The following tip was submitted by Kelsey of Orchard Reads
About a year before our 10-year wedding anniversary, my husband and I began dreaming about a celebratory trip to Europe for a few days — just the two of us!
With four kids and one full-time income, we knew we’d have to get creative in order to fund this trip, and we began by researching the best methods to earn points for free flights.
After significant research, we found that United Airlines offers most round-trip flights from the USA to many cities in Europe for 60,000 miles roundtrip. That is significantly less than the corresponding cash rates for both United flights and other airlines, and there are TONS of different ways to earn United Miles — you can go to restaurants, shop at certain retailers, and even take surveys in order to earn free miles.
One of my favorite discoveries about earning United miles is that you can get 450 miles every time you schedule and complete a Walmart grocery pickup order.
I always fill up my Walmart cart on my computer, but then I complete the order through the United MileagePlus X App on my phone. I often do Walmart grocery pickups once a week, which means I earn at least 450 miles each week!
We combined several different methods of earning United miles, and within about a year, both my husband and I were able to save over 60,000 miles each! The miles do not expire for 18 months, but each time I do another Walmart grocery pickup (or earn miles another way), the expiration date moves forward to 18 months from that date.
We are currently continuing to save United Airlines miles so that we can pay for several nights in a hotel on our Europe trip, as well!
Even if you don’t have a lofty goal to fly to Europe and back, United miles can be redeemed for gift cards, rental cars, and more. And if you already do Walmart grocery pickups regularly, you might as well earn 450 miles each and every time you do!
Kelsey is a pastor’s wife, mother of four, book lover, piano teacher, worship leader, and home economist. She writes about her family’s favorite books at Orchard Reads.
