The ultimate guide to earning miles with the United MileagePlus Shopping portal

Shopping portals are a great way to earn airline miles. You can earn miles when you spend your money. You can earn points from the comfort of your desk by clicking through the portal before you shop.

Most major airlines have their own shopping portal, but in this guide we will look at how you can earn United miles with it.

The basics of online shopping portals

You can get rewards for purchases you already make through online shopping portals. Chances are your favorite store participates in Mileage Plus Shopping.

The amount of miles you earn depends on how much you spend. Macy's offers 3 miles per dollar. 75 miles can be earned if you buy a new shirt for 25 dollars.

2 miles per dollar is offered by Abt. If you buy a $1,000 laptop, you'll have 2000 miles in your United account.

You will get more miles per dollar at times. There is a premium flower delivery service called Teleflora. It offers 20 miles per dollar through the portal. You could rack up some serious miles if you send flowers from Teleflora for birthdays, graduations or other special events. If you spend $100 on flowers, you can get 2000 United miles, worth $24.20.

All retailers on the portal have their own limits on what purchases earn miles. Check the terms and conditions of your purchase to make sure the items you are buying are eligible for the promotion. Apple restricts new devices from earning miles until a few months after launch.

There are flights, credit cards and more.

Getting started with MileagePlus Shopping

Are you ready to earn miles? The only thing you need is a United Mileage Plus account.

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Sign up for MileagePlus Shopping

There's no need to register for the portal since it's integrated with United's loyalty program. Click the "sign in" button at the top of the page if you want to sign up.

Sign in with your United credentials the same way you would on United.com. You can join if you don't have a MileagePlus account.

Browse offers

You are greeted with thousands of offers when you log in. The search bar at the top of the screen allows you to search for merchants.

To get to the merchant's website, click on the button labeled "Shop now." If you leave the website, you will need to go to the portal again to get mileage earnings back.

You can use the button to shop for mileage. If you install it on your browser, a pop-up will appear when you visit a website that participates in Mileage Plus Shopping. Click the "Activate now" button if you want to check out.

These buttons will amplify your earnings.

Spending-based bonuses are occasionally offered by shopping portals. By a certain date, these are based on your spending. You can earn 500 bonus miles by spending 100 in 30 days. When a new promotion is about to launch, keep an eye on the promotions page.

There is a way to get maximum value from the United Mileage Plus program.

Tips and reminders 

It can take a few tries to use the portal successfully. Don't forget to keep the following in mind.

• If using the portal on a laptop or mobile device, make sure to click "Shop now," otherwise visiting the retailer’s website directly will result in a missed opportunity for miles.
• When using the Google Chrome plug-in, be sure to activate any bonus offer when alerted by the pop-up to earn United miles.
• Only one shopping portal can be used at a time. For example, you cannot earn miles with MileagePlus Shopping and AAdvantage eShopping at the same time. Doing so will activate one portal while deactivating the other.
• Promo codes found on websites outside of the MileagePlus portal may make your purchase ineligible for miles.
• Browsing in "incognito mode" or "private browsing" won’t allow for purchases to be tracked because cookies are disabled. Additionally, incognito mode on Google Chrome doesn’t display extensions such as the shopping button.

Pay with a rewards earning credit card. Any miles you earn with a credit card are combined with the awards you earn through the mileageplus shopping portal

There are credit cards for United Airlines passengers.

Bottom line 

It's easy to rack up United miles when shopping online. You can quickly rack up miles when you use the shopping portal's offers with bonus earning offers and the right credit card.