ocean. Of course, you can purchase again in 90 days time, but there’s no guarantee you’ll be targeted again for the maximum 50% discount or 100% bonus.

Even with a 100% bonus, the 50,000-mile maximum applies, so you can purchase a total of 25,000 miles, then receive 25,000 bonus miles, and you can’t end up with more than 50,000 miles from a single Buy Miles promo.

Therefore, this makes the most sense if you are just about 50,000 miles short of a redemption and can use a top-up. As usual, I don’t recommend speculatively buying miles, so make sure you have a use case in mind. 50,000 miles is enough for just about two one-way transcontinental trips in business class and would cost $940.63 USD if purchased outright.

For redemption on other Star Alliance partners, I’d recommend purchasing Aeroplan points instead, as the purchase price is lower, and the award chart is more favourable.

Which Credit Card to Use?

United miles purchase transactions are processed by Points.com and will not code as a travel purchase, so it is best to use a card that offers the highest return on standard daily transactions. Purchases with Canadian cards will be subject to sales tax and may further erode the value of 1.88 USD CPP. However, purchases with U.S.-based cards with a U.S. billing address are not subject to sales tax, which makes them the best option for United miles purchases.

With Canadian credit cards, make sure to use one that does not charge foreign transaction fees such as the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite.

If you only need a top-up of United miles aka less than 50,000 miles and are not in a hurry, a cheaper way to earn miles would be to sign up for the new Neo United Mastercard to earn 25,000 miles as a sign-up bonus for a $89 CAD annual fee. You can also sign up for the card and supplement with buying United miles to get a total of 75,000 miles, which is enough for a proper international business class experience.

The credit card is also essential to get access to additional United saver award space as well as a 10% redemption discount (15% if combined with United elite status), so I wouldn’t even bother buying miles unless you have a co-branded credit card to open up extra award space.

Takeaway

Compared to “Buy Points” promos from other frequent flyer programs, United’s offering is one of the most restrictive, offering the best bonus/discount only at one specific price point: 50,000 miles. If you need United miles, check your account to see whether you’ve been targeted for the optimal 50% discount or 100% bonus.

Only buy with a specific use case in mind, and consider signing up for the Neo United Mastercard instead if you only need 25,000 miles or so. Alternatively, combine the 25,000-mile sign-up bonus with a 50,000-mile purchase to get 75,000 United miles. This is the optimal play for Canadians, and having the United co-branded credit card is crucial to unlock United Polaris saver award space.

If you’re planning to use United miles for general Star Alliance redemptions, I’d recommend buying Aeroplan points instead.

Additional Terms and Conditions of the Promotion

• Promotional offer valid between 8:00 a.m. CT on April 6, 2026, and 11:59 p.m. CT on May 4, 2026.
• Promotional offer not applicable to past transactions.
• MileagePlus members may Buy, Gift, or Multiply a maximum of 50,000 miles within any consecutive 90-day period. This limit is calculated on a rolling basis; eligibility to purchase additional miles resets only after 90 days have elapsed from the date of the applicable transaction(s).
  1. Bonus miles count toward the 50,000-mile rolling 90-day limit per account.
  2. You may purchase up to 50,000 miles per account per 90-day period.
• Members may Buy, Gift, or Multiply up to 200,000 miles per account per calendar year.
• Bonus miles count toward the 200,000-mile annual limit per account.
• Miles will generally be credited to the recipient’s MileagePlus account when the transaction is complete; provided that certain transactions may take up to 72 hours.
• Bonuses will be calculated on a per transaction basis only.
• The bonus amount applicable to a transaction is shown in the chart.
• Transactions may not be aggregated to calculate the bonus.
• The credit card used in the transaction will be billed immediately upon purchase.
• Mileage rates and other fees and offer terms are subject to change.
• Miles purchased are nonrefundable.
• Purchased miles do not count toward MileagePlus Premier® status.
• See here for all Terms and Conditions applicable to this transaction, which include United’s Privacy Policy and the MileagePlus Program Rules.
• GST/HST is charged to Canadian residents. QST is charged to Quebec residents.
• If you use Powered by Points to purchase United MileagePlus miles. Transactions will appear as ‘Points United Miles’.
• Buying miles counts as a United® purchase when made with your United MileagePlus card. You’ll get the miles you buy, plus miles for every $1 spent.
• Pricing is only available for purchases made through buymiles.mileageplus.com.