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United just relaunched its Mile Play promotion, which lets you earn bonus miles by completing personalized tasks. These offers are usually based on your recent flying history with United. So, if you haven’t flown much lately, you might receive a more generous offer as the airline tries to win you back.
Mile Play promotions are targeted. That means you'll need to log in with your United MileagePlus number to see what tasks you've been assigned. Just keep in mind that not everyone will be targeted, and the offers can vary widely. Some are great, some are underwhelming, and some members may not get an offer at all.
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Example United Mile Play Promotions
The goals for Mile Play promotions vary by United MileagePlus account. Typically, you'll see something like “Book and take a trip X time(s) to earn XX bonus miles.” Each offer is tailored based on your recent travel history with United. And you can check yours by clicking here.
However, this United Mile Play promotion is a bit different from recent offers. Instead of incentivizing MileagePlus members to take flights, United seems to only be offering bonus miles for non-flight activities.
For example, AwardWallet Editor-In-Chief JT Genter and Senior News Editor Tyler Glatt can earn up to 24,600 bonus miles for getting a United credit card plus linking their MileagePlus and Lyft accounts:
- 10,000 bonus miles for becoming a United Chase cardmember
- 2,300 bonus miles for linking United and Lyft accounts
- 12,300 bonus miles for completing both tasks
Linking United and Lyft accounts is easy for 2,300 bonus miles. Then the question is which United credit card to get for an additional 22,300 bonus miles — on top of the bonus the card is offering.
$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150Rates & Fees
- 3X 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
$350Rates & Fees
- 4X miled per $1 spent on United® purchases*
- 5X miles per $1 spent at Renowned Hotels and Resorts
- 2X miles per $1 spent on all other travel
- 2X miles per $1 spent at restaurants
- 2X miles per $1 spent on select streaming services
- 1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
$150Rates & Fees
- 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
Meanwhile, both AwardWallet co-founder Alexi Vereschaga and contributor Ben Nickel-D'Andrea can earn up to 11,400 bonus points by:
- 5,000 bonus miles for becoming a United Chase cardmember
- 700 bonus miles for opting into United promotional text messages
- 5,700 bonus miles for completing both tasks
United Mile Play fine print
The specific terms and conditions are listed at the bottom of each offer. The general terms for this time around are:
- You need to register for the promotion before August 28, 2026.
- All promotion activities must be completed by August 28, 2026.
- Only activities booked after registration (and completed on or before August 28, 2026) are eligible for the promotion.
- Allow six to eight weeks after the end of the promotion for the bonus miles to reach your account.
If you have a Mile Play challenge for flying on United, you'll probably see the following terms:
- Each trip must have a fare (defined below) equal to or greater than a set amount (e.g., $200 per trip).
- Flights must be operated by United to count.
- Certain specialty tickets, including but not limited to unpublished, consolidator/bulk, group, tour, and opaque fares don't qualify.
For Mile Play offers, United defines a “trip” as “a unique travel itinerary documented by United with a confirmation number.” Thus, you can book a trip as two one-way trips to get two qualifying “trips” for the sake of this promotion. Just make sure that you meet the minimum cost to make it a qualifying trip.
Speaking of which, only the base fare and any carrier-imposed surcharges count toward the minimum spending requirement:
For this promotion, only dollars spent on the “fare” on eligible flights operated by United® and United Express® will qualify toward meeting spending milestones… The “fare” is the base fare of the ticket plus carrier-imposed surcharges, excluding any government-imposed taxes and surcharges. For tickets purchased in a currency other than U.S. dollars, we will convert the purchase to U.S. dollars using an industry standard exchange rate.
Related: Best strategies for earning United Premier Qualifying Points by flying
United Mile Play restrictions
Although the offer seems widely available, not all MileagePlus accounts will be targeted for the United Mile Play promotion. The exclusion criteria are not entirely clear. However, restrictions may be due to your United account's geographical location, mileage balance, or even the age of the account.
Other Ways of Earning United Miles
United Mile Play promotion is a great way to earn bonus United miles. However, United offers several other ways to rack up miles. Chase offers a full lineup of United credit cards that can turn your everyday purchases into miles. Here's an overview of three current card offers:
$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150Rates & Fees
- 3X 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
$350Rates & Fees
- 4X miled per $1 spent on United® purchases*
- 5X miles per $1 spent at Renowned Hotels and Resorts
- 2X miles per $1 spent on all other travel
- 2X miles per $1 spent at restaurants
- 2X miles per $1 spent on select streaming services
- 1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
$150Rates & Fees
- 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
If you are just a few miles short of a specific redemption and don't hold a United cobranded credit card, you still have options for transferring points into your United account:
Finally, you can buy United miles, although you'll almost always want to wait until there's a discount or bonus to do so.
Our Take
If you are a United MileagePlus member, it only takes seconds to register and check your offer for this round of Mile Play. And there's no downside to registering. Even if you don't plan on flying United in the next several weeks, your travel plans may change. It's worth registering to give yourself the option later.
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), and United℠ Business Card (Rates & Fees)
