Earn Bonus Airline Miles When You Shop Through the United, Alaska and American Shopping Portals
For those who are still in the shopping mood, United, Alaska and American shopping portals are offering bonus miles when certain spend thresholds are met over the next few days.
United MileagePlus
The United MileagePlus Shopping portal is offering two tiers of bonus MileagePlus miles for its post-holiday bonus promotion.
- Earn 500 bonus miles when you spend $150
- Earn 1,000 bonus miles when you spend $300
The one-time bonus will be based on cumulative qualifying purchases made during the Bonus Period (1/13/20 – 1/21/20). Which means, you can make multiple purchases at multiple retailers on the MileagePlus Shopping portal and all of those purchases added together will determine which bonus miles tier you fall into.
United’s MileagePlus Shopping “in-store offers” qualify as purchases, as well. So, if you are an “in-store offers” user, those spend amounts will count towards bonus tier levels. This is an added perk for those earning MileagePlus miles since no other airline shopping portal has the option of in-store purchases counting toward tier awards.
And, of course, there is language that defines “Qualifying Purchases.” The purchase of gift cards stands out as not being a “Qualifying Purchase.” Another item of which to be aware is that taxes and shipping fees do not count toward the spend thresholds. Click the United MileagePlus Shopping portal link above to read all the fine print.
The United bonus miles promotion ends January 21, so you have just over a week to hit that $300 spending threshold and earn the full 1,000 bonus miles.
Alaska Mileage Plan
The Alaska Mileage Plan Shopping portal is offering two tiers of bonus Mileage Plan miles, too, but its timeframe for earning is substantially shorter based on today’s publication date.
- Earn 500 bonus miles when you spend $150
- Earn 1,000 bonus miles when you spend $300
The one-time bonus will be based on cumulative qualifying purchases made during the Bonus Period (1/6/20 – 1/14/20). Which means, you can make multiple purchases at multiple retailers on the Mileage Plan Shopping portal and all of those purchases added together will determine which bonus miles tier you fall into.
If Alaska Airlines miles are your go-to miles, you have two days to meet the spend requirements. And don’t forget the “Qualifying Purchase” requirements and that taxes and shipping fees do not count toward the spend thresholds.
American AAdvantage
The American AAdvantage eShopping portal is offering 500 bonus miles when you spend $150 and 1,000 bonus miles when you spend $300 between 1/13/20 and 1/21/20 for its post-holiday Bonus promotion.
This one-time bonus will be based on cumulative qualifying purchases made 1/13 – 1/21. So, multiple purchases at multiple retailers on the AAdvantage eShopping portal during this week will count towards your spend threshold.
As with all portal bonuses, be aware that taxes and shipping on your purchases do not count toward the spending threshold level. And, it’s probably a good idea to give the other parts of the fine print a look at the bottom of the Bonus page (link above).
Save While You Earn
Don’t forget you can potentially save on your purchase(s) while earning the bonus airline miles with Chase Offers and Amex Offers.
Check your Chase and/or American Express credit cards for Offers to retailers from which you plan to buy, add those Offers to your credit card and use that card to make your purchase via one of the airline shopping portals.
You’ll earn the bonus miles – when you meet the spending threshold – while saving on your overall purchase amount via a statement credit (depending on the card, you may earn bonus Membership Rewards points in lieu of a dollar saving amount).
Now that’s an added bonus should there be an Offer available for a retailer you plan on using.
