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If you’re looking for an easy way to boost your United MileagePlus balance each month with minimal effort, a United Miles by the Month subscription could be the answer. Like other mileage subscription services, you simply choose a tier, subscribe, and watch your mileage balance grow.
While subscribing can be a convenient way to effectively buy United miles at a discount, you might wonder whether it’s actually a good use of your money. Here’s what you should know about Miles by the Month and how it stacks up against other methods of earning United miles.
How United’s Miles by the Month Subscription Program Works
Just like you can subscribe to meal kit delivery, TV streaming, or just about anything else these days, you can also subscribe to receive United MileagePlus miles in your account every month. With Miles by the Month, you can choose from three subscription tiers:
- 3,000 miles per month.
- 5,000 miles per month.
- 8,000 miles per month.
These packages start at $94.50 per month plus tax, but higher-priced tiers offer a better per-mile rate. Here’s a quick look at your options:
- Option 1: 3,000 miles per month for $94.50 plus tax
- Option 2: 5,000 miles per month for $140 plus tax
- Option 3: 8,000 miles per month for $210 plus tax
Each subscription stays active until you cancel it, and every three months you’ll earn a bonus on top of your monthly miles.
If you keep a United Miles by the Month subscription open for 12 months, factoring in a 7.5% tax recovery fee (Canadian taxes vary), here’s what you can get:
- Option 1: 43,200 miles for $1,219 — or 2.82¢ per mile
- Option 2: 72,000 miles for $1,806 — or 2.51¢ per mile
- Option 3: 120,000 miles for $2,709 — or 2.26¢ per mile
If you’re interested in signing up for a United MileagePlus Miles by the Month subscription, click here. You’ll be prompted to log in to your account before selecting the tier that works best for you.
Related: The (Unofficial) MileagePlus Award Chart for United and Partner Airline Flights
United Miles by the Month key terms
The United Miles by the Month program is incredibly straightforward by subscription service standards. However, like any other service, there are still terms and conditions you should pay attention to.
- You’ll be billed each month for the subscription tier you choose (including any applicable discounts and tax recovery fees) until you cancel, or for up to 12 months.
- Packages renew monthly, and you can cancel at any time — but you cannot pause, upgrade, or downgrade, and any purchased miles are nonrefundable.
- If you cancel before completing your 12-month term, you can’t sign up again for 90 days.
- You may only subscribe to one package per MileagePlus account at a time.
- Miles generally post within a few hours but can take up to 48 hours.
- Quarterly bonus miles are credited after every third payment.
- Miles purchased through this subscription do not count toward Premier status or other elite benefits.
- United may change prices or terms at any time, and taxes vary by country and province.
- If your payment fails and you don’t update your card within 30 days, your subscription will be canceled and miles will not be refunded.
- This subscription cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions.
You can find the full terms and conditions at the bottom of the enrollment page.
Is United Miles by the Month Worth Subscribing To?
United’s Miles by the Month subscriptions are certainly interesting, and the effective rate for buying miles is pretty compelling. However, whether you should actually subscribe depends on a few important factors.
- How soon you need United miles to make a redemption. As the name suggests, you get a fixed amount of miles each month. If you need a large number of miles for an immediate redemption, you’re better off buying them outright. But if you regularly need miles to book trips, a subscription could be a convenient way to build your balance — especially if you keep it active for a full year.
- How many miles you need to make a redemption. Before buying miles or subscribing to them, it’s worth pricing out your intended redemption. That way, you know exactly how many miles you need and whether a subscription will help you reach your goal.
- What you’re willing to pay for United miles. There are plenty of ways to earn United miles. To get the best rate with Miles by the Month, you’d need to choose the most expensive tier and stick with it for 12 months. Other potentially cheaper options include buying only the exact number of miles you need or earning a credit card welcome bonus denominated in United miles (or points that transfer to United).
Are there cheaper ways to buy United miles?
The answer is straightforward: yes, there are cheaper ways to buy United miles. Every so often, United sells miles with a bonus or discount. The lowest rate we’ve ever seen is 1.75¢ per mile, though the most common promotional rate over the past year has been around 1.88¢ per mile.
By comparison, the cheapest rate you can get through Miles by the Month is 2.26¢ per mile — and that requires staying subscribed for 12 months and collecting all the bonuses. The difference is night and day.
That said, United miles aren’t always on sale at a discounted rate, and travel can be unpredictable. For example, if you suddenly need 3,000 miles to top of your account to book an award ticket and there’s no promotion running — and you don’t have transferable points — United would sell you 3,000 miles for $105 (at a 3.5¢ base rate) plus taxes and fees, for a total of $112.88. In that case, you’d save over 10% by subscribing for just one month and then canceling.
All things considered, there are situations where a subscription makes sense, others where buying miles outright is better, and still others where paying cash for your ticket might be the best option. Each circumstance is different.
Earn a lot of United miles at once with a credit card sign-up bonus
For some, breaking out the calculator to figure out whether it makes more sense to subscribe or buy miles outright might feel like a chore. In that case, you might prefer to earn a large sign-up bonus from a United credit card instead.
Chase issues several United credit cards, many of which come with big sign-up bonuses after you meet the minimum spending requirement. Here are some of the top offers available right now:
- United℠ Explorer Card (Rates & Fees): Earn 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- United Quest℠ Card (Rates & Fees): Earn 70,000 bonus miles and 1,000 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- United℠ Business Card (Rates & Fees): Earn 75,000 bonus miles and 2,000 PQP after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- 2X miles per $1 spent on purchases from United®
- 2X miles per $1 spent on dining and hotel stays when booked with the hotel
- 1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 5 miles per $1 spent at Renowned Hotels and Resorts
- 3 miles per $1 spent on United® purchases
- 2 miles per $1 spent on all other travel
- 2 miles per $1 spent at restaurants
- 2 miles per $1 spent on select streaming services
- 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 2x on United® purchases
- 2x on local transit and commuting — including train tickets, taxicabs, mass transit, tolls and ride share services
- 2x at gas stations, restaurants and office supply stores
- 1x on all other purchases
In addition, several credit cards earn transferable points that can be converted into United MileagePlus miles. Here are some great offers you might consider:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees): Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees): Earn 125,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card : Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
- 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- 1x points on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
Related: Step-By-Step Instructions How To Transfer Chase Points to United MileagePlus
Bottom Line
With United’s Miles by the Month subscription program, you can buy MileagePlus miles for as little as 2.26¢ each. Whether you should subscribe depends on what you want to do with your miles, how soon you need them, and whether there are cheaper ways to reach your goal. In short, it depends on your specific situation.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that “investing” in United miles for the long term is generally a poor decision. For example, if you plan to keep your United miles subscription active until you have enough miles for a Polaris business class ticket to Europe, which currently starts at 80,000 miles, you run the risk of United devaluing its program while you’re subscribed — and watching the price of that ticket go up. That would be pretty disappointing.
Ultimately, if you redeem the miles you get every month within a reasonable timeframe, the risk isn't so bad. Still, United has devalued its program without notice in the past. So, if you are thinking about subscribing to get United miles every month, it pays to be strategic about how and when you plan to redeem them.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: United℠ Explorer Card (Rates & Fees), United Quest℠ Card (Rates & Fees), United℠ Business Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
too expensive!
What a terrible deal from a truly mediocre mileage program. United’s domestic availability is uneven at best and while United does well to Asia, esp. with partners, it will cost a small fortune to get enough miles to fly in the front of the plane there….hard pass on this offer United
This honestly seems to be a complete rip off. There are so many other ways of earning United miles rather than buying them. All the miles give you is a discounted flight (that doesn’t earn miles or status and with severe limitations on the number of seats available). It would be interesting to see how many people actually do this. I feel sorry for them getting duped like this.
What a terrible deal!
Even at the promotional rate of 50% off, it’s difficult to justify buying United miles unless you have a very specific redemption in mind.
It seems that the subscription program is not an attractive deal.
I am really curious why they started the program in the first place. Are the target customers those who want to purchase miles through installment payments?
If I’m going to pay monthly for miles I’d want a much better discount. If they would offer a better rate they would probably have a lot more people taking advantage of it which may initially not be the best for UA but the benefit may come with quantity of people enrolling, especially with the very if-y travel in the current climate.
I am not sure who would subscribe to buy miles at such rates. If you need miles wait till a promo and buy at much cheaper rates. I am curious to how many people will actually sign up.
It really doesn’t seem like a good deal compared to other methods of accumulating United miles
lol What a joke! I guess some people will do it though.
Interesting, I can see other companys jumping on this idea.
It really wouldn’t make a lot of sense to do this, frankly, you could put the money in a simple credit union savings account and shop around on various travel websites to get an awesome vacation package for those amounts, often times including flights, rooms, tours, cars, etc.
Just a few weeks ago I saw Aer Lingus had packages on their page that were half this amount including a week hotel stay….but many people cannot figure out budgets or plan so maybe it works for them.
I’m not a big fan of buying miles simply because you can’t find any award availability now and the airlines keep going higher and higher for the number of miles needed for redemptions. Sure you can find biz class award seats to Paris…for 240,000 miles per seat!!!
I mean come on, it is getting to be like the Old Man on the Progressive commercials where he’s holding the fishing pole with a dollar on the end of the line…. “You almost had it” comes to mind. The earn/burn idea is great if you can ever actually BURN the miles. I’m afraid that this promotion will just create more people trying for those same 4 award seats. What’s next? Are they going to start auctioning them off too?
I agree that the promotion isn’t really a great use of money. However, I disagree with the idea that it’s super difficult to use miles / carrot on a stick depiction.
Perfect timing I was just about to burn some chase UR throught United….good info
As a United shareholder, I’d love it if lots of people would sign up for this program.
But as a United customer, there’s no way I’m signing up myself.
I don´t think this is a program worth the money
Interesting concept but not worth it, there are better ways to accumulate miles for a lower cost.
Way too expensive. Sign up for credit card or two and save your money just getting the signup bonus!