10,000 United miles – what to do with them?

[Carlos]

As one of the participants of the not so organised united airlines marketing session

No intention of visiting the USA and their prices are not exactly cheap

Is there any best way to use up 10k united miles?
TIA

[YC]

Definitely losing some value this way but u can convert 1-1 into marriott points. Alternatively, hold the miles and wait to use it for short haul hop on star alliance in the future. United miles don’t expire

[Rob]

8k should get you a short haul UK to Europe.

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

5.5K on Aer Lingus

[Carlos]

YC wrote:

Definitely losing some value this way but u can convert 1-1 into Marriott points. Alternatively, hold the miles and wait to use it for short haul hop on star alliance in the future. United miles don’t expire

never used star alliance or redeemed miles, is it straightforward? i.e. linking united with Marriott / Star Alliance?

[Gavin454]

If you go to Japan at some point when it reopens, you can book most domestic routes for 5,500 (no additional taxes or fees to pay)

[Rob]

You need to be Marriott Platinum or higher to transfer across, I think.

Star Alliance flights can be booked on the United website, it is quite good in that regard.

United is actually the only Star carrier with sensibly priced short haul redemptions.

[davefl]

Just as an example, a one way flight on Swiss booked on United.com – £242 cash or 8.8k UTD +£30 which will get you 2.3p/mile.

I keep a large stash of Utd miles primarily earned via Kaligo for when there’s no LCC available for european hops.

[jollygoodfella]

Just booked London to Chicago flights. The flight to Chicago is a direct flight in booking class K. The flight back has a stopover via Boston but both of those flights are in booking class T.

My original plan was to assign them to Aer Lingus and then move to Avios but it looks like booking class T has 0% rate for Aer Lingus so doesnt feel right.

I think I am left with these options:
a) assign c3500 to United – I have the 10k from the event
b) assign c4000 to Aegean – I have 6k from a previous sign-up bonus
c) assign c5000 to Turkish – dont have an account with them but can see using Turkish airlines in future

I guess I am still new to the game so happy to do something long-term in mind but really not sure if any of these options are good or bad in terms of how they can be used.

[Carlos]

With the Emirates partnership how does the 10k free points work. I still have them unused. Can I combine it with a stash of Skywards to book a UK to USA flight?