Award travel by combining money payment and miles with United Airlines
Is it possible to get a round-trip ticket using a combination of dollars and miles on United Airlines, in an economical way?
For example, suppose I want to use miles for the outbound leg, but pay for the return leg. Would it be advantageous to do this?
Best Answer
There's 3 options for doing this, although one of them is "Temporarily Suspended" due to the United/Continental merger.
For the past few years United has offered a "Miles and Money" option when booking a redemption flight. This allowed you to partially pay for a flight with miles, and partially pay for it with "money". There still had to be award availability for the flight(s) you are after, and generally the amount of the money you had to pay made it only a good idea if you didn't have sufficient miles to pay for the entire trip. This option is currently temporarily suspended due to the United/Continental merger, and they have not stated when it will return.
Option 2 is to buy miles. This costs $35 per 1,000 miles plus a 7.5% excise tax, so it's really only a good option if you are only a few thousand miles short of what you need to purchase an award.
The final option is to buy 2 one-way tickets - one with miles and one with cash. United has allowed one-way mileage bookings for a few years, and there's no real disadvantage to booking one-way over return other the the fact you are not able to have a stop-over on one-way redemption booking where you sometimes are for a return. This option doesn't normally work out to be cost effective for International trips, as one-way international can cost the same as or more than a return, but for domestic travel it's a great option - especially if redemption seats are only available on one leg of your trip.
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Can I pay with miles and money on United?
United Airlines has now rolled out a Money + Miles ticketing option on a widespread basis, allowing members to redeem part miles and part cash towards the cost of a ticket. This can be done on most domestic United flights.How do I book a flight with miles and cash on United?
If your information is the same on both profiles, you can combine the Miles in your individual AIR MILES Cash and Dream Accounts under one profile \u2013 at no additional cost \u2013 by speaking with a Customer Care Ambassador during business hours at 1-888-247-6453.Can you combine air miles and cash?
To make a \u201cMoney + Miles\u201d redemption, you need to search for a United flight either on the carrier's website or mobile app. Be sure not to use the \u201cbook with miles\u201d search feature. On the payment screen, you'll see a new \u201cMoney + Miles\u201d payment method.How to Book United Award Flights: 10xTravel Tutorial
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