‘Tis the season for gifts – and that includes gift cards. Unfortunately, you may have received some gift cards for the holidays that you’re not too excited about. If so, 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: Which Credit Card Should You Use to Buy Gift Cards?
Which gift cards are eligible for United Miles?
on MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange Landing PageAt the bottom is a link to “List of Gift Card Retailers”. The list currently includes more than 30 retailers, such as Best Buy, Sears, Starbucks and Walmart.
However, note that some traders in this list may not actually be available for exchange on the website. There are also a few vendors that are available for exchange that are not listed, 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 “minimum awarded miles,” which might make you think some options offer miles higher than these rates. But we checked dozens of different dealers, and the mileage offers were the same for each.
Despite the chart, you’re not limited to $25, $50, and $100 gift cards. According to the homepage, you can redeem gift cards with a minimum balance of at least $15. However, some merchants have higher minimum balances, such as $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 value of the gift card times 26.6, rounded to the nearest 10 miles. This comes out to between 3.70 and 3.76 cents per mile, depending on how much you’re trading in. For example:
- $15 gift card 400 United miles (3.75 cents per mile)
- $20 gift cards 540 United miles (3.70 cents per mile)
- $25 gift card 670 United miles (3.73 cents per mile)
- $30 gift card 800 United miles (3.75 cents per mile)
- $40 gift card 1,070 United miles (3.74 cents per mile)
- $50 gift card 1,330 United miles (3.76 cents per mile)
- $100 gift card 2,660 United miles (3.76 cents per mile)
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This rate is much higher than TPG’s December 2024 Valued at 1.35 cents per United mile, that means you’re not getting good value from your gift cards. However, if you have miles rather than gift cards, this can be a useful way to offload them.
Also, at least United is consistent. When United is not running a Buy Miles promotion, you can purchase United miles for $35 per 1,000 United miles. After taxes and fees, this comes to 3.76 cents per mile.
Related: Best Credit Cards to Buy Points and Miles
Gift Card Exchange Limitations
To sell gift cards through the MileagePlus Gift Card Exchange, your MileagePlus account must be open for at least 90 days and have a positive account balance. This means that you cannot convert your gift card to miles if you have no miles in your account.
But if your account is empty, don’t worry: There are many easy ways to earn United miles without flying, like through MileagePlus shopping portal or MileagePlus dining program.
Although the site may give you a quote for $10 gift cards at some merchants, the terms and conditions state that “accepted gift cards must have a minimum balance on the card of $15 and a maximum may be 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 gift with zero out-of-pocket costs
The bottom line
While you’re not going to get the best value from exchanging a gift card for United miles, it’s nice to have the option to swap out an unwanted gift card for something more useful. If you need United miles for an upcoming redemption, a MileagePlus gift card exchange can come in handy. Includes Built Rewards points and Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and qualifying gift cards. If your only other option is to buy United miles, you might as well liquidate the gift card — especially if it’s one you won’t be using anytime soon anyway.
On the other hand, if you don’t have United redemption in mind, it’s worth checking online for other gift card exchange programs (like CardCash) that might give you a better rate.