2023-07-29 15:28:04
United MileagePlus used to be something like the jack of all trades among frequent flyer programs: status was easy to fly and the miles were among the most valuable in the Star Alliance. Unfortunately, the status qualification has now become much more difficult and since this year award flights have cost up to 100% more than before.
However, there are still a few good ways to redeem existing award miles. Many of these can be achieved by using the Excursionist Perk further optimize. In short: If you book two award flights, you can add another flight somewhere else in the world, which then only costs 0 miles plus taxes. This can be used, for example, to realize a stopover, but much more is possible.
You can save up to 60% award miles compared to booking multiple flights on separate tickets. In this article we will show you how it works, what pitfalls there are to be aware of – and why the trick is not for everyone.
Business Class across Africa for 0 miles + 110€? Sounds good – but there are a few obstacles
conditions
The big catch at this sweet spot is the timing of the flights. You must fly flight #1 first, then the free flight anywhere else in the world, and then flight #3. For simple examples (see example 1 below) work.
But if you want to use the Excursionist Perk to the maximum, you have to get creative. It makes sense, for example, to book several tickets crosswise: With 2 tickets, each with 3 segments, you could, for example, take a trip to England in September 2023, fly New York → Los Angeles → Boston for free a few months later and then fly in summer Travel to Iceland again in 2024. The tickets for this could look like this:
Ticket 1:
Flight 1: Munich → London Free flight: New York → Los Angeles Flight 3: Frankfurt → Reykjavik
Ticket 2:
Flight 1: London → Munich Free flight: Los Angeles → Boston Flight 3: Reykjavik → Frankfurt
Now to fine print. Your flights must meet the following conditions for it to work:
The start and destination of the multi-stop booking must be in the same region (see world map below) are 3 segments, this means: The start of segment 1 and the destination airport of segment 3 must be in the same region The free flight must be within one of the other regions of the world Changes within the same region are always permitted Travel and booking class of the free flight Flights must not be higher than those of the 1st segment. In addition to the travel class, the booking class is also important. For example, for flights with United there are classes X (economy, regular) and XN (economy, only for status customers). Unfortunately, Class X va is rarely available on longer domestic flights. Only one free flight per booking can be used All airlines can be mixed as desired (including partner airlines such as Hawaiian, which are not part of the Star Alliance)
The whole thing sounds complicated and is not easy to understand. That’s why you think further down in the article 4 examples of how you can use the Excursionist Perk to your advantage.
The world regions of the Excursionist Perk
On the following map you can see the individual regions illustrated for the Excursionist Perk are relevant. For a flight to be “free” it must (as explained above) be in the same region.
United MileagePlus world regions
Important
Please note that there are two errors in the map above, which unfortunately cannot be fixed either:
The state of Hawaii is defined as a separate zone According to the country table, the Canary Islands do not belong to Europe but to the North African region
examples
So far, everything reads super theoretical and complex? Can we understand Therefore, the following four examples show what is possible with the Excursionist Perk:
Example 1: Small round trip with 2 destinations
Let’s start with a fairly simple example, as all United MileagePlus provides. We use miles to book a trip to the USA. Instead of just visiting New York, we combine the whole thing with a return flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt.
The normal price for it:
Departure: Frankfurt – New York for 22,600 miles + €121
return flight: San Francisco – Frankfurt for 39,900 miles + €5
In the example above, you would still have to get from New York to San Francisco. You could book a second mileage ticket for this, but there is a much better way. Because with a multi-stop flight, the Excursionist Perk can be used.
This means that the New York – San Francisco segment will only cost 0 miles + €4.99. Normally 12,000 miles (+ €4.99 taxes) would be due:
The entire multi-city trip then costs 62,600 miles plus €130.99. The price consists of:
Departure: Frankfurt – New York for 22,600 miles + €121
free flight: New York – San Francisco for 0 (instead of 12,000) miles + €4.99
return flight: San Francisco – Frankfurt for 40,000 miles + €4.99
So that you can understand the whole thing better, here are three screenshots:
Screenshots of the connection(s)
Departure Frankfurt – New York:
Return flight San Francisco – Frankfurt:
Total price with Excursionist Perk:
Our example booking in the USA. The free segment is highlighted in yellow
Example 2: Free flight on the other side of the world
When booking the Excursionist Perk, it depends solely on the regions. So not only a round trip entitles you to book the free flight. Any two segments in Europe are enough.
In the following example we combine two one-way flights within Europe with a domestic flight in the USA. But it is important: The free flight must take place between flight 1 and flight 3, ie you have to keep to the order.
The following example can then be used for 14,250 miles plus €40.26 of taxes & fees are booked:
Flight 1: Tallinn – Frankfurt for 8,800 miles + €11
Free flight: New York – San Diego for 0 miles (instead of 13,400) + €5
Flight 3: Milan – Munich for 5,450 miles + €25
Here is a screenshot of the booking:
Example 3: Max out zones
Some zones on the world map above are significantly larger than the others. We can take advantage of this when selecting free flights and, for example, fly across Europe “for free” (plus taxes) – with the following example:
Flight 1: Tokyo – Osaka for 5,500 miles + €5
Free flight: Spitsbergen – Oslo – Munich – Tbilisi for 0 (instead of 16,000) miles + €45
Flight 3: Tokyo – Sapporo for 5,000 miles + €5
The total price is exact here 10,500 miles + €53.68.
The interesting thing about this combination: the flight from Spitsbergen to Tbilisi alone costs more than the total price above when booked individually. So you save more than 5,000 miles with the above multi-stop booking and also get two Japanese domestic flights. Only the almost 10€ in additional taxes within Japan are added.
Info
It is not possible to simply let flights 1 and 3 lapse in this example. If you do not board the flight within Japan, the rest of the ticket will also be forfeited.
Only the third flight (from Tokyo to Sapporo) could possibly be allowed to lapse. However, we also advise against it, since United use it frequently Hidden-City-Ticketing already blocked accounts.
The free flight (marked in yellow) is significantly longer here than the other segments
Below are other examples of particularly long flights within a zone that you can use as a free flight:
Within Europe: Reykjavik – Oslo – Copenhagen – Larnaca (€38 taxes) Madeira – Stockholm – Oslo – Helsinki (€35 taxes) Within the US: Anchorage – Denver – Boston (€5 taxes, horrible availability) In Africa #2: Addis Ababa – Cape Town (€30 taxes) Dakar – Addis Ababa – Johannesburg – Mauritius (€126 taxes) In Oceania: Marshall Islands – Guam – Palau (€101 taxes, incl. United Island Hopper)
Example 4: Mixed travel classes
All of the examples listed so far have been in Economy Class. Business class flights are also possible. It is enough for a free flight in Business Class if only the first, previous segment is also in Business Class.
We use this in the following example to fly the long route Dakar – Addis Ababa – Johannesburg in business class. All Ethiopian flights are operated in lie-flat business class on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner:
Flight 1: Lufthansa Business Class Reykjavik – Frankfurt for 27,500 miles + €28
Free flight: Ethiopian Business Class Dakar – Addis Ababa – Johannesburg for 0 (instead of 33,000 miles) + €110
Flight 3: Swiss Economy Zurich – Berlin for 5,450 miles + €37
Overall, this booking would 32,950 miles and €175 costs. You will spend a total of 15 hours in Ethiopian Business Class. And on the rather long flight to Iceland, Lufthansa Business Class is halfway worth it.
Two European flights in business / economy class and the segment through Africa
The cheapest miles flights – from 5,500 miles per segment
As you can see, for segments 1 + 3 it can make sense to find connections that are as cheap as possible. Here are a few examples of this in Economy Class:
Japanese domestic flights with ANA from 5,500 miles + €5 Las Vegas – Los Angeles with United from 5,600 miles + €6 Istanbul – Izmir with Turkish Airlines from 6,000 miles + €4 New York – Boston with United from 6,000 miles + €5 Milan – Frankfurt with Lufthansa from 6,000 miles + €26 Malmö – Stockholm with SAS from 6,000 miles + €18 Munich – Paris with Lufthansa from 6,000 miles + €46 New York – Fort Lauderdale with United from 6,400 miles + €6
In Business Class, on the other hand, the prices almost always start at 27,500 miles plus taxes, regardless of whether Frankfurt – Iceland, Oslo – Bergen or Kuala Lumpur – Singapore.
Rebook award flights free of charge
Since 2022, all award flights can be rebooked and canceled free of charge with MileagePlus. Rebookings are possible individually for each segment (within the same region) and even if the ticket has already been flown to. This does not change the price for the other segments.
It is therefore also possible to only book a “placeholder flight” at first, which you then later change to your desired connection. Of course, there must then be availability for award flights on the desired date.
Free rebooking (in this case a Japanese domestic flight)
Beware of the German passenger tax
If we turn example 2 from above and book the following flights, a curious situation arises:
Flight 1: Frankfurt – Tallinn
free flight: New York – Los Angeles
Flight 3: Milan – Munich
In this case, United charges a hefty €58.06 as an air traffic tax, i.e. as much as for a long-haul route from Germany:
Whether or not that’s really correct for multi-stop bookings like this, I don’t know. In any case, it is advisable if the first segment does not start from Germany.
Conclusion
Ever since United massively devalued award miles, it’s been hard to find good ways to redeem them. The Excursionist Perk is currently the best way to do this – especially since it can be combined with other sweet spots (such as cheap Lufthansa flights in Europe).
However, it is only an option if you travel to (at least) two continents at least three times a year. In addition, you should already know where (to) you are going in the next few months. It’s not that easy if you’re still waiting for the right flight deal.
Cover photo: Danny Mc (Photomontage Travel-Dealz)
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