Comedian Jackie Kashian had me as a guest on her podcast The Dork Forest (here). Jackie wanted to go to Paris, so I showed her how she could do that for free!
Before we recorded a few weeks ago, I picked some travel dates at random. As you can see in these screen shots, you can fly from Los Angeles to Paris for 60,000 United MileagePlus miles + $87 in taxes or pay $1,279 for your round trip ticket. I am more inclined to save $1,192!!
So how do you get United MileagePlus miles? It’s all about the signup bonus!
Full disclosure: If you apply for any of these cards by clicking on links on my site (under Chip’s Favorite Credit Card Offer$” at the top right corner of this site), I can get a commission from the card company. It doesn’t cost you anything and the deal is the same for you. It’s just that the bank gives me a referral credit for telling you about it. You don’t have to use my links but I appreciate it if you do! Email me if you have any questions. Back to the story…
United has a personal credit card that will give you 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. You also get at least one mile for every dollar you spend on the card. So if you meet the $2,000 spending requirement, you will get 2,000 miles for doing so, as well as the 40,000 bonus = 42,000 United MileagePlus miles.
Chase has a personal card called Sapphire Preferred. With it, you will earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You can transfer those points instantly to your United MileagePlus account at 1 point = 1 mile. You also get at least a point for each dollar spent. Meeting the $4,000 spending requirement will get you 4,000 points for doing so, as well as the 50,000 bonus = 54,000 points. Those points can be turned into 54,000 United miles.
Chase has a business card that earns Ultimate Rewards points – which, you guessed it, can be turned into United MileagePlus miles. With the Chase Ink Business Preferred card, you will earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Youget at least a point per dollar spent. Meeting the $5,000 spending requirement will get you 5,000 points, as well as the 80,000 bonus = 85,000 bonus points.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to those in the same household. So if you got the Ink Business preferred card and the Sapphire Preferred, and met the spending requirements, you’d have a total of 139,000 points. That is more than enough for two 60,000 mile round trip seats from Los Angeles to Paris!
Jackie and I covered other topics. Give it a listen here.
