Summertime is here — and that typically means purchases of products for your upcoming trip; outdoor home improvement project; or repairing your vehicle.
Mike Friedman gives a good overview in this article he wrote several months ago pertaining to shopping for miles in general — no matter what time of the year — which includes a list of links to the shopping portals of many of the major frequent travel loyalty programs…
…but if you are a member of the United Airlines MileagePlus frequent flier loyalty program, you are in luck, as bonus miles await you through hundreds of merchants on products you are likely to purchase anyway.
Spend $250.00, Earn 1,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles
You can earn 1,000 bonus MileagePlus miles — in addition to the standard MileagePlus miles earned — by spending a minimum of $250.00 shopping for qualifying purchases on your favorite products from hundreds of participating retailers through Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 11:59:59 in the evening Eastern Daylight Time during the Summer bonus campaign at the MileagePlus Shopping portal.
The bonus 1,000 MileagePlus miles can only be earned once, as the maximum number of bonus award miles that will be awarded to an eligible MileagePlus Shopping account through the summer bonus campaign is 1,000 bonus award MileagePlus miles.
Bonus MileagePlus miles will be issued based on your cumulative qualifying purchases made during the bonus period. Returns, cancellations, shipping and handling, taxes, gift card or other cash equivalent purchases, and certain products are not included in the bonus award Mileage Plus miles eligibility calculation.
Please allow up to ten weeks after the conclusion of the bonus period for the 1,000 bonus award MileagePlus miles to post to your MileagePlus Shopping account. This offer cannot be combined with other offers or promotions.
Other terms and conditions may apply.
Potential Pitfalls
“Most often shoppers leave their current shopping session or browser window to do things like look for coupons on third-party websites or click through an email from the merchant before they buy”, according to this article written by Randy Petersen back on Wednesday, August 31, 2011. “Merchants pay awards for purchases based on the referring website, so if the last website or marketing channel visited isn’t the reward mall, then they won’t track it correctly. Be sure to complete your purchase without leaving the site. Some users may stop mid-purchase to check email and then revisit the retailer’s website through a Google search. In that case, the retailer credits Google for the referral, and the user will not get their award.”
One way around this potential issue is to open a separate tab in your Internet web browser to research for coupons and discounts — but do not leave the original current shopping session dormant for too long, as it can result in eventually automatically abandoning the process and cause you to start your shopping experience all over again.
Cartera Commerce, Incorporated is the company which operates the MileagePlus Shopping portal — as well as powers many of the shopping mall Internet web sites for airlines in addition to that of United Airlines — but the company has not had a perfect record with satisfaction amongst its customers.
Chances are that you will not experience problems with this promotion — but be prepared to expect a less than flawless experience, just in case…
…and also be aware that the bonus award miles you earned may not be added to your account for as many as ten weeks; but if that occurs after the expiration date of the miles in your account, realize that the date of the transaction is what counts and not when the transaction is approved. Even still, you might need to contact the frequent travel loyalty program to alert them — with proof, of course — that the miles in your account should not have expired.
Keep in mind that the only indication that you will be earning bonus miles or points is when you actually click on the link of a participating retailer in a shopping portal, which gives an interim message that you are leaving the shopping portal and that you will earn miles or points. Once you reach the official Internet web site of the merchant, you will not find any evidence that you are actually earning those bonus miles or points when conducting transactions for purchases, requiring a leap of faith on your part.
Caveat emptor — or buyer beware — is the advice given in this article written by Randy Petersen, who presented in detail three different case studies of how things can go wrong with the shopping portals of frequent travel loyalty programs.
Summary
This offer is similar to a number of offers in the past — including an offer as reported in this article written by
If you intend to spend $250.00 anyway this week, you may as well earn 1,000 bonus award MileagePlus frequent flier loyalty miles in the process, which should extend the expiration date of the MileagePlus miles already in your account by another 18 months.
Source: United Airlines.
