United Airlines is running a week of award flight sales. MileagePlus members can score savings on redemptions to a new destination each day, and United credit card holders can save even more. You’ll have to act fast, though, because these deals only last 24 hours.
On Thursday, United members can book award flights to Cebu or Manila in the Philippines for 45,000 miles one-way — or just 40,000 miles if you hold a United Chase credit card. That price is not for business class, but it’s still not a bad deal if you can endure the long journey in economy.
Related: United credit cards add statement credits and higher annual fees — is it worth keeping your card?
Deal basics
Airline: United
Routes: Between airports on the U.S. mainland and the Philippines’ Manila International Airport (MNL) and Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB)
Fare classes: Economy
How to book: Directly with United
Travel dates: Aug. 27 to Dec. 10
Book by: Aug. 7
Sample flights
On Thursday only, you can book one-way tickets between mainland U.S. airports and Manila or Cebu for only 45,000 miles in economy, or 40,000 miles if you have a United Chase credit card.
One of the many reasons to get a United credit card is that cardholders get access to lower award rates. In this case, you can save 5,000 miles per one-way ticket, which could add up quickly. For a two-person, round-trip booking, that shaves off 20,000 miles from your total cost.
These are some of the dates this deal is available on the nonstop flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to MNL:
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We’ve also seen some sparse cardmember rates of 100,000 miles each way in business class on select dates this fall. This isn’t a stellar deal, but it’s not bad for a lie-flat seat on an over 14-hour flight. We can’t guarantee this rate will apply to all routes, and we haven’t seen any business-class deals for non-cardholders.
You’ll still have to pay the taxes and fees on your award ticket(s), but these tend to be quite reasonable on United. For Thursday’s destinations, they start at around $33.41 round-trip. (Don’t forget to pay the taxes and fees with your United card in order to take advantage of perks like free checked bags.)
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This promotional pricing applies only to primary cardmembers (i.e., not authorized users). However, there’s no limit to the number of award tickets a cardholder can book. If you’re considering jumping on this deal, be sure to have the United Chase cardmember in your family book the tickets.
If you’re short United miles, you can transfer them from Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. You can also pool United miles with family and friends to redeem for United-operated award flights. However, since pools take at least 72 hours to set up, you won’t be able to use this feature for Thursday’s deal unless you have already set up a pool.
Related: How to get maximum value from the United MileagePlus program
Bottom line
On Thursday only, United has wide-open availability for cardholders to book award flights to Manila and Cebu for as few as 40,000 miles each way in economy. If you haven’t finalized your fall travel plans, this could be your sign to plan a trip to the Philippines.
But if these destinations don’t strike your fancy, there’s one deal left for United members and cardholders this week. Check back Friday for the last one.
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