Creating Your Dream Trip Using United Miles. Part 3: Harvesting Miles

There are many ways to earn United points but the quickest way, credit cards, is an avenue completely monopolized by Chase. The other quick way to earn points is by flying but who wants to pay for that? However, there are numerous promotions among the various partners of the airline for much smaller bonuses.

In a recent conversation with a staff member of American Express in response to a question about my preference to spend with Chase I said that losing United after the merger changed my allegiance to Chase and the runner up would be my American Airlines card with Citi. His response was “we are working hard to get them back.” Up until recently a few small banks transferred to United as well but Chase made some strong ties that I see lasting for a while but not forever.

Right now the United credit card earns United miles but Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to United (if you have a Sapphire Preferred or Ink Bold card). This gives quite a few good options for earning United miles not only from spending but sign up bonuses (all with Chase) as well.

• Sapphire Preferred, which commonly has a 50,000 point sign up bonus (currently 40k).
• Ink Bold (a business card), has a great bonus of 50,000 points.
• Freedom card which sometimes has a bonus of 25,000 – 35,000.
• United Explorer card is a good card and I posted earlier about the 60,000 point sign up bonus. I really wouldn’t sign up for anything less than 50k.

My wife and I have each racked up more than 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points and got 55,000 United miles all off of signup bonuses. But of course, spending can add up too, especially with the Freedom and the Sapphire.

Here are a few of the bonuses, most of which I’ve picked up along the way.

• 4,000 miles for a Netflix subscription (half for signing up and half if you have the United visa). I cancelled it after a month and never even watched a movie.
• 1,000 miles for dining out.
• shopping mall, do all your spending through the Chase or the United shopping mall.
• Mortgage/fidelity investments.

The last and obvious thing to do to earn United miles, is flying. There is a lot to love about their frequent flyer program (and it seems they are often the most oversold and therefore give the most bumps, traditionally a $400 voucher). So it’s worth paying a little extra to be loyal, especially for long hauls. Also, try to check the promotions page before you book to see if there are any bonuses on your route or a similar routing.

Elite status with United isn’t my envy but I do all my spending with Chase and therefore racking up the United miles is pretty simple. Personally, I see United miles being of the highest value. Star Alliance is the largest alliance, the loose stopover rules add more places and the ease of use make United miles top on my list.