United MileagePlus was once a great frequent flyer program offered by United Airlines. This airline is also part of the Star Alliance, the world’s largest Airline Alliance, with numerous airline partners. This program has multiple use cases. If you are not interested in purchasing these miles, you can always transfer Axis & HDFC bank points to United. Marriott is the option for Amex cardholders. As with the preferred partnerships, you receive 10,000 bonus miles on a transfer of 60,000 Marriott points, effectively creating a 2:1 transfer ratio.
Here are all the details about buying United Miles with a Bonus.
Buy United Miles Offer Details [Targeted]
On the Purchase of United Miles by October 18, 2025 [11:59 p.m. CT], you can get up to 95% Bonus Miles. Usually, it costs 3.76 Cents or ₹ 3.34 to buy one United Mile. However, this offer reduces costs to 1.93 Cents or ₹1.71 per mile. You can purchase a maximum of 200,000 miles in a year, and any bonus on purchases is also included in the 200,000-mile limit. However, you can only buy miles if you have not already reached your limit. Since this is a bonus miles promotion, you can buy a maximum of 102K miles.
See your bonus promotion here.
Related: Ongoing Buying Points & Miles Offer
This is a tiered offer, with the highest bonus available when you purchase more than 45,000 miles. Here is the Summary:
Buy From | Buy To | Bonus |
2000 | 4000 | 0% |
5000 | 14000 | 40% |
15000 | 44000 | 65% |
45000 | 102000 | 95% |
You can check your bonus promotion here.
Related: When does it make sense to buy Air Miles?
How much does it cost to buy United Miles?
One United Costs 3.76 Cents or ₹3.34, including 7.5% tax. With this offer, you can reduce your cost per mile to 1.93 Cents or ₹1.71.
One of the best benefits of using United Miles for award tickets is that you pay one of the lowest fuel surcharges in the world.
If you have decided to buy United Miles, then this is how much it will cost:
United Miles Purchased | Bonus | Points Received | Total Cost (USD) | ₹/Mile | Cents/Mile |
4000 | 0% | 4000 | 150.50 | 3.34 | 3.76 |
14000 | 40% | 19600 | 526.75 | 2.38 | 2.69 |
44000 | 65% | 72600 | 1655.50 | 2.02 | 2.28 |
102000 | 95% | 198900 | 3837.75 | 1.71 | 1.93 |
Once you purchase miles, it may take up to 72 hours for them to be credited to your account. Also, any purchase of Miles from United is processed through Points.com. That means the purchase is not marked as an Airline Purchase, so a good forex card must be used.
Bonus or Discount United Miles on Buying
Here is the past Bonus/discount Points offer summary on buying Miles:
Start Date | End Date | Maximum Bonus % Offered | ₹/Mile | Cents Per Mile |
1st Oct’25 | 18th Oct’25 | 95% | 1.71 | 1.93 |
2nd Sep’25 | 23rd Sep’25 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
5th Aug’25 | 24th Aug’25 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
7th Jul’25 | 25th Jul’25 | 95% | 1.71 | 1.93 |
9th Jun’25 | 29th Jun’25 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
12th May’25 | 30th May’25 | 95% | 1.71 | 1.93 |
7th Apr’25 | 13th Apr’25 | 100%/50% Disc | 1.66 | 1.88 |
11th Mar 2025 | 29th Mar 2025 | 100%/50% Disc | 1.66 | 1.88 |
5th Feb 2025 | 28th Feb 2025 | 95% | 1.71 | 1.93 |
7th Jan 2025 | 31st Jan 2025 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
9th Dec 2024 | 31st Dec 2024 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
28th Nov 2024 | 1st Dec 2024 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
6th Nov 2024 | 21st Nov 2024 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
3rd Oct 2024 | 25th Oct 2024 | 95% | 1.71 | 1.93 |
4th Sep 24 | 20th Sep 24 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
7th Aug 24 | 25th Aug 24 | 100% | 1.66 | 1.88 |
Check the latest promotion here.
Bottomline
Buying United Miles can be helpful if you’re short of the required miles. However, opportunities to earn these miles exist in India. So, a top-up of miles could make sense for some. United’s main advantage is the low fuel surcharge. However, I would surely check the Avianca Lifemiles or Aeroplan points offer, as they have a fixed award chart and better miles requirements on some routes.