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Amazing Deal Reminder: The United Airlines Excursionist Perk Still Works and Can Offer GREAT Value for Travel to Multiple Cities

  • Devon O'Rourke

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    INSIDER SECRET:   You can pay absolutely ZERO miles to add an extra flight to your itinerary with this trick.

    There’s a bit of a transition going on right now as United Airlines eliminates its award chart.

    However, the United Airlines Excursionist Perk still works, and remains a terrific way to get tremendous value with your United Airlines miles.  This perk allows you to add a free one-way flight to many round-trip and multi-city itineraries!

    The United Airlines Excursionist Perk Still Works!  You Can Use It to Visit Multiple Destinations Without Paying More Miles

    United Airlines Excursionist Perk Still Works – Here’s the Rundown and Rules

    Here’s a quick rundown of the United Airlines Excursionist Perk:

    There are some rules you need to follow:

    United Airlines Excursionist Perk Example Itineraries

    I’ve laid out a couple of itineraries made possible by the United Airlines Excursionist Perk.  They’ve got a little flair to them that makes each itinerary unique.

    A Trip From the US to Multiple European Cities

    I’ve been wanting to visit Europe for a while now, and the Excursionist Perk seems like a great way to visit all of the cities on my bucket list.

    Dublin, Paris, Brussels and London are all dream destinations for me, and I can visit all four cities using the itinerary below:

    One of the best reasons to use the Excursionist Perk with United Airlines rather than flying a similar award with another airline is that United doesn’t add fuel surcharges.  In general, you might use a few more miles but save big on fuel surcharges with international flights.

    You’ll Pay Lower Fees Booking International Flights With United Airlines Miles

    For this itinerary, we start in New York and fly to Paris.  Then we could rent a car or ride the train from Paris to Brussels.  From there, we make use of our free one-way flight and hitch a ride to London!  We could then take ground transportation to Dublin where our final flight will bring us to Boston.

    You could earn enough miles for the exact itinerary above with the limited-time offer on the United℠ Explorer Card, which comes with up to 60,000 United Airlines miles after meeting tiered minimum spending requirements:

    This offer ends May 16, 2019. 

    Plus, because the United℠ Explorer Card offers primary car rental insurance, it’s a great way to save money while driving abroad!

    You Could Use Your Free One-Way Flight Between Countries in Europe

    You’ll notice that we started our journey in the Mainland US and ended in the Mainland US.  And our free one-way flight occurred in a second region, Europe.

    Pro tip:   Your airports don’t need to align perfectly.  If you can drive, take bus or train, or even fly budget airlines between airports, you can create killer itineraries while saving big.

    Breaking up a Trip to Hawaii From the East Coast

    Maybe this next example is aimed at a specific crowd but some of readers can buy into this itinerary:

    United’s Excursionist Perk counts Hawaii as a different region as the Mainland US.  So you could use the Excursionist Perk, paired with the new Southwest flights to Hawaii and the Southwest Companion Pass, to create a dream flight plan.

    This could be especially attractive for East Coast folks who will likely want to break up their travel.  You may consider breaking up your trip if you’ve got kids, a spouse or family member with flight anxiety, or medical reasons.

    Transcontinental Flights on United Generally Cost 12,500 Miles

    You could fly from Newark to San Francisco on United, then fly from Oakland to Honolulu with Southwest using the Companion Pass to have your spouse or friend fly free to Hawaii.  Next, island-hop by taking a free one-way flight to Maui from Honolulu on United.  Take another Southwest flight from Maui to Oakland and finally fly home from San Fransisco to Newark.

    All this travel for 25,000 United Airlines miles and $11.20, plus whatever your Southwest flights cost.  Depending on the time and if there’s a promotion, you could find one-way Southwest flights to Hawaii on sale for as little as $49 or less than 2,000 Southwest Points!

    Use the United Airlines Excursionist Perk to get a Free One-Way Island Hopper Flight in Hawaii

    This probably isn’t going to entice the folks who want to use 45,000 United miles for non-stop, round-trip flights from Newark to Honolulu.  But for those on a miles budget or who really need the break in travel, this could be a wonderful alternative.

    Bottom Line

    With United eliminating its award chart, it’ll be hard to pinpoint the exact price of an award ticket.

    Nevertheless, you can get massive value by using the United Airlines Excursionist Perk to snag a free one-way flight!  Take a look at our advanced guide to the United Airlines  Excursionist Perk.

    Folks with flexible calendars who want to explore another country, or anyone who wants to use United Airlines to position themselves for Southwest flights to Hawaii can make use of this perk.

    Have you used the Excursionist Perk?  We’d love to hear some first-hand experiences!

    Here are more guides with tips and tricks for United Airlines miles:

    And subscribe to our newsletter for more award travel tips and tricks:

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)