How To Book United Flight With Miles?
Lesson One: How to Book United Airlines Flights using the United Airlines Mileage Program In our experience, there is no better way to get free or significantly subsidized flights than through the United MileagePlus miles. United has a frequent flyer program that enables its members to utilize their available points to book award flights on United-operated flights as well as on its Star Alliance partners. This permits flying internationally and domestically at a significantly lower cost than direct cash fares. If you plan your strategies well, you can get lots of utility and travel around the world for a few cents with the help of United miles.
In this article, I will explain how to use MileagePlus miles to book your award flight on United. I will teach you how to look for award flights, what it means when it comes to award rates, and how to go about booking an award flight.
So, How Many Miles Does It Take to Fly United? United has a dynamic award chart used to determine the number of MileagePlus points required for a flight.
The number of miles needed for an award ticket depends on a few factors:
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Region or specific city: Domestic flights, such as within the continental United States or Canada, require fewer award miles than international flights.
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Cabin class: "WWWhile non-restricted economy awards are priced in zones, business and first class awards cost significantly higher miles than economy seats
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Wide Body Aircraft: This may sometimes take a higher price than the narrow body aircraft.
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Seasonality: "Peak travel time can bring about a higher mile cost, and in contrast, low prices are provided in low traveling times.
On average, one can find domestic US/Canada economy flights for about 12,500 miles each way, but some flights cost as low as 5,000 miles one way. International economy awards usually begin at 30,000 miles each way, while businessman first awards can range anywhere from 70,000 – 100,000+ miles per person.
How to check the United Award Space. Before getting to the process of booking an award trip, the first thing to do is to check the availability of the award seats on the United flights of the desired route.
United makes this easy to do through their website and app:
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Go to the website of the flight search engine that offers regular flights and input the desired routing.
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In case of books, look for this option labeled “Book with miles†before the search.
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The search will now eliminate any flights that do not have available MileagePlus award space
When you are able to find flights with seats available in the award, make sure to jot down the flight numbers and dates. We will cover the aspect of making the award reservation in the subsequent section. But before I provide some main strategies for searching for award availability, remember that .
United is a member of Star Alliance, so award availability is usually wide open when booking United awards through United MileagePlus.
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Here are some key strategies for unlocking more award seats when searching for United flights using miles:
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Be as open as possible to route and date flexibility. This is especially important when searching for multi-leg awards, where it is much easier when you aren't restricted to only flying to/from one airport and are willing to travel a few days before/after your desired dates.
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Looking for an award segment-by-segment for more convoluted routes Rather than searching for an award on a multi-city itinerary in one go, try to look at each flight segment separately so that the chances of finding an award increase.
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Hold out for last minute for domestic economy. "UUnited tends to release more coach award seats a couple of weeks in advance as the flights are likely to be empty
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Be flexible on which day you fly for international flights. Using the 11-month search sensitivity level for premium cabins & peak travel times
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Be flexible with your arrival and departure times. Many times there are flights to the same destination that arrive or depart late at night or early in the morning that are significantly cheaper than the more standard flights during the daytime.
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Utilize partners to expand choices. "Remember that you can often book United award bookings on the airline's other Star Alliance partner airlines, such as Lufthansa, ANA, and Air Canada
To book United awards with Miles, you must: And that is the method to not only find award availability for your wanted flights, but in addition to make a precise award reservation.
There's a few different ways to ticket flights with United miles:
Online through United's website/app:
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After identifying the potential award travel and getting list of flights that have available seats, choose the specific flights for the trip and proceed to make the booking.
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Go to the payment page on the booking area and select the “Book with miles†option of the MileagePlus account.
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Check all the entered passenger details and, if necessary, input the additional information needed.
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The taxes and fees also have to be paid by using cash on a credit/debit card to finalize the reservation.
Over the phone:
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The main line to reach the MileagePlus reservations is by dialing 1-800-UNITED-1.
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Give your selected flight numbers/dates to the agent that proved the existence of award space
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Provide them with your account number and other information to use your MileagePlus.
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To pay taxes or fees that are mandatory in some country or state on a credit card
Through a United agent at the airport:Through a United agent at the airport:
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Go to the counter of any United airline or the customer service center of your preferred airport
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Flying on award flights: simply instruct the agent to look for award availability on particular dates and they can make the reservation right away if the seats are available.
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To use the miles, you will need to have your United MileagePlus account number.
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They introduced taxes and fees to be paid before receiving a ticket for exceeding the speed limit.
Regardless of which way you choose, to ensure success, try to book the award tickets as soon as you find the flights you want. As with most airlines, it is possible to find award seats but they can be rather hard to come by, particularly when the dates of travel are close. Finally, ensure that the confirmation of the reservation has been ticketed and includes the miles you used in the process.
Full flights are not an issue when it comes to waitlists, though this matter is not fully independent from overbooking circumstances. It is also important not to make a hasty decision when the desired flights are not displaying any award availability for the selected date. United has tools to get on a waitlist for sold-out flights or get notified if space opens up:United has tools to get on a waitlist for sold-out flights or get notified if space opens up:
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In cases where no award flights are available, agents can enroll you on the waiting list in order to inform you whether there are award seats available due to the cancellation of other flights.
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Segment by Segment Search: "By selecting Expert Mode, you'll be able to put most of the different parts of a multi-city award on a waitlist all at once.
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Notify me of award. "BBe notified by email if there is availability where none was earlier on flights you are interested in.
With waitlists and alerts, you can be able to redeem an award at any one-time because of last-minute openings on United.
Maximizing United Miles Awards Here are some final tips for maximizing value when redeeming United MileagePlus miles:Here are some final tips for maximizing value when redeeming United MileagePlus miles:
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Target premium cabin international flights: "YYou can often get more than 10 cents worth of value per mile booking top-end long-haul award seats
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Connect with partners such as ANA, Singapore Airlines, and Lufthansa to fly to luxurious cabins.
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Discover opportunities such as Hawaii, Australia, and Singapore in round-trip economy 80k-90k
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Book one-way awards when mixing higher and lower award levels to reduce the price of miles
United Award Space As It Is Important to Be Flexible and Patient If it were possible to be successful with United awards using only miles, it would be easy to book United awards with ease, but it requires a lot of patience and flexibility while using the tips and tricks to improve your chances. Even though it consumes a little more effort as compared to utilizing cash, scoring discounted or free flights with MileagePlus miles is definitely one of the most favorable redemptions available to everyday travelers.
- Need cheap flights? Call (833) 902-2087 to find the perfect fare for your travel.