There was an extended period of time during 2009 and 2010 when United routinely discounted prices on off-peak award travel to selected regions. It helped United get some of its mileage liability off its books. And it was a definite value-add for MileagePlus members as well. Win-win.
Apparently shunted aside by the machinations of merging with Continental, the discounts disappeared.
Until now …
Offer Details
Between November 6 and November 15, MileagePlus members can book award flights to Europe for travel between January 15 and March 13, 2013, for 20 percent fewer miles.
Discounts apply to roundtrip coach-class Saver awards on United and United Express only.
There’s no special promotion code required — the discount will be applied automatically when booking award flights on united.com.
Deal or No Deal
Europe award tickets normally cost 60,000 miles. With the discount, the price falls to 48,000 miles.
Also nice: the two-month window for discounted award travel. In all, this is a solid discount with plenty of time to use it.
The one negative is the close-in deadline to book travel at the discounted rate.
As good as it is, United’s is not the best deal for winter award trips to Europe. That would have to be US Airways’ off-peak Europe awards, priced at 35,000 miles for coach and 60,000 miles for business-first class. But that discount is only available for travel between January 15 and February 28, 2013.
Other Posts of Interest
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- Where Do My Miles Go If American Goes Bankrupt?
- Which Airline Programs Are the Most (and Least) Generous?
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