The United Excursionist Perk may sound complex and intimidating, but is a very valuable travel hack. I have included several examples below to clarify and help you maximize this perk.
What is the Excursionist Perk?
It is a perk that allows you to get a free one-way ticket when booking United flights with miles.
How does it work?
United has different regions throughout the globe. In the simplest terms, the Excursionist Perk works as follows: If you book a flight itinerary from Region A to Region B, then back to Region A, you can get a free one-way flight between cities in Region B. Below is a list of the United Regions.
United Regions
Mainland U.S., Alaska & Canada - Mainland U.S., Alaska & Canada
Hawaii - Hawaii
Mexico - Mexico
Caribbean - Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Bermuda, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman), Cuba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands (British and U.S.)
Central America - Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
Northern South America - Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela
Southern South America - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Europe - Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom
Middle East - Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Northern Africa - Algeria, Canary Islands, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Central & Southern Africa - Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion Island, Rwanda, South Africa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
North Asia - China (Mainland), Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan
Central Asia - Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
Japan - Japan
Oceania - American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Vanuatu, Samoa
Australia & New Zealand - Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island
Credit to Upgraded Points for the Region List
What requirements must be met?
You must be a United MileagePlus member (free to join loyalty program)
You must book itinerary using United MileagePlus miles
Itinerary must be booked using the Multi-City option on United's app or website
Itinerary must start and end in the same region
Free one-way must be for travel within a different region than your start and end region
Free one-way flight must start and end in the same region
Good to know information:
The itinerary does not have to start and end in the same city, just the same region (See Example 2: Starts in Los Angeles; Ends in San Francisco)
Free one-way flight must be in the same fare class or lower than the flight before it (See Example 3: First flight in business; Free flight in business or lower)
Only the first, Excursionist Perk satisfying-flight in a multi-city itinerary will be free (See Example 3: Paris to Rome free; Rome to Athens costs)
Flights do not have to depart from original arrival airports (See Example 3: Arrives in London; Next flight departs from Paris)
You are required to board and fly the original Region A to B flight prior to the free Excursionist flight in order to receive the perk
Example 1: Newark to London, London to Paris, and Paris to Newark - (London to Paris free)
The first flight from Newark (US) to London (Europe) costs 43,900 miles in economy.
The second flight is from London (Europe) to Paris (Europe) and costs 0 miles in the same fare class as the first flight, per the rules of the Excursionist Perk.
The final flight is from Paris (Europe) back to Newark (US) for 39,900 miles in economy.
In total, this trip on the random dates I selected would cost 83,800 miles and $151.65 in taxes and fees. This itinerary satisfies the Excursionist Perk requirements because I selected a multi-city itinerary with miles as payment type, started in a region (US), traveled to a different region (Europe), flew within the same region (Europe), and then returned back to the starting region (US). Thanks to the Excursionist Perk you are able to fly from London to Paris for free and experience another city on your trip!
Above you can see that the free one-way from London to Paris would normally cost 16,500 miles which comes out to a savings of $198 based on NerdWallet's valuation of United miles equaling 1.2 cents per point.
Example 2: Los Angeles to Honolulu, Honolulu to Kahului, Kahului to San Francisco - (Honolulu to Kahului free)
The first flight from Los Angeles (US) to Honolulu (Hawaii) costs 15,900 miles in economy.
The second flight from Honolulu (Hawaii) to Kahului (Hawaii) costs 0 miles in economy.
The final flight from Kahului (Hawaii) to San Francisco (US) costs 15,500 miles in economy.
In total, this trip on the random dates I selected would cost 31,400 miles and $16.80 in taxes and fees. This itinerary satisfies the Excursionist Perk requirements because I selected a multi-city itinerary with miles as payment type, started in a region (US), traveled to a different region (Hawaii), flew within the same region (Hawaii), and then returned back to the starting region (US). Note that this itinerary did not start and end in the same city, but rather the same region (US) which is what is required for the Excursionist Perk. Thanks to the Excursionist Perk you are able to get a free island hopper flight from Oahu to Maui on your next trip to Hawaii.
Above you can see that the free one-way from Honolulu to Kahului would normally cost 7,700 miles which comes out to a savings of $92.40 based on NerdWallet's valuation of United miles equaling 1.2 cents per point.
Example 3: Newark to London (Business Class) , Paris to Rome (Business Class), Rome to Athens (Economy), Athens to Newark (Economy) - (Paris to Rome free)
The first flight from Newark (US) to London (Europe) in 117,500 miles in business.
The second flight from Paris (Europe) to Rome (Europe) costs 0 miles in business. Note that this flight is not from the original landing city of London, but is still free since flights are not required to be in connecting airports.
The third flight from Rome (Europe) to Athens (Europe) costs 8,000 miles in economy. Note that this flight is not free because only the first Excursionist Perk satisfying-flight is free.
The final flight from Athens (Europe) to Newark (US) costs 39,900 miles in economy.
In total, this trip on the random dates I selected would cost 165,400 miles and $216.35 in taxes and fees. This itinerary satisfies the Excursionist Perk requirements because I selected a multi-city itinerary with miles as payment type, started in a region (US), traveled to a different region (Europe), flew within the same region (Europe), and then returned back to the starting region (US). Note that only the first Excursionist Perk satisfying-flight within this itinerary was free. On top of that, since we booked Business class on the first leg, the free one-way was also able to be in Business class. Then we were able to book economy the rest of the way to keep cost down.
Above you can see that the free one-way from Paris to Rome in Business class would normally cost 27,500 miles which comes out to a savings of $330 based on NerdWallet's valuation of United miles equaling 1.2 cents per point.
Want to Earn United Miles?
My favorite way to earn United miles is via the intro bonuses on Chase Sapphire and Freedom Credit Cards. Any of the Chase Freedom cards or Chase Sapphire cards will earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. If you have either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer your points to United at a 1:1 rate. At the time of writing this, the intro bonus on the Sapphire Preferred is 60,000 points, and on the Freedom cards it is 20,000 points. If you would like to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred (my favorite card), click here. If you would like to apply for one of the Freedom cards click here. Using the links helps us both out. Make sure you check out Chase's website to ensure you are getting the best possible intro bonus. If you are curious to learn more about my credit card setup, tips, and tricks, checkout my What's In My Wallet blog post.
Stay Tuned
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Very helpful post! Thanks Joel!