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United is running a promotion called Pick Your Path which is offering the opportunity to earn bonus Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) or double miles on transactions in the MileagePlus X app.
The Deal
- United’s Pick Your Path promotion is allowing MileagePlus members to choose one of the following three bonuses:
- Welcome-back bonus
- Premier Silver members – Earn 525 bonus Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for the first PQP-eligible United or United Express trip you take during the promotional period, plus 175 bonus PQP for each of the next two trips you take – that’s a maximum total of up to 875 bonus PQP.
- Premier Gold members – Earn 1,050 bonus Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for the first PQP-eligible United or United Express trip you take during the promotional period, plus 350 bonus PQP for each of the next two trips you take – that’s a maximum total of up to 1,750 bonus PQP.
- Premier Platinum members – Earn 1,500 bonus Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for the first PQP-eligible United or United Express trip you take during the promotional period, plus 500 bonus PQP for each of the next two trips you take – that’s a maximum total of up to 2,500 bonus PQP.
- Premier 1K members – Earn 2,250 bonus Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for the first PQP-eligible United or United Express trip you take during the promotional period, plus 750 bonus PQP for each of the next two trips you take – that’s a maximum total of up to 3,750 bonus PQP.
- Easy PQP
- Premier Silver members – Get a deposit of 350 Premier Qualifying Points added to your account.
- Premier Gold members – Get a deposit of 700 Premier Qualifying Points added to your account.
- Premier Platinum members – Get a deposit of 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points added to your account.
- Premier 1K members – Get a deposit of 1,500 Premier Qualifying Points added to your account.
- 2x miles with MileagePlus X – U.S. members only. Earn 2x miles on all transactions (up to 10,000 miles total) made with the United MileagePlus X app during the promotional period.
- Welcome-back bonus
- Direct link to MileagePlus X (MPX) app.
Key Terms
- Registration required by May 13, 2021.
- Welcome-back bonus & 2x miles with MileagePlus X expire July 27, 2021.
- Once you confirm your selection, it can’t be changed.
Quick Thoughts
This offer is only available to those who already have status with United, with the first two Pick Your Path options having different PQP offers depending on your existing status level.
If you’re chasing elite status with United and know you’ll be flying with them by July 27, selecting the Welcome-back Bonus makes the most sense. If you’re hoping to earn status with United but aren’t sure you’ll be flying in the next 2.5 months, selecting the Easy PQP option could be your best option seeing as those are guaranteed PQP without any flight requirement.
There are some people who’ll do best by selecting the 2x miles with MileagePlus X option though, such as myself. I’m eligible for United’s Pick Your Path promotion because I have Premier Silver status courtesy of having Marriott Titanium status. There’s no way that I’d even earn Premier Silver status with United organically, let alone Premier Gold, Premier Platinum or Premier 1K. It therefore made zero sense for me to pick bonus PQP of some variety as they’d go to waste, so I selected 2x miles in the MileagePlus X app. It’s unlikely I’ll be earning many miles through MPX in the next 2.5 months, but there’s a greater chance that I’ll get some kind of value from that selection than with the first two options.
Although you have until July 27 to earn PQP with the first option or 2x miles with the third option, note that you have to have made your selection by May 13.
If you have status with United, open the MPX app and you should see a banner at the top of the app for this promotion, so tap on ‘Show Offers’ to Pick Your Path.
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I picked the 2,250 Welcome-Back Bonus as a 1k member. I have a trip on Monday, so it’s a no brainer for me. Even if I don’t get the 2nd and 3rd bonuses, it’s still a win.
With the extra PQPs, I can book trips with less $$$ and finally use some of those PlusPoints on economy tickets that always seem to go to waste… and still make 1k.
Are these on top of what you would earn for each trip?
Yes
For the Welcome Back Bonus, a “trip” is just defined as a unique itinerary. So in theory, I should be able to book, say, SFO-LAX, LAX-LAS, LAS-SFO as three separate reservations and just be done with it in one day of flying, right?
Looking through the more extensive terms, it certainly looks like your plan would be eligible.
Yep.. Says nothing about a round trip…
I honestly think they are NOT going to be strict about this promotion… They are trying to get their elites back and get more butts in seats and more planes in the air.
I’m in a similar situation. I’m Gold for life on United and won’t ever fly enough with them to earn Platinum. I chose the MPX option but I’ve never used the app and probably won’t.
Gold status is ok with United. I get to pick an economy plus seat at booking. I’m almost never upgraded and frequently sit next to Plats and 1Ks who aren’t upgraded either.