United is running one of its bigger sales on MileagePlus miles, and it ends Saturday. Through 11:59 p.m. Central on October 31, 2026, members can buy miles with a bonus of up to 100%, which drops the price to about 1.88 cents per mile at the top tier. The offers are targeted, though, so what you see after logging in may be lower.
The details (as of October 2026)
- Deadline: October 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT.
- Best version reported: no bonus on 2,000 to 4,000 miles, a 75% bonus on 5,000 to 19,000 miles, and a 100% bonus on 20,000 to 25,000 miles.
- Other versions: some members are seeing a 95%, 90% or 80% top bonus instead. At those tiers the price works out to roughly 1.93, 1.98 or 2.09 cents per mile.
- Normal price: about 3.76 cents per mile including the 7.5% federal excise tax, so the sale roughly halves it.
- Limits: 50,000 miles per rolling 90 days and 200,000 miles per calendar year, both counted after bonuses. That’s why the 100% tier stops at 25,000 purchased miles.
- Fine print: purchases go through Points.com, so your card won’t code them as airfare. Purchased miles don’t count toward Premier status and can take up to 72 hours to post.
Who should consider it
Buying miles makes sense in one situation: you’ve already found the award seat you want and you’re short. Say a saver business class seat on a Star Alliance partner shows up and you’re 40,000 miles short. If you got the 100% offer, buying 20,000 miles would land you 40,000 for about $752. If the cash fare for that same seat runs a few thousand dollars, that’s an easy call.
Where it falls apart is buying “just in case.” United prices most of its own awards dynamically, and the program changes often. Miles sitting in your account don’t earn anything, and there’s no guarantee the seat you’re dreaming about will cost what it does today.
Before you buy, check two things. First, log in and see which bonus you actually got, since the math changes a lot between 80% and 100%. Second, look at whether you can transfer points instead. Chase Ultimate Rewards points move to United at 1:1, and if you’ve got a stash of those, topping off from Chase costs you nothing out of pocket.
Would rather earn United miles than buy them? Chase Sapphire points transfer to United MileagePlus at 1:1. If you’re thinking about a Sapphire card, you can apply through our Chase referral link.
Disclosure: This is our personal Chase referral link. If you’re approved through it, we may earn a referral bonus, at no extra cost to you. You can always apply directly on Chase’s website. See our Advertising & Referral Disclosure.
Our take
This is a good sale for topping off, and a bad idea for stockpiling. At 1.88 cents, you’re paying about as little as United’s sales usually go, but that’s still real money for a currency United can reprice whenever it wants.
We’d buy if you have a specific award in mind, the seat is available right now, and the miles you’re buying are worth clearly more than 1.9 cents each on that booking. We’d skip it if you’re only hoping to use the miles someday, if your targeted bonus is on the low end, or if you can cover the gap with transferable points you already have. And with the sale ending October 31, don’t let a deadline talk you into a purchase you hadn’t planned.
Source: One Mile at a Time and Upgraded Points coverage of the offer; check your own targeted bonus on United’s buy miles page after logging in to MileagePlus.
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