{"id":143606,"date":"2025-01-12T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-12T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/?p=143606"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:07:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:07:50","slug":"gift-card-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/airlines\/united-mileageplus\/gift-card-exchange\/","title":{"rendered":"United\u2019s Gift Card Exchange: Convert Unwanted Gift Cards Into Miles \u2014 But Is It Worth It?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Update: It appears the United MileagePlus gift card exchange has been discontinued.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you've got a gift card you'll never use, there's no sense in letting it collect dust. You can turn your gift card into a sum of United miles through the MileagePlus gift card exchange. This quick and easy process can help you turn something you don't want or need into your next award flight.<\/p>\n<p>Here's everything you need to know about the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/united-mileageplus\/\" rel=\"noopener\">United MileagePlus<\/a> gift card exchange \u2014 and why it might be worth a pass unless you (really) have no use for a gift card.<\/p>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_light_blue no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Page Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Turn_Your_Unused_Gift_Cards_Into_United_Miles\">Turn Your Unused Gift Cards Into United Miles<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#Gift_card_to_United_miles_conversion_rate\">Gift card to United miles conversion rate<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Terms_and_conditions\">Terms and conditions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#Step-By-Step_Exchange_a_Gift_Card_for_United_Miles\">Step-By-Step: Exchange a Gift Card for United Miles<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Final_Thoughts\">Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n<h2><span id=\"Turn_Your_Unused_Gift_Cards_Into_United_Miles\">Turn Your Unused Gift Cards Into United Miles<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/giftcardexchange.mileageplus.com\" rel=\"noopener\">United MileagePlus gift card exchange<\/a> offers conversions for gift cards to what seems like most retailers. However, the catch is that gift cards must have a minimum value of $15, the conversion rate is pretty terrible, and the miles you earn are subject to a federal excise tax.<\/p>\n<p>Even if the terms aren't in your favor, you'll get something tangible (United miles) for something that may provide no value to you. For some, that's better than keeping an unwanted gift card in the junk drawer.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_143607\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-aspectratio=\"750\/260\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-143607 lazyload\" style=\"font-size: 16px;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.10.57\u202fPM-300x104.jpg\" alt=\"United MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange landing page\" width=\"750\" height=\"260\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.10.57\u202fPM-300x104.jpg 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.10.57\u202fPM.jpg 762w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><center><em>Credit: United<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n<h3><span id=\"Gift_card_to_United_miles_conversion_rate\">Gift card to United miles conversion rate<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>But just how many miles will you get through the MileagePlus gift card exchange? United advertises that you'll walk away with a minimum of 670 miles for a $25 gift card, 1,330 miles for a $50 gift card, and 2,660 miles for a $100 gift card. For added context, here are a few additional data points we're currently seeing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Exchange a $15 gift card to Nordstrom for 400 United miles.<\/li>\n<li>Exchange a $40 gift card to Nike for 1,070 United miles.<\/li>\n<li>Exchange a $75 gift card to Patagonia for 2,000 United miles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see, the payouts aren't anything to write home about. On most swaps, you're effectively redeeming the gift card to buy United miles for 3.75 cents apiece.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/united-mileageplus\/partner-award-chart\/\" rel=\"noopener\">The Unofficial MileagePlus Award Chart for United and Partner Airline Flights<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Terms_and_conditions\">Terms and conditions<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Only U.S. residents with MileagePlus accounts at least 90 days old may participate.<\/li>\n<li>You can enter your gift card info and review the amount of United miles offered before submitting it for exchange.<\/li>\n<li>The amount of award miles offered varies and includes a 7.5% federal excise tax.<\/li>\n<li>No mailing of gift cards is necessary; the exchange takes place electronically.<\/li>\n<li>You'll receive the entire value of the gift card in MileagePlus miles.<\/li>\n<li>Gift cards must have at least a $15 value and might have a maximum value cap.<\/li>\n<li>Miles may take five business days to post.<\/li>\n<li>There's no limit to the amount of gift cards you exchange.<\/li>\n<li>All exchanges are final.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span id=\"Step-By-Step_Exchange_a_Gift_Card_for_United_Miles\">Step-By-Step: Exchange a Gift Card for United Miles<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you're ready to swap your gift card for some United MileagePlus miles, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/giftcardexchange.mileageplus.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">head to this website<\/a> and choose &#8220;Get started.&#8221; If you're not logged in to your United account, you'll be prompted to do so here.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_143615\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-aspectratio=\"900\/227\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-143615 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.34.39\u202fPM-300x76.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot showing how to start a United MileagePlus gift card exchange\" width=\"900\" height=\"227\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.34.39\u202fPM-300x76.jpg 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.34.39\u202fPM.jpg 744w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><center><em>Credit: United<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n<p>You'll enter a merchant, quantity, and card balance on the next screen. If you've got multiple gift cards to exchange, click &#8220;Add additional card&#8221; and follow the same steps.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_143617\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-aspectratio=\"900\/389\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-143617 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.44.50\u202fPM-300x130.jpg\" alt=\"Trade gift card retailer and amount entry for United MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange\" width=\"900\" height=\"389\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.44.50\u202fPM-300x130.jpg 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.44.50\u202fPM-1024x443.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.44.50\u202fPM-768x332.jpg 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.44.50\u202fPM.jpg 1194w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><center><em>Credit: United<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n<p>Once you populate the fields and choose quantities, click &#8220;Get Mileage offer&#8221; to see how much United will pay you in miles for your gift card:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_143621\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-aspectratio=\"900\/180\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-143621 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.48.50\u202fPM-300x60.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot showing three gift card entries in United MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange\" width=\"900\" height=\"180\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.48.50\u202fPM-300x60.jpg 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.48.50\u202fPM-1024x204.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.48.50\u202fPM-768x153.jpg 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.48.50\u202fPM.jpg 1223w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><center><em>Credit: United<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n<p>Next, enter your gift card numbers and pins, then hit &#8220;Continue to next step.&#8221; Then, click &#8220;Continue to next step&#8221; again to complete the process:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_143625\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-aspectratio=\"900\/90\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-143625 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.54.39\u202fPM-300x30.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot showing the process of entering a gift card number and PIN into the United Mileage Plus gift card exchange\" width=\"900\" height=\"90\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.54.39\u202fPM-300x30.jpg 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.54.39\u202fPM-1024x102.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.54.39\u202fPM-768x76.jpg 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.54.39\u202fPM.jpg 1196w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><center><em>Credit: United<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n<p>Finally, sit back and wait. Your United miles should deposit into your MileagePlus account within five business days.<\/p>\n<p><img data-aspectratio=\"751\/288\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-143626 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.58.50\u202fPM-300x115.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot of United Mileage Plus gift card exchange process of getting an offer, submitted your cards, and getting miles\" width=\"751\" height=\"288\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.58.50\u202fPM-300x115.jpg 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.58.50\u202fPM-1024x394.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.58.50\u202fPM-768x296.jpg 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-28-at-1.58.50\u202fPM.jpg 1213w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 751px) 100vw, 751px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Final_Thoughts\">Final Thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/giftcardexchange.mileageplus.com\" rel=\"noopener\">United MileagePlus gift card exchange<\/a> is a neat idea &#8212; but it doesn't provide great value. This shouldn't be treated as a backdoor way to earn a lot of United miles, as the miles you'll get are certainly worth far less than the gift card you exchanged. But there is something to be said about convenience, and this tool offers just that.<\/p>\n<p>If you need to top off your MileagePlus account to make a redemption, you're better off transferring points in from <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/credit-cards\/chase-ultimate-rewards\/chase-transfer-partners\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Chase Ultimate Rewards<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/credit-cards\/bilt-rewards\/bilt-transfer-partners\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Bilt Rewards<\/a>, or <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/hotels\/marriott-bonvoy\/marriott-transfer-partners\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Marriott Bonvoy<\/a>. Or, depending on the day, you can <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/united-mileageplus\/buy-united-miles\/\" rel=\"noopener\">buy United miles<\/a> with a discount or bonus &#8212; which often provides a much better rate than 3.75 cents per mile.<\/p>\n<p>And if you're not in a time crunch, consider signing up for a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/credit-cards\/united-mileageplus\/united-credit-card-offers\/\" rel=\"noopener\">United credit card<\/a> and earning the welcome bonus to collect several thousand miles in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n<div class=\"qs-card\" data-id=\"4048117\">\n            <div class=\"qs-data\">\n                <div class=\"qs-view\">\n                    <div class=\"qs-cardname\">United\u2120 Explorer Card<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"qs-image\"><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.nextinsure.com\/imaging\/opt\/ff6d0beb-04a7-4cc5-9bf4-50bc3f5e5883.png\" alt=\"United\u2120 Explorer Card\" width=\"150\" \/ class=\"lazyload\"><\/div>\n                    <div class=\"qs-apply\"><a class=\"qs-learn-more\" data-ccid=\"4048117\" href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/credit-cards\/united-mileageplus\/united-explorer-card\/\">Learn More<\/a><\/div>\n                    <div class=\"qs-rates\"><span class=\"qs-terms\"><a data-ccid=\"4048117\" href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/click?id=g3lR0xvjyAU&offerid=1753725.10005119&type=3&u1=ba7c82444e1106b9716359d5fb7f24c2&subid=639396\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rates & Fees<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n                    <div class=\"qs-offer\"><strong>Limited Time Offer<\/strong> Earn up to 80,000 bonus miles after qualifying activities<\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"qs-info\">\n                    <strong class=\"qs-cardname\">United\u2120 Explorer Card<\/strong>\n                    <div class=\"qs-offer\"><strong>Limited Time Offer<\/strong> Earn up to 80,000 bonus miles after qualifying activities<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"qs-fee\"><strong>Annual Fee:<\/strong><b>$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150<\/b><\/div>\n                    <div class=\"qs-tabs\"><a class=\"qs-more\" href=\"#more\">Show more<\/a><a href=\"\" data-tab=\"wwl\">Why We Like It<\/a><a href=\"\" data-tab=\"hl\">Highlights<\/a><a href=\"\" data-tab=\"er\">Earning Rates<\/a><div class=\"qs-tab-wwl\">The United\u2120 Explorer Card is Chase's mid-tier United card, providing an excellent mix of functional benefits and value. Notable perks include a credit of up to $120 every four years for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, or NEXUS fees\u200b\u200b, priority boarding\u200b\u200b, and a free first checked bag for the cardmember and a traveling companion on the same reservation, offering up to $160 in savings\u200b\u200b. Additionally, cardholders receive 25% back on inflight purchases of food, beverages, and Wi-Fi on United-operated flights\u200b\u200b, and two one-time United Club\u2120 passes annually\u200b\u200b.<\/div><div class=\"qs-tab-hl\"><?xml version=\"1.0\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ??>\n<html><body><ul><li>Earn up to 80,000 bonus miles<\/li><li>$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150<\/li><li>NEW! 9x total miles on eligible United flights and 3x miles on all other eligible United&#xAE; purchases.<\/li><li>2x miles on dining and hotel stays when booked with the hotel. 1x mile on all other purchases.<\/li><li>Free first checked bag - a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip. Terms Apply. Plus, priority boarding on United&#xAE; flights.<\/li><li>2 United Club one-time passes per year - over a $100 value<\/li><li>Over $500 in partner credits each year<\/li><li>NEW! Save at least 10% when booking flights with miles. Premier members earn even more.<\/li><li>Member FDIC<\/li><\/ul><\/body><\/html>\n<\/div><div class=\"qs-tab-er\"><ul>\r\n<li>3X miles per $1 spent on purchases from United<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>*<\/li>\r\n<li>2X miles per $1 spent on dining and hotel stays when booked with the hotel<\/li>\r\n<li>1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n*9X total miles per $1 spent on eligible United<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> flights<\/div><\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n            <a class=\"qs-share\" href=\"\/find-a-card\/UnitedExplorer\/\" title=\"copy\"><svg width=\"12\" height=\"16\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 16\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><use href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/awardwallet\/public\/builds\/icon\/icon-sprite.svg?v2026-4-29b66e1921#share-square\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/use><\/svg><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve got a gift card you&#8217;ll never use, there&#8217;s no sense in letting it collect dust. You can turn your gift card into a sum of United miles through the MileagePlus gift card exchange. Here&#8217;s how \u2014 and whether or not it&#8217;s worth doing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":157711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12054],"tags":[12772],"coauthors":[36458],"class_list":["post-143606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips","tag-united-mileageplus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143606"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240706,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143606\/revisions\/240706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143606"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=143606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}