You have a CSP, right?
Download and use the MileagePlus X (“MPX”) app. MPX is United’s gift card app that earns you 0.5x to 5x UA miles for every $1 you spend purchasing a electronic gift card to hundreds of available merchants.
Two things I really love about MPX:
1. For a lot of merchants, you can purchase an electronic gift card in the exact amount you need (down to the penny, subject to certain minimums). So you could be paying at the cashier, settling the check at a restaurant, or checking out your cart online, get the exact total you need, open up MPX, pull up the merchant, type in the amount due, and pay for an e-gift card in the exact amount, and it’s delivered immediately. No unused gift card balances. (Some of the major merchants like Starbucks do sell their e-gift cards in only set denominations.)
2. If you have a Chase Visa card like the CSP, which earns 2x UR/$1 on dining and travel, MPX “passes through” how an purchase codes to the category of the merchant for which you were buying the gift card. This means you’ll earn the UA miles offered for that merchant from MPX, and if your gift card was for a merchant that otherwise codes as dining or travel you’ll earn 2x UR on your CSP.
So for example, if you bought an e-gift card for Domino’s or Starbucks, you’ll earn 5x UA miles for Domino’s or 1x UA miles for Starbucks through the MPX app, and the charge passes the coding on the transaction to these restaurants' dining category earning you another 2x UR. This allows you to stack the rewards earned (1) on the MPX app and (2) on your credit card’s bonus categories.
You can take earning UA miles one step further by shopping online through United’s MileagePlus Shopping portal. Check with MileagePlus Shopping or cashbackmonitor if the online merchant you’re shopping at rewards UA miles for shopping. Click through MileagePlus Shopping when you shop online just as you would any other shopping portal. Right now, you can earn 200 UA miles simply by installing the MileagePlus Shopping portal button to your browser and making a purchase by 7/13/18:
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea....s-install-united-shopping-portal-button-shop/ After you’ve clicked through MileagePlus Shopping, and you’re ready to pay, remember to check the MPX app to see if it sells e-gift cards to that online merchant. If so, buy an e-gift card for the exact amount in your cart and (1) earn miles from the MileagePlus Shopping portal, (2) the MPX app, and (3) credit card points.
If you eat out, I’d sign up for MileagePlus Dining too and link your CSP. So every time you dine at a participating restaurant and you pay with your linked CSP, you’ll earn (1) miles from MileagePlus Dining and (2) 2x UR for dining on your CSP.
You can also earn hundreds of UA miles by doing surveys, but I find that they’re often a waste of time for me because I’ll spend 5-10 minutes answering preliminary questions only to find I don’t qualify.
ETA: When you do get a United Explorer card, add it to your MileagePlus account profile and into the MPX app. Having a MileagePlus card linked to your account gives you an extra 25% bonus in miles on all your MPX purchases even if you don’t use the MileagePlus card to pay. And holding a MileagePlus card often gives you more miles through the MileagePlus Shopping portal than non-cardmember customers, again even if you don’t use that card to pay.