The best mileage program for wanderlusters who want to see more of the world on a budget

These days there are more and more loyalty programs popping up in every part of our financial lives. Gas stations, grocery stores, heck even ice cream parlors have rewards systems now. But even in the travel arena alone it can be overwhelming how many options there seem to be.

So for the sake of frequent flyers wishing to start taking advantage of all that time in the air, I’d like to offer 5 reasons travel-addicts might choose United as the best mileage program.  Not business travelers or casual vacationers, but travelers who want to see both Istanbul and Morroco- Switzerland and Swaziland.

(For the record, United in no way sponsors this post and I have no affiliation with United. I just love frequent flyer miles experience has taught me to value United miles often above the rest.)

Here are the 5 reasons United is the best mileage program for wanderlust’s who want to see more of the world on a low budget.

1.) Stopovers.

A little background: In terms of roundtrip international flights, a stopover is a stop of 24 hours or more which can essentially be used as a second destination. And one of the most incredible parts about award tickets (tickets purchased with miles) is that for some reason many mileage programs allow a stopover at no extra charge. Just on award tickets. In a paid ticket these stopovers would increase your price, but for award tickets, it’s essentially complimentary (depending on the program.)

Why United excels here: United offers one stopover (a stop of 24 hours or more) per international round-trip award ticket. But, in addition to this, it also offers two “open-jaws.” These open-jaws allow you to exit the airport at your destination, then pick up your flight to return home from a different airport. For instance if you go on a cruise or bus tour that takes you from A to B, you don’t have to return to A just to catch your flight home.

So each roundtrip international award ticket is allowed two open-jaws and one stopover.

2.) Generous routing rules.

A little background: United’s not the only mileage program offering a stopover, but many other mileage programs require a few strict guidelines for that stopover. For instance it’s common for mileage programs to state that the stopover must be reasonably within the route to and from your destination. No obscure, out of the way locations.

Why United excels here: United on the other hand does not force you to restrict your stopover in that way.

This part gets a bit complicated, so I’ll offer a post about United’s routing rules for further investigation but the essential idea is this: while it’s not officially stated, United loads certain zone combinations into its routing computer. So certain zone combinations seem to be permitted while certain other ones are not.

Like I said, this is not officially stated but trial and error shows that (for example) South America is a zone that cannot be combined with any zone other than the Americas. So you could do a stopover in Mexico on your way to South America, but not a stopover in Paris on the way to South America. However, Europe can be combined with quite a few zones (Asia, Middle East, and Africa) so you could fly from the US to Paris then on to Cape Town before returning to the states. See the Eiffel tower before going on a safari.

If you’re concerned about which zones can be combined with which other zones, check out the post above or simply call the United booking agent and ask them if your route is permissible. As long as you’re sticking within the zone rules, your route can take you all over the world.

3.) No fuel surcharges.

A little background: Fuel surcharges are fees that get added to a ticket, even if it’s an award ticket paid for with miles. If you’re not careful, you could book a ticket you expect to get for free that actually costs a few hundred dollars in the end.

Why United excels: United is pretty much the only mileage program for whom this is not the case. United does not pass along fuel surcharges to award tickets! Simple as that. This gives you one less restriction to deal with when planning your route.

4.) Part of the biggest alliance, increasing your flight options.

A little background: When you earn miles in an airline’s mileage program, you can then use those miles for way more tickets than you might expect. This is because airlines generally belong to alliances. (The major alliances are Star Alliance, One World Alliance, and SkyTeam.) So if you earn with one mileage program, you can use those miles for flights with any of the airlines within the same alliance. (There may be a few exceptions but generally this is true.)

Why United excels: United happens to be a member of Star Alliance, the biggest alliance with the most member airlines.

5.) Easy earning with Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

A little background: One of the easiest ways to earn frequent flyer miles is via credit card sign up bonuses and credit card earnings.

Why United excels: United miles can not only be earned via their own credit card, but also by earning and transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points. These points can be earned through a number of Chase credit cards. This post about Chase Ultimate Rewards points may be especially helpful but the basic point is that you have multiple credit card options for earning United miles.