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Are you a frequent United Airlines traveler looking to boost your MileagePlus miles? If so and you shop online, the United MileagePlus Shopping portal is worth exploring. With just a few extra clicks, you can earn miles on everyday purchases, helping you reach your next reward flight even faster!
Here’s everything you need to know about the United MileagePlus Shopping portal.
Page Contents
What Is a Shopping Portal?
Shopping portals offer a way to increase your rewards or cashback earnings when you shop online. Basically, when you access a retailer's website and make a purchase through a shopping portal, the store gives the portal a commission. The portal shares part of that commission with you as cashback, points, or miles.
The rewards you earn vary depending on the portal and store, ranging from a small bonus, such as one mile per dollar spent, to hundreds or even thousands of miles! Some are a flat bonus amount, and others are based on the amount you spend. These are in addition to the rewards you earn from the credit card for purchases. Over time, the extra miles can really start to add up.
United MileagePlus Shopping Basics
To get started, MileagePlus members should log in on the MileagePlus shopping portal website. You will sign in using your MileagePlus credentials.
Currently, the United shopping portal is offering a 5oo-mile bonus to MileagePlus members who spend $25 in the first two weeks after enrolling. United credit card cardholders can earn an elevated 1,000-mile bonus for the same $25 spending requirement.
Once enrolled, it's time to find an offer you like.
How to find shopping offers
The shopping portal's main page displays special offers, featured merchants, and search options at the top. To browse by category or offer types, use the drop-down menu, titled “Explore Stores and More.” Or, if you want to look for a specific store or product, use the “Find a Store” search bar. There are over 1,100 stores available through the United MileagePlus Shopping portal.
Once you find the store you want to shop at, read all the details, including the exclusions listed on the page. This will avoid any unpleasant surprises later on. Once you click the “Shop Now” button, the portal will navigate to the store's website.
How to make an online purchase through MileagePlus Shopping
The shopping portal uses cookies and trackers through your web browser to determine if you've made a purchase. To get credit for your purchase, you need to follow the link and make sure not to navigate away from the page, close your browser, or wait more than a couple of hours to complete the transaction. You can always go back and relink through the portal if necessary.
A note about browser cookies: shopping portal offers can't be stacked. Clicking on other shopping portal links that pop up, like Rakuten or Capital One Shopping, will void your United MileagePlus Shopping offer. You can only shop through and earn rewards through one portal at a time.
Miles earnings will typically post directly to your MileagePlus account within 3-5 business days. Until your purchase is approved, you may see the transaction as pending.
Use MileagePlus Shopping for in-store purchases
Want to earn United miles while shopping in-store? The MileagePlus Shopping portal has an in-store feature as well. Click the “locate” icon on the top right of the homepage. This will pull up the map of stores nearby that participate.
Simply link any Visa, Mastercard, or American Express credit card and activate the offer. When you make your purchase at the store with the linked credit card, you will earn the extra miles specified in the offer.
Another way that members can earn United MileagePlus miles while shopping in-store is by using the MileagePlus X app. However, this process is slightly more complicated since it requires users to purchase a gift card for the amount of their purchase. That said, it's worth integrating into your mileage-earning strategy if you're serious about collecting a lot of United miles.
How To Activate the MileagePlus Shopping Button
Similar to other available shopping portals, MileagePlus allows you to download a browser extension to make getting extra miles when online shopping even easier. Sometimes, you can even earn bonus miles for downloading the button and making your first purchase.
Members who download the shopping button will be notified with a pop-up when they are shopping at an online merchant that has MileagePlus shopping offers. Simply click the “Activate” button in the pop-up to earn the specified miles.
United MileagePlus Shopping Pro-Tips
Ready to get started earning United miles on your online shopping? Here are few additional tips to keep in mind to ensure your purchases track.
- To get the best rewards, start with a shopping portal aggregator. Sites like CashBackMonitor display the United MileagePlus Shopping portal offer in addition to the earning rates from dozens of other portals, helping you find the best rewards for your purchase.
- Always start with an empty cart. If your cart contains items from a previous visit, you may not qualify for the bonus miles on those products.
- Once you're on the merchant website, don't leave the window before checking out. Remember, if you navigate away from the site, and then back again, you will not earn those extra miles.
- Enable cookies in your web browser for the portal to track your purchase.
- Always read the full terms of each bonus to ensure that the purchase you intend to make will qualify. Some stores only give bonus miles on certain categories of products.
Maximize Your Rewards With MileagePlus Shopping
The MileagePlus shopping portal allows members the opportunity to earn rewards from a second source: When you pay with a rewards credit card, you’ll earn points or miles from your bank on top of the miles earned through the portal. So, which credit card should you use?
- Use one of the best cards for online shopping, such as the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card.
- Earn additional United miles on your purchase with a United credit card, such as The New United℠ Explorer Card or The New United℠ Business Card.
- Swipe a Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and transfer your earnings to United MileagePlus 1:1.
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel℠
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 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
Bottom Line
The United MileagePlus Shopping portal is an easy way to earn miles, whether you shop online or in-store. It only takes a couple of clicks, and what you earn on shopping you do anyway can really add up over time.
In addition to the United MileagePlus Shopping portal, you can also boost your mileage balance by crediting flights to MileagePlus, buying United miles and spending on cobranded United credit cards.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
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