Paying for part and using United air miles for part????

[SR]

I have been saving my United air miles for my trip with my son to WDW in early Dec, but a friend has asked to me join her on a "girls" get-a-way in May to Dollywood.

I don't have enough miles to get "free" ticket for that trip and the one in Dec. so I see that I can use 15,000 miles and get the ticket for $89 plus taxes.

Does anyone know since I am paying for part of this flight, will I earn air miles for the trip????

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I am on a pretty tight budget and can't afford the full rate on either tickets.

Thank you for your help!

 

[tinka-belle]

I've not done this with United, but I have used the Delta pay with miles/cash option. On Delta, if any part of the ticket is paid with miles you don't accrue milage for that flight. Not sure if United follows the same rules, but I suspect they do.

 

[SR]

Thank you for your answer...I was afraid that was going to be the case!

 

[MAH4546]

"Buy with miles" is a horrendous way to redeem miles. You get an absolutely terrible redemption value - not the way to redeem miles. Redeeming miles for domestic tickets in general is a bad idea, unless you never plan to fly internationally.

 

[traveljunkie]

I've done this 4 times and it works. Basically, you purchase your ticket on United (you MUST go directly to this page though to purchase and use your United Plus Visa). It's hard to find on their website but it's called Cardmember Redemption. Sign into your mileage plus and scroll down under the book with miles column.

It says: (BUT it doesn't ALWAYS show up? so retry )

Use your miles to...
Pay Mileage Plus Visa annual fee
Get reimbursed for air travel this one!
Reach elite status faster
Purchase concert tickets and more

It tells you how to do it. Say your ticket is $215. it will be 21,500 miles. There are no blockouts, as long as you purchased your ticket the above way, you can get reimbursed.

Like I said, I've done it 4 times now. It takes 3-5 days to get it credited back to your credit card. You also have 90 days from purchase to request a reimbursement. I was waiting for points to appear and just got another ticket reimbursed yesterday.

Good luck!


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