(EXPIRED) United cardholder award sale: Fly to Europe round trip for 50k miles in economy

United has launched an award sale for cardholders that’s giving the opportunity to book round trip flights to select European destinations for 50,000 miles in economy. That’s far from a stellar deal compared to pricing available through some other programs, but if you have a large stash of United MileagePlus miles, it could make sense if you don’t mind not traveling in a premium cabin across the Atlantic.

The Deal

• Book round trip flights to the following European cities from 50,000 United MileagePlus miles as a United cardholder:
  • Amsterdam
  • Brussels
  • Frankfurt
  • London
  • Paris
• Direct link to offer.

Key Terms

• Primary Cardmembers must login using MileagePlus number to book award. No limit to the number of award tickets booked. The promotion applies to new award bookings and not to award tickets already booked.
• Promotion valid for travel between the mainland U.S. and Amsterdam (AMS), Brussels (BRU), Paris (CDG), Frankfurt (FRA) or London (LHR).
• Tickets: Tickets must be purchased by September 10, 2024.
• Travel Period: Travel must be completed between September 15, 2024 and December 12, 2024.
• Blackout dates: None
• Advance purchase: None
• Minimum stay: None
• Maximum stay: None
• Award Validity: Awards shown are valid for travel Sunday through Saturday. Awards are valid in the Economy (Coach) cabin on United/United Express carriers. Some flights may be operated by the following airlines, doing business as United Express: Air Wisconsin, CommuteAir, GoJet Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Republic Airways, or SkyWest Airlines; or may be operated pursuant to a codeshare agreement, such as Silver Airways.

Quick Thoughts

The lowest pricing I found on flights from Newark to London on the dates I searched was 34,600 miles, so cardholders getting access to a large amount of award availability for 25,000 miles in that direction – provided they’re booking round trip – is obviously an improvement. However, it’s not necessarily such a great discount in the other direction because I found some availability from London to Newark for only 25,200 miles.

It’s also not a great deal when compared to some other programs. For example, Flying Blue Promo Rewards this month have a number of US cities from which you can fly to Europe from only 15,000 miles each way and those don’t have to be booked round trip.

Still, if you have a large stash of MileagePlus miles and repeatedly strike out on good ways to redeem them, this award sale has the potential to make sense. Just be sure to also check the cash rates because round trip economy flights to Europe can often be fairly cheap. Also ensure you’re comparing like-for-like; this award sale is booking you into regular economy class with United which gets you a free checked bag to and from Europe, whereas cheap cash tickets to Europe will likely have you in basic economy where you’d have to pay ~$100 each way for a checked bag.

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