Want more airline miles? This is part of our Easy Ways to Earn More series. Check out our strategies for Southwest, American Airlines and Alaska miles too.

 

United MileagePlus is one of the best rewards programs out there, thanks to a huge network of partners, fairly reasonable redemption rates, and the ability to maximize awards via stopovers and other routing rules. If you want to fly award winning airlines and have fairly easy access to award flights (premium cabin and otherwise), here are 10 ways to earn more United miles:

1. Get 50,000 Bonus United Miles. If you’re after a big sign-up bonus, you can earn 50,000 United Miles by signing up for the United MileagePlus Explorer Card by spending $3,000 on the card in three months (ideally, without spending extra). A round-trip ticket to Europe starts at around 60,000 points, so just by signing up, you have a mostly free ticket with very little cash required to make up the rest of the cost. A trip to the Caribbean start’s at 35,000 (there and back).

 

	United MileagePlus® Explorer Card Add to Favorites	$95 annual fee	Special offer: 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open Read Review »
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	United MileagePlus® Explorer Card
Apply Now Add to Favorites
Sign Up Bonus $95 annual fee Special offer: 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open Annual Fee Already have this card? Maximize your rewards.
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2. Earn Miles for Every Dollar You Spend. Certain credit cards give you bonuses for spending in certain categories. For example, Chase Ink Plus offers you 5 points (transferable to the same number of United miles) when you use it to buy office supplies, or pay your cable, TV or phone bill. Use that card for those services and you’ll have five times as many miles as dollars that you spend. Sapphire Reserve offers you 3 points for every dollar you spend on travel and dining categories. Use rewards card the right way and you can earn free miles by spending on things you need to pay for anyway.

3. Get 50,000 Miles from Fidelity. If you have $25,000 – $100,000 in savings lying around, Fidelity will give you 15,000 to 50,000 United miles for putting it into a brokerage account. Considering these accounts earn interest, it’s not just extra miles you’ll be rewarded with.

4. Let United Give You 2,500. Right now, MileagePlus members can earn 2,500 free bonus miles for signing up for MileagePlus Dining Rewards. All you have to do to qualify is sign up, visit three participating restaurants and spending $25 or more within 30 days. Once you’re a member you’ll earn an additional 1 to 5 miles per $1 you spend at participating restaurants.

5. Shop Online. Do your holiday shopping online through MileagePlus Shopping and you’ll earn multiple free miles for every dollar you spend with popular merchants. Plus they offer up to 5,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,500. Or try the United MileagePlus X app. It allows you to earn mileage rewards for in-store purchases when you don’t want to wait on your merchandise to be delivered.

6. Rentals A Car. Whether you’re heading off on a long road trip or a quick weekend getaway, it pays to book your rental car through United’s partners. Members are rewarded with 50 – 75 free miles per day when they book through United partners like Hertz, National Car Rental, Avis, and Alamo.

7. Donate Money to Charity. The end of the year is nearing, which is when many people start getting in their end-of-year charitable donations. Yes, you can even use this as an opportunity to earn more United miles! United MileagePlus is offering 10 points per $1 on donations made to the National Foundation for Cancer Research. Donations must be a minimum of $25 to qualify for these earnings. It’s a great way to give and get back!

8. Entertainment. Going off to a concert? A Football game? A Broadway show? Whether you’re in the front row or the cheap seats, you can earn lots of United miles on your ticket purchases through ScoreBig and Audience Rewards.

9. Sign up for DirecTV. And you’ll get 25,000 United Miles free thanks to a partnership between United and DirecTV. As usual, be sure to compare rates and make sure you’re not paying extra to earn those 25,000 miles. It might be worth it in some cases, but this is a step worth taking.

10. Fly With United’s Partners. Flying a foreign carrier like Lufthansa, Aegean, Swiss or even a domestic airline like Hawaiian? United partners with these and other carriers, so you can credit those miles to your MileagePlus account. This is by far the easiest way to earn miles, yet so many people disregard this step entirely.

Follow these 10 steps and you’ll have more United miles in no time.

Which of these is your favorite way to earn more United miles?

[Image via Getty]