United’s MileagePlus program has undergone important adjustments. Earlier this yr, United elevated award costs by as much as 122% on some routes with out discover. United additionally launched Cash + Miles, which permits MileagePlus members to redeem miles at an underwhelming 1 cent apiece towards money airfare.
Regardless of these unfavorable program adjustments, one useful function of the United MileagePlus program is the Excursionist Perk. It lets you add a one-way flight to a round-trip award ticket with out utilizing additional miles. The principles for this perk will not be properly outlined, however it’s a particularly useful software for award journey.
Understanding and utilizing the Excursionist Perk could also be difficult for inexperienced persons and even some superior readers. It requires effort and time, however it could can help you redeem United miles for unbelievable award itineraries at a low value.
What’s the United Excursionist Perk?
At its core, the Excursionist Perk is supposed to offer a free one-way phase to vacationers on round-trip itineraries between two completely different areas as outlined by the MileagePlus program. The United web site is extremely imprecise when defining the Excursionist Perk, which leaves ample room for inventive minds to stretch the bounds of this perk. Listed below are all the foundations printed by United for the Excursionist Perk:
- The Excursionist Perk can’t be within the MileagePlus-defined area the place your journey originates. For instance, in case your journey begins in North America, you’ll solely obtain the Excursionist Perk for journey inside a area exterior of North America.
- Journey should finish in the identical MileagePlus-defined area the place journey originates.
- The origin and vacation spot of the Excursionist Perk are inside a single MileagePlus-defined area.
- The cabin of service and award stock of the free one-way award is identical or decrease than the one-way award previous it.
- Solely the primary prevalence will likely be free if two or extra one-way awards qualify for this profit.
This is what I consider to be the best solution to paraphrase the foundations into one sentence describing the Excursionist Perk: The primary route inside a single MileagePlus-defined area that is completely different from the area during which your itinerary begins and ends is free in the identical class because the previous leg.
For an instance of the best (and sure meant) use of the Excursionist Perk, take into account a round-trip business-class award flight between Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR) and London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR).
By invoking the Excursionist Perk, you may get a free phase throughout the area you are visiting (so long as it is a completely different area than the place you are beginning). This implies you might e-book the next itinerary for a similar variety of miles as a easy round-trip award:
- Newark to London
- London to Brussels
- Brussels to Newark
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This is the itinerary priced out utilizing United’s multicity search performance.
You pay no further miles in comparison with solely flying between EWR and LHR, however you will additionally get to see Brussels and conveniently return dwelling instantly from there to Newark. You will even save $200.90 by minimizing the UK’s excessive departure taxes in your ticket.
If you e-book the LHR to Brussels Airport (BRU) phase, you will discover United prices zero miles for it.
The method is fairly simple, and at face worth, United may win clients over with this seemingly good profit.
Guide United Excursionist itineraries on-line
You possibly can (and will) e-book United Excursionist itineraries on-line. All you want to do to e-book a United Excursionist award itinerary is to make use of the “Superior search” software on the United homepage.
Choose the “Multi-city” choice, and plug within the segments you wish to e-book. You could test the field to point out the worth in miles, because the Excursionist Perk would not apply to paid tickets.
In case your itinerary follows the Excursionist logic, it is going to value appropriately. There isn’t any additional button to pick or particular web page to cost these tickets appropriately. The free Excursionist leg will robotically seem as costing zero miles (any further taxes and costs can even present). There isn’t any minimal or most keep requirement for the stopover.
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United Excursionist examples
Beneath are 4 examples of Excursionist itineraries during which we apply the perk’s base logic to real-world award itineraries. These itineraries illustrate the Excursionist Perk’s ideas somewhat than function precise itineraries it’s best to fly.
The East Asian Excursionist hopper
Beginning in South Korea, you may see numerous cities and nations on a single ticket.
For instance, you might fly between the next airports:
- Seoul’s Incheon Worldwide Airport (ICN) to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
- BKK to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino Worldwide Airport (MNL)
- MNL to ICN
Doing so would lead to United charging you zero miles for the BKK-MNL phase.
Associated: How one can get most worth from the United MileagePlus program
The Ecuadorian and Galapagos Excursionist turtle
If seeing the Galapagos turtles is close to the highest of your to-do listing, you may also wish to go to different locations within the area. With this itinerary, you may cowl Ecuador’s two main cities and the Galapagos Islands for a minimal outlay of miles.
For this itinerary, you’d fly out and in of those airports:
- Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Mariscal Sucre Quito Worldwide Airport (UIO)
- Guayaquil, Ecuador’s José Joaquín de Olmedo Worldwide Airport (GYE) to the Galapagos’ Seymour Airport (GPS) on Baltra
- GPS to IAH through UIO
That is among the many easier itineraries on the Excursionist Perk, however it nonetheless represents nice worth. Begin in Houston (or wherever within the U.S.), go to each Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador, for so long as you need, then go to the turtles (and different wildlife) within the Galapagos earlier than flying again to the U.S. All you are liable for is getting from Quito to Guayaquil, a straightforward proposition.
The itinerary is from the U.S. to the northern a part of South America and begins at 30,000 miles every manner in economic system. IAH-UIO and GPS-IAH every begin at 30,000 miles for a complete of 60,000 miles.
With this itinerary, you’d discover that United would cost you zero miles for the GYE-GPS phase.
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Dynamic pricing equals dynamic worth for the United Excursionist
The consensus is that dynamic pricing is a horrible growth for award vacationers searching for outsize worth for his or her miles. Nonetheless, there are occasions when it may possibly work to your benefit. One such manner is with the Excursionist Perk.
Take into account this situation: You are based mostly in California and have a visit deliberate to Thailand and Indonesia in January. You want a one-way flight from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Bangkok, which usually units you again no less than 19,300 miles in economic system.
Nonetheless, somewhat than leaping to e-book that choice, take into account the next:
- San Francisco Worldwide Airport (SFO) to Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX)
- Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Worldwide Airport (CGK) to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
- LAX to SFO
SFO-LAX is usually obtainable from 5,500 miles every manner. So, you might nest your one-way CGK-BKK flight between journeys to Los Angeles. All you’d have to do is go dwelling from Los Angeles the primary weekend after which right down to Los Angeles the second weekend (probably utilizing an alternate type of transportation). This whole itinerary may cost a little simply 11,000 miles and $29.90.
You are thus getting a round-trip flight from SFO to LAX and your required CGK-BKK flight for fewer miles than if you happen to booked the CGK-BKK flight alone.
Simply remember that you have to fly the primary leg of the flight; if you happen to do not, the remainder of your itinerary will likely be canceled.
Selecting this Excursionist itinerary would lead to United charging you zero miles for the CGK-BKK phase.
The impartial Excursionist
You possibly can take this concept even additional if you happen to wish to plan and are prepared to have three or extra journeys at a time on the books. This itinerary demonstrates the Excursionist Perk’s fundamental logic somewhat than one thing you’d wish to fly.
For this itinerary, you’d fly:
- Baltimore/Washington Worldwide Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) to San Francisco Worldwide Airport (SFO) through a enterprise saver award
- Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo Worldwide Airport (JNB) to Kotoka Worldwide Airport (ACC) in Accra, Ghana, through a enterprise saver award
- Boston Logan Worldwide Airport (BOS) to Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR) through an economic system saver award
The itinerary begins and ends in the identical zone (the mainland U.S.), making the primary phase wholly inside one other area (Central and Southern Africa) free. On this case, the itinerary prices 36,900 miles.
The flight from Baltimore to San Francisco is ticketed as a enterprise saver award for 30,000 miles in our instance, which triggers the center flight (Johannesburg to Accra) to be in enterprise class, too — and for no further miles.
That is a six-hour South African Airways business-class flight on a lie-flat seat for no further miles.
As within the final instance, buying the Excursionist leg by itself would take nearly as many miles as the complete multicity reserving.
The economic system saver flight from Boston to Newark is 6,900 miles in our instance.
So, you are successfully getting a first-class flight from Baltimore to San Francisco and an economy-class flight from Boston to Newark at no further value if you happen to can reframe how you consider the Excursionist Perk in order to view it as merely starting and ending in the identical zone — even when it means coming from one other zone again to the unique departure zone.
Reserving this itinerary would lead to United charging you zero miles for the JNB-ACC phase.
United Excursionist ideas
Based mostly on our checks, listed below are some further ideas and guidelines concerning the Excursionist Perk. As a result of United’s written guidelines are so imprecise, we won’t affirm this speculation with 100% certainty and stay up for listening to in case your expertise differs from the next.
- The free leg have to be booked in sequential order, in between the primary and closing segments. Though the United reserving engine suggests a non-sequential itinerary would nonetheless be zero miles, you may’t e-book a free phase on the finish of a round-trip itinerary. In different phrases, you may’t e-book Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL) to Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR) spherical journey after which add a free intra-Europe flight sooner or later.
- After a number of searches, you want to clear your cookies and begin over on United.com. The search engine begins to say there are errors and no outcomes after a number of queries.
- In the course of the multisegment search, the seven-day and 30-day choices might error out and say nothing is on the market even when flights have award area. You could change your search dates within the multicity search perform to seek out obtainable dates.
- There are not any most phase or most permitted mileage limitations on United Excursionist itineraries.
- Do not forget about open jaws, that are potential when utilizing the United Excursionist Perk. For those who can journey by yourself to get to the following metropolis the place your ticket picks up, you’ve got added one more vacation spot to go to for no additional miles.
- Research the areas of the United MileagePlus award chart. Massive areas sometimes maintain essentially the most potential worth, as these longer interregional segments will likely be free. Reserving the most affordable intraregion routes (i.e., Japan to Japan) means you continue to get the costlier Excursionist leg free. It would not matter if the Excursionist leg prices twice as a lot because the intraregional flights (see the dynamic pricing instance above).
- Do not name United. I spoke with 5 brokers on United’s Premier 1K line, and just one knew concerning the United Excursionist Perk (and never by title). Your agent might do not know what you are attempting to do, and if you happen to get an ill-informed one, you will be on maintain for hours and nonetheless find yourself with unhealthy data. We extremely suggest solely utilizing United.com when researching and reserving Excursionist itineraries.
Lastly, you might take into account including a cobranded United bank card to your pockets if you happen to’re severe about reserving these itineraries. Playing cards just like the United Explorer Card present further award availability on United-operated flights, which may noticeably influence the choices you see on the saver degree.
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Backside line
Even if you happen to’re misplaced, you’ll hopefully see the potential worth of the United Excursionist Perk. Take what you be taught right here and mix a United Excursionist reserving with different nested award itineraries, every with its personal candy spots. You possibly can probably see 5 or 6 completely different locations on a single journey for a really minimal quantity of miles.
The Excursionist Perk requires some planning and analysis, however it stays a robust software to get phenomenal worth out of your United miles regardless of latest devaluations.
