How I Booked a Free Stopover in Sydney With the United Excursionist Perk

Right here’s my very own real-world state of affairs: Our roundtrip economic system flights from Phoenix to New Zealand (in area phrases: Mainland US, Alaska & Canada to Australia & New Zealand) would have price 80,000 miles every it doesn’t matter what. So we used miles to guide the next flights: Phoenix to Sydney, Sydney to Christchurch, then Auckland to Phoenix, constructing the itinerary with three legs in complete. (We drove from Christchurch to Auckland.) The most affordable flight of the bunch was the one from Sydney to Christchurch, in order that’s flight we bought for zero miles; we simply needed to pay the taxes and costs for the reservation.

We bought a three-city tour for simply 80,000 United miles and $174.15 in taxes and costs every, $82.11 of which was particular to Australia.

How we bought the factors to fly from the US to Australia and New Zealand

To get to the 160,000 complete factors we would have liked for our reservations, my husband and I checked out bank card welcome affords.

We signed up for 3 new playing cards for the 2 of us. My husband began with the United Explorer bank card, which, on the time, had an elevated sign-up bonus of 60,000 miles. We additionally each work as freelancers, which made us eligible for the no-annual charge Chase Ink Business Unlimited with a sign-up bonus of 90,000 factors after we utilized for a card every. That netted us a complete of 180,000 Chase Final Rewards factors.

For my husband’s reservation, we transferred 20,000 Chase factors to his United account; along with his United sign-up bonus price 60,000 miles, he had his 80,000 miles able to go for his reservation to Australia and New Zealand. For mine, I transferred 60,000 Chase points to my United account, which already had about 20,000 miles ready for use, leaving each of us loads of Chase factors for one more journey.

Triggering the Excursionist Perk

After spending weeks drooling over the route (and quadruple-checking every leg for availability), I used to be in for a impolite awakening after I signed into United to guide it: I couldn’t get the perk to set off on the app or the web site. A fast Reddit dive revealed that others had confronted the identical drawback, so I equipped my millennial self for a telephone name with United’s customer support staff.

The primary a number of representatives I spoke to had no concept what I used to be speaking about. It took greater than an hour on the telephone to search out somebody who may assist me make the reserving. Now, plainly United has fastened no matter was inflicting the perk to not set off; after I searched a number of routes on a multi-city reserving as a take a look at (and perhaps to plan my subsequent journey), none price additional miles for the most affordable leg. I wouldn’t advocate calling until you completely should; in case you do, you’ll wish to make additional positive there’s mileage seat availability for every of your legs.

The underside line

The United Excursionist Perk is a good way so as to add one other metropolis or nation into your journey with out dipping again into your miles and factors. Whereas we solely spent three days in Sydney, there isn’t a time restrict for the perk. It’s onerous to beat the attract of a bonus nation added to your journey.