Day 2 on the United “Deal” and only 651 people bought miles, at this current rate, it does not look very good to being a deal.
Let’s run through some more scenarios.
Because it hit the threshold of 500+, bonus miles will now be 35%.
Here is the math breakdown:
To buy 40,000 miles it will cost you $1505. $35 for every 1,000 miles and a 7.5% tax. (40*35)*1.075 = 1505
Continuing with the Chase Freedom card for this quarter, you’d need to enroll for the 5% cash back.
1505 points for just the purchase
151 points, 10% of the purchase if you have a Chase Checking
10 points, for having a Chase Checking
7500 points, for 5% (assuming no purchases made in the quarter, I’ll discuss more about the Chase Freedom on the next post and why it’s such a great card)
Grand total in points for the purchase, still 9166 points.
For the miles that you buy, it’d become 54,000 (40,000 * 1.35 [35% bonus at current standing])
Because the points earned from the Freedom are part of Chase Ultimate Rewards, these points can be transferred to the Sapphire Preferred. More on this the next time.
At the end of the day, you will accumulate 63,166 miles. To determine dollars per mile, it is basic algebra math. Take the cost (1505) and divide by the miles (63,166) and it will be 2.38 cents per mile.
Still not a great deal. Let’s keep waiting and find a better deal.
