Wringing value from United miles | Ep228 | 11-11-23

United Mileage Plus is an extremely popular program, but how can you get the best value out of the miles? This week, we talk about using flexible awards to your advantage, cheap intra-European awards, the Excursionist Perk, and a lot more. 00:00 Intro 01:20 Giant Mailbag #1: Can we get a Delta-free podcast? 02:35 Giant Mailbag #2 03:48 What crazy thing . . . did Delta do this week? https://frequentmiler.com/deltas-window-seat-shop-of-horrors/ 06:46 Card Talk: United Quest card https://frequentmiler.com/uaq/ 11:33 Mattress Running the Numbers: Citi transfer bonus to Accor Live Limitless https://frequentmiler.com/50-transfer-bonus-from-citi-to-accor-live-limitless-get-1-6-cents-per-point/ 17:34 Award Talk 18:00 Bilt adds Marriott as a transfer partner https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-bonvoy-added-as-bilt-rewards-transfer-partner/ 19:40 Marriott's secret award chart https://frequentmiler.com/marriotts-secret-award-chart/ 23:03 Marriott Choice Benefit changes https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-say-quiet-part-out-loud-with-new-upgrade-award-enhancements/ https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-choice-benefits-now-give-1000-off-mattress-bed-rather-than-40/ 29:24 Book JetBlue with Qatar Avios https://frequentmiler.com/book-jetblue-including-mint-with-qatar-avios/ https://frequentmiler.com/uh-oh-did-qatar-create-a-new-jetblue-award-chart/ 35:56 Main Event: Wringing value from United Miles 37:00 First up: the bad stuff 40:20 Higher award prices, but not bad value 41:40 Best uses of United miles 41:46 Dynamic pricing can work in your favor 44:35 Free changes and cancellations 48:55 Cheap intra-Europe flights (from 6K miles) 50:04 Sao Paulo to/from South Africa for 50K miles in business class 50:40 Fly across the length of Africa for less than 25K in economy or 50K in business class 52:15 United Excursionist Perk https://frequentmiler.com/maximizing-and-understanding-united-excursionist-perks/ https://frequentmiler.com/saving-thousands-of-miles-with-united-excursionist-perk/ https://frequentmiler.com/united-excursionist-perk-maps-visualize-regions-to-optimize-awards/ https://frequentmiler.com/leveraging-the-united-excursionist-perk-to-save-miles/ 57:42 Question of the Week: Will a bank extend the minimum spending requirement period? Music credit: Annie Yoder