How to Use the United MileagePlus X App to Earn Miles

Want an easy way to earn more United MileagePlus miles? Consider using the United MileagePlus X app, which allows users to earn additional miles when shopping or dining at select merchants. The app is available on iOS and Android devices. If you have a credit card from United, you earn 25% more miles on your purchases through the app.

Below, we explain all the different ways to use the MileagePlus X app to help you maximize your United miles.

The app offers several different ways to earn miles, such as purchasing eGift cards, dining at MileagePlus participating restaurants, shopping via the United MileagePlus shopping portal and making purchases through a select list of featured apps.

Purchase MileagePlus X gift cards

You can purchase eGift cards for different stores directly from the app.A glance at the selected merchants shown below indicates that you could earn between 0.5 miles to 5 miles per $1 spent.

For example, you could buy a $200 Marshalls eGift card, which would earn 600 United miles. If you have a linked United card, like the United℠ Explorer Card, you would earn a total of 750 miles, which includes the 25% bonus earned because of the card.

» Learn more: Which United credit card should you get?

MileagePlus X Dining

If you happen to be visiting a restaurant that participates in the United MileagePlus dining program, you could pick up some extra United miles.

As seen in the screenshot above, the app shows which local restaurants are part of the dining program.

To participate in the United dining program, you need to first register for an account. United is now offering a 2,500-mile bonus when you register for the program and dine within 30 days.

Dining rewards earnings vary based on your membership level in the MileagePlus dining program:

• Basic members: 1 miles per $2 spent.

• Select members: 3 miles per $1 spent.

• VIP members: 5 miles per $1 spent.

Your membership level is determined based on whether you’ve opted in to receive emails from MileagePlus Dining and the frequency of dining at associated restaurants. Although the selection of restaurants varies by city, it’s always a good bet to check which restaurants are participating in the program.

To maximize your earnings on dining, use a credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which earn 3 Ultimate Rewards® points per $1 on travel and dining. Another great option is the American Express® Gold Card, which earns 4 American Express Membership Rewards points per $1 on worldwide dining. There are also several other credit cards out there that help maximize rewards on dining. Terms apply.

» Learn more: Chase Sapphire Reserve review

MileagePlus Shopping

The MileagePlus X app also features a tab of all the offers available on the United MileagePlus Shopping portal. The United shopping portal allows you to earn United miles by simply clicking on a merchant through the portal and completing a purchase. To shop through the shopping portal, you need to log in with your United MileagePlus username and password. If you don’t have an account with United, you can enroll here.

When we checked, the shopping portal was offering these two bonuses (note that these change often):

• Earn 500 bonus miles after spending $125 in two weeks.

• Earn 1,000 United miles after spending $150 within the next two weeks.

So how do you actually earn the miles?

The screenshot above lists the merchants that are offering extra United points for simply clicking through the app. Clicking on a merchant on the app will send you directly to the United MileagePlus Shopping portal, where you can complete the purchase from there. Shopping via an airline’s shopping portal is one of the easiest ways to earn extra airline miles.

Tip: it’s always best to check which airline/hotel/cash-back shopping portal is providing the best offer. To do so, check out CashbackMonitor, which shows all the reward offers currently available for each merchant.

The Featured Apps tab is another neat component of the MileagePlus X app. Through Featured Apps, the earning rate provided can actually be better than the one offered through the United Shopping Portal.

For example, if you made a hotel booking through Hotels.com, you could earn 2 to 6 United miles per $1 spent.

Here, the earning rate depends on whether you’d like to earn Hotels.com rewards or not. The earn rate for Hotels.com is better than the one offered on the United Shopping Portal, which is currently offering only 1 United mile per $1 on Hotels.com purchases.

If you have a United co-branded card, you could earn an extra 25% United miles on all your purchases. The following cards qualify:

• United℠ Explorer Card.

• United Club℠ Infinite Card.

• United℠ TravelBank Card.

• United Gateway℠ Card.

• United Quest℠ Card.

• United℠ Business Card.

• United Club℠ Business Card.

» Learn more: Best benefits of United Airlines credit cards

There are plenty of ways to earn extra miles beyond the traditional means of credit card welcome bonuses and flying. The MileagePlus X app is an excellent example of how you could earn extra United miles on your everyday spending. If you start incorporating shopping portals, dining programs and dedicated apps (such as MileagePlus X), you could be on your way to easily growing your miles and points balances.

The information related to the United Club℠ Business Card (annual fee: $450) has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card.