Everyone is hating on United right now, but let’s not boycott ways to easily-earn United miles and instantly prevent them from expiring.
While I am religious about picking up extra miles every time I shop online by checking CashBackMonitor.com to see what portals I can earn the most miles/points at the merchant I’m placing my order from, it’s also nice to earn more on regular in-person transactions, too.
Following a similar concept to how we can earn more miles online, United introduced a new way to earn miles on the go with the introduction of a new app called MileagePlusX a while back.
How MileagePlusX Works
- First, you’ll need to download the MileagePlusX app on your phone.
- Log in using your MileagePlus account information, and the app will sync with your account and all payment cards stored in your united.com profile. If you have a United MileagePlus credit card, you’ll get a 25% bonus on the miles you earn on purchases made through the app.
- You can find participating merchants nearby based on your location.
- When it’s time to make your purchase, simply enter the total price of your purchase and an electronic gift card in that amount will be generated. Show the app (gift card) to the cashier to complete the purchase.
My Experience
While the app is already a few years old and has been widely covered and blogged about, I never really put much thought into using it myself, mostly because I was too lazy to add an extra step into my in-person transactions. Plus, using the app essentially requires you instantly purchase a gift card, which voids any credit card benefits such as purchase and return protection, so I was wary about the extra miles being “worth” fortifying those perks for.
Yesterday I used the app for the very first time in the most risk-free setting I could think of – while I was dining at a restaurant that just happened to be participating.
It was such a simple process to earn an additional 5x on top of the 2x I was already earning by using my Citi Prestige card.
I simply entered the amount of the bill, chose a credit card that I had saved on file with United already, and a gift card was instantly generated.
I handed the gift card to my server and he processed the bill by manually entering the numbers.
Aside from the fact that my miles posted to my account instantly, perhaps the best part of it all was the curiosity my server had surrounding this app.
“What airline are you earning miles from?”, he asked.
“United”, I respond.
He leaves me with this: “Well I guess I better get ready to drag you out of here.”
What are thought about the MileagePlusX app? I can’t believe I didn’t start using it sooner! Feel free to share your experiences too.
In some cases, you can stack these with miles from a shopping portal.
Excellent idea!
I too have been too lazy. Can anyone explain how it would work with a shopping portal?
Basically from what I understand, you can buy the gift card via mileageplusx (say for example sephora), then you can shop online at sephora.com through a portal and pay for the transaction using the gift card generated through mileageplusx
Is the gift card generated instantly? Or will there be an awkward silence with the cashier and I while we stand there and wait for the card to be generated?
That was my concern too, but it truly is generated instantly
Wouldn’t a restaurant with Citi Prestige get 2x not 3x?
Yup! You’re right. Fat finger. Changing now thanks for that observation
Wary
i love mileage plus x … unfortunately it only works if you are physically in the US, not if you’re overseas and want to apply a mileage plus x gift card to an online/portal purchase. still, it’s a great way to get some extra miles. you also get a 25% bonus if one of the credit cards registered in the app is a chase UA card, establishing you as a chase UA card holder — whether you use that card or not.
I won’t use MPX any longer after having a bad experience. I used to use it frequently, but then one time the transaction didn’t go through for some unkown reason. I received an e-mail saying my credit card was charged, but because the transaction didn’t go through, I would receive a credit to my card within 5 business days. Two weeks went by and nothing. It was almost impossible to get any help from the United team. I e-mailed many times, reached out to them via Twitter messaging, etc – nobody was able to get me my money back. My credit card (AMEX) refused to do a chargeback because they said it was an auto gift card purchase. It took nearly two months of contacting them almost daily towards the end before they finally credited my card. Too much of a PITA for me to deal with them any more.
Ah that sounds so frustrating! That would be enough for me too. So sorry that happened to you!
So if you load your ink plus as the payment method on the app, then shop at Staples where my app is showing 5x points through the MPX app, do you get 5x points through the app as well as 5x points for using the ink plus as the payment method? Does the charge to the ink plus show up as staples even though you really bought a gift card from United? Wouldn’t it show up on the ink plus statement as a 1x purchase with United as the merchant?
Is this charged on card as “united” so falls under travel and I would also get 3x with sapphire reserve?
I like this app and use it often. One thing to consider when using it is the prospect of a return. Since you’re technically paying with a gift card, should you return the item purchased you’ll receive a gift card back from the store and not a credit to the underlying credit card used. If you’re ok with that, fine. I’d rather not get store credits. So, I generally limit my use to meals and other things I’m certain I won’t be returning.