If bonus miles and elite perks aren’t enough incentive to get you excited about flying, United Airlines has a new contest where you compete with other teams for an attractive rewards package. The top 50 teams will each win one million miles to be split equally among the team members — enough miles for 10 roundtrip domestic Saver Awards for each team member. Winning team members will also receive 50,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) and 50 Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS), eight confirmed regional upgrades and eight United Red Carpet Club one-time passes.

You have until Sept. 7, 2008 to assemble and register your four-person team and enroll in the contest. The winning teams will be chosen at the end of the year based on the combined number of EQMs flown in 2008 minus the number of EQMs flown last year. So it doesn’t matter if your team collectively flies 500,000 miles this year if you flew 500,000 miles in 2007 — the contest is based on the difference in miles. A Mileage Plus member who recently landed a new job that requires travel and will be flying many miles on United this year would be an ideal team member.

All participants must be Mileage Plus members as of Jan. 1, 2007 and have earned Mileage Plus elite status or have been nominated to Premier Associate status by Dec. 31, 2008. Only U.S. residents who are at least 21 years old can participate and each member can participate in one team only. If you are looking to join a team but can’t find enough co-workers, friends or family members to form one, you can find other participants through this thread on FlyerTalk, http://insideflyerus.wpengine.com/link/?866

After you register, the team captain will receive an email every few months showing the team’s year-to-date EQM for 2008 and 2007 so you can keep tabs on your progress. You can register and view your team’s progress anytime at http://www.uaelitechoice.com