How does United Airlines Gift Card work

United Airlines Gift Card

Category : Airlines / Posted on: January 24, 2023 / Author: Admin

United Airlines Gift Card

Have you ever received gift cards for holidays you don't like? There's good news! You can convert those unwonted gift cards into United MileagePlus points through United's MileagePlus GC Exchange. Here's how it works.

Merchants

United states that they accept "over 100" types merchant gift cards on the MileagePlus Website. The bottom of the page has a link to a list listing the merchants that the program will accept. These include Best Buy, Sears and Starbucks.

Note that not all merchants on the list can be exchanged on the website. This includes Southwest Airlines and Home Depot. There are many merchants that can be exchanged, including HP and North Face.

You can even trade your gift card for United miles if your family doesn't know that you are loyal to United. The MileagePlus gift card exchange does not allow you to purchase gift cards from Alaska Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian JetBlue, Southwest Spirit, Spirit, or Sun Country.

Redemption Rate

United provides a chart that lists the minimum award miles, which could lead you to believe that there are other options offering more miles than these rates. However, I did check dozens of merchants to confirm that the mileage offer was the exact same for all.

You can exchange $25, $50, and $100 gift cards, despite the chart. Any gift card that has a minimum of $15 in balance can be exchanged. According to my knowledge, the calculation is the gift card value multiplied by 26.6 and rounded to the nearest 10 miles. This rate assigns a value to United miles at 3.70-3.76 Cents per mile depending on the amount you trade in. Take, for example:

$15 gift cards = 400 United miles (3.75 cents per mile).
$20 gift cards = 540 United miles (3.70 cents per mile).
$25 gift cards = 670 United miles (3.73 cents per mile).
$30 gift cards = 800 United miles (3.75 cents per mile).
$40 gift cards = 1,070 United miles (3.74 cents per mile).
$50 gift cards = 1,330 United miles (3.76 cents per mile).
$100 gift cards = 2,660 United miles (3.76 cents per mile).

This rate is significantly higher than TPG’s valuation at 1.13 cents per United Mile, which means that gift cards are not a great value. If you prefer the miles over the gift card, this may be worth considering.

United seems to be being consistent. If United doesn't have a buy miles promotion you can buy United miles for $35 per 1,000 miles. This rate is 3.76 cents per miles after taxes and fees.

Keep in mind the Limitations

Your MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange account must be open for at least 90 consecutive days before you can sell gift cards. The program's terms and condition state that your account must have a positive balance.

United will provide a quote for $10 gift card, but the terms and conditions stipulate that gift cards must be at least $15 in balance. There may also be a maximum.

You can sell a gift certificate through the MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange and the miles will reach your United account in five business days.

United Airlines offers an innovative way to earn airline miles. This is a similar process to shopping online, except that you don't have to click through to a portal. Instead, you can open the United MileagePlus X App and find the store you wish to purchase from. Then, you can buy an eGift Card for that store from the App. For each purchase of an eGift card, you earn miles. Earnings for each $1 spent in the app's stores range from 0.5 to 5 miles. The eGift card can then be used in-store and online to pay for the purchase.

If I wanted to purchase something from Amazon, for example, I would first buy an Amazon gift certificate, then I would go to Amazon to choose the item I want, and when I go on to pay, instead of entering my credit card details or selecting an existing credit cards file, I would enter the gift card number/s.

The United MileagePlus X App allows you to store multiple credit cards. This makes it easy to purchase eGift cards. Click on the store and click "Pay Now". Next, enter the amount you wish to spend, then click "Pay Now". Once you have entered your United Airlines password, the transaction is completed. The gift card number will be provided to you for payment.

This is why you have a unique opportunity to earn air miles:

This App is unique among airlines as it allows you to earn miles like no other. Although the purchase of gift cards from stores via shopping portals does not qualify for earning air miles, United's app allows you to do just that.

Many of the participating stores in the MileagePlus X App cannot be accessed through a shopping portal. This means that only the MileagePlus X App can be used to earn air miles for spending at those particular stores.

Double dip to earn miles when you shop online. Instead of visiting the store directly, you can first use the shopping portal to pay using the gift certificate you purchased through the United MileagePlus X App. The gift card purchase earns you United miles, and you can also earn miles through the portal of your chosen airline. You can also earn miles if you purchase the gift cards with an airline credit card.!

MileagePlus X app is available online. You can also purchase the gift card in-store at the cash register. Just show the cashier the egift card from your phone, and they will enter the gift card number. This is great for restaurants, which are not possible to shop online.

You can purchase the exact amount you need in eGift cards for most stores on the App. For example, if you spend $67.43 on your purchase, you can get a gift card worth $67.43. Some stores allow you to buy gift cards only in certain amounts, like Amazon, where you can purchase gift cards in a set amount of $25, $50, $100, etc.

You can earn 25% more miles if you have a United MileagePlus Chase card. This bonus is not dependent on using the United MileagePlus Chase card in the app. You can simply have the credit card to get it.

Bottom Line

Although you won't get a great rate by trading in unneeded gift cards, it is nice to be able to redeem these gift cards for something you actually need. You might also consider looking online for a gift card exchange program such as Card cash, which may offer a better rate.

The MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange can only be used if you have United miles to redeem for an upcoming redemption and have tapped your Chase Ultimate Reward points. You might consider selling the gift card if you don't plan to use it soon.