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United Airlines just launched a new flash award sale — but only for those who've got a MileagePlus credit card. If you've got miles sitting around, you can snag international flights from the U.S. to 19 destinations starting at 9,000 miles per way through April 9, 2025.
Here are all the details on United's newest flash award sale.
Overview of the United Airlines Flash Sale
United's cardmember-only flash award sale means there will be discounted award flights on offer through April 9, 2025. You can travel to places like Mexico, Ecuador, and more for a reasonable amount of miles. Here's a snapshot of the places you can travel to, plus the starting at rates:
| Destination | Starting At Price |
|---|---|
| Monterrey, Mexico (MTY) | 9,000 miles one-way |
| Aguascalientes, Mexico (AGU) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Guadalajara, Mexico (GDL) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| León, Mexico (BJX) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Mazatlán, Mexico (PBC) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Mérida, Mexico (MID) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Mexico City, Mexico (MEX) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Morelia, Mexico (MLM) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Oaxaca, Mexico (OAX) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Querétaro, Mexico (QRO) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| San Luis Potosí, Mexico (SLP) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Tampico, Mexico (TAM) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Veracruz, Mexico (VER) | 11,000 miles one-way |
| Georgetown, Guyana (GEO) | 18,000 miles one-way |
| Medellín, Colombia (MDE) | 18,000 miles one-way |
| Panama City, Panama (PTY) | 18,000 miles one-way |
| Quito, Ecuador (UIO) | 18,000 miles one-way |
| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (GIG) | 30,000 miles one-way |
| São Paulo, Brazil (GRU) | 30,000 miles one-way |
At first glance, award availability is pretty good. That's usually the case with economy-only award sales, and the same is true here.
Watch out for discounted itineraries that require an extra stop or an extended layover. But the good news is that we aren't seeing many of those — at least this early into the sale.
Key terms of the United flash award sale
This award sale is extremely straightforward. You can book one-way or round-trip tickets with MileagePlus miles — at a discount — provided you act by April 9 and complete your travels by September 30, 2025. Blackout dates apply to select destinations between July 1 and July 31.
The only catch here is that this sale is uniquely for those with a United Airlines credit card. If you don't have one of these cards in your wallet, you won't see these discounted rates or the expanded saver award availability that's a perk of having a co-branded card.
How To Earn United MileagePlus Miles
United's flash award sale won't be here for very long. That means you'll likely be out of luck if you don't currently have a United credit card and MileagePlus miles in your account (or credit card points that you can quickly convert to United miles). As a refresher, here are all the currencies that transfer to United:
If you're a few miles shy of a redemption, you could consider buying United miles outright. However, this is only a practical solution if you need a small amount of miles. That's because the cost of purchasing MileagePlus miles can likely eclipse the cash cost of an economy flight itself if you need a considerable amount of them.
Long term, it may be worth applying for a United credit card and collecting a sign-up bonus. This can help you fund future redemptions and/or prepare you for the next award sale.
- Limited-Time Offer: Earn 60,000 bonus miles
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150
- 2x miles on United® purchases, dining, and hotel stays when booked with the hotel
- Enjoy priority boarding privileges and visit the United Club℠ with 2 one-time passes each year for your anniversary
- Free first checked bag - a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip. Terms Apply.
- Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS fee credit
- Earn a $100 United travel credit after spending $10,000 on purchases with your United℠ Explorer Card within a calendar year
- Over $400 in partner credits each year
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 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
Bottom Line
It's not exactly a secret that United has increased award prices over the past few years. Award inflation has been pretty constant since United scrapped its award chart in 2019. Flash award sales like this offer MileagePlus members to book travel at what resembles award rates of old — give or take a bit on the margins.
If this sale piques your interest, you'll need to act soon. The last day you can take advantage of these discounted rates is April 9, 2025.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The New United℠ Explorer Card (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.
I can’t believe I missed this! I was JUST thinking about booking a flight to Rome!
Too good to be truth. Sure there are some tricks.
This is cool to see some reward flight deals for United since they seemed to have devalued their points over the last couple years, requiring more and more points for decent flights. Hope their business class award availability is good.
Yes, I’ve found opportunites from Buenos Aires to DC for about 40k. Its amazing
I was frustrated yesterday because when I searched for flights from Ogdensburg, NY to IAD, the matrix said “4k” for the flights. But after clicking through to the “pay” page the price ramped up to 12,500 points. So I wasn’t able to take advantage of this offer.
I did get several emails about this but I do not need any trips right now. I know they are trying to boost but now I wouldn’t think they need too much. I thought I heard that searches are up for travel.
This is great! Does this also apply to COPA Airlines flights?
Amazing!
Whilst I’m sure some people will be able to make use of this, it looks a little underwhelming when compared to the AAdvantage 40th promotion.
I don’t like the limited dates on this flash sale. They know it’s too early still to travel for a lot of people. They should allow longer travel dates.
I suspect that their goal is to entice people to start traveling again. People will resume travel on their own eventually, so this is a sale to speed that up, only works if it’s for travel sooner than people are quite ready for.
The routes are listed in only 1 direction, but in case it wasn’t clear, both directions work. You don’t have to start in the city listed first, you can do your roundtrip in either direction. Every flight obviously isn’t available at the 4k rate, but in my quick search there were some good times, not only 6am flights!
What is United’s cancelation/redeposit of miles if I cannot go?
Great question! There’s no fee if you change or cancel 31+ days in advance. The fee within 30 days is $125 per passenger for general members. That fee is reduced for elite members.
Thank you for asking/answering this. That was going to be my question.
Do you know what the fee is for elite members?
Premier Silver: $100
Premier Gold: $75
Premier Platinum: $50
Premier 1K: $0
Can you combine this with United’s excursionist perk?
Potentially! We didn’t have the chance to check as we wanted to publish this ASAP!
Any offerings in Business?
Not that I’ve seen. Just standard premium cabin rates.
I usually don’t advocate for using miles for short-haul flights that only cost a couple of hundred dollars but if only using 4K miles, it would be worth it.
i booked a july 4th trip PDX-AMS (via IAH and ORD) for 40k. we’ll see if that actually happens! i put a reminder 32 days out to reevaluate before the free cxl period ends.
Nice!