How to exchange gift cards for United MileagePlus miles
‘Tis the season for gifts — and that includes gift cards. Unfortunately, you may have received some gift cards for the holidays that you aren’t very excited about. If that’s the case, we have some good news: You can turn those unwanted gift cards into United MileagePlus miles through United’s MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange. Here’s how it works.
Related: What credit cards should you use to purchase gift cards?
Which gift cards are eligible for United miles?
On the MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange landing page, there’s a link to a “Gift card retailer list” at the bottom. This list currently includes over 30 retailers, such as Best Buy, Sears, Starbucks and Walmart.
However, note that some merchants on this list may not actually be available for exchange on the website. There are also some merchants available for exchange that aren’t on the list, including The North Face and HP.
Related: Flights, credit cards and more: How to earn miles with the United MileagePlus program
Is it worth exchanging gift cards?
United has a chart listing the “Minimum award miles awarded,” which would make you think that some options offer more miles than these rates. But we checked dozens of different merchants, and the mileage offer was the same for each one.
Despite the chart, you’re not limited to $25, $50 and $100 gift cards. According to the homepage, you can exchange gift cards with at least a $15 minimum balance. However, there are higher minimum balances for some merchants, like $50 at The North Face. If your balance is too low, a red box with the minimum will pop up when you click “Get Mileage offer.”
From what we’ve gathered, the number of miles offered is the gift card value times 26.6, rounded up to the nearest 10 miles. This comes out to between 3.70 and 3.76 cents per mile, depending on how many you’re trading in. For example:
- $15 gift cards equal 400 United miles (3.75 cents per mile)
- $20 gift cards equal 540 United miles (3.70 cents per mile)
- $25 gift cards equal 670 United miles (3.73 cents per mile)
- $30 gift cards equal 800 United miles (3.75 cents per mile)
- $40 gift cards equal 1,070 United miles (3.74 cents per mile)
- $50 gift cards equal 1,330 United miles (3.76 cents per mile)
- $100 gift cards equal 2,660 United miles (3.76 cents per mile)
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This rate is much higher than TPG’s December 2024 valuation of 1.35 cents per United mile, meaning you’re not getting good value from your gift cards. Still, if you’d rather have the miles than the gift card, this could be a useful way to offload them.
Also, at least United is being consistent. When United isn’t running a buy miles promotion, you can buy United miles at a rate of $35 per 1,000 United miles. After taxes and fees, this comes out to 3.76 cents per mile.
Related: The best credit cards for buying points and miles
Limitations to the Gift Card Exchange
To sell gift cards through the MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange, your MileagePlus account must have been open for at least 90 days and have a positive account balance. This means you can’t exchange your gift cards for miles if there are no miles in your account.
But if your account is empty, don’t worry: There are several easy ways to earn United miles without flying, such as through the MileagePlus shopping portal or the MileagePlus Dining program.
Although the site may give you a quote for $10 gift cards at some merchants, the terms and conditions state that “gift cards accepted must have a $15 minimum balance on the card and may have a maximum imposed.” It also appears that the exchange will only accept gift cards up to $100.
If you decide to sell a gift card through the MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange, the miles should arrive in your United account within five business days.
Related: How to use points and miles to give gifts with zero out-of-pocket cost
Bottom line
While you’re not going to get the best value from exchanging gift cards for United miles, it’s nice to have the option to swap an unwanted gift card for something more useful. The MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange could come in handy if you need United miles for an upcoming redemption, have tapped out your Bilt Rewards Points and Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and are holding a qualifying gift card. If your only other option is to buy United miles, you might as well liquidate the gift card — especially if it’s one you wouldn’t use soon anyway.
On the other hand, if you don’t have a United redemption in mind, it might be worth checking online for another gift card exchange program (such as CardCash) that may give you a better rate.
