American miles in 2026: the honest United + American playbook

I spent 4 years at Goldman before going independent as a trader. Accumulating miles, for me, is literally arbitrage. And the U.S. miles system has three things that make it one of the most hackable in the world:

1. Chase Ultimate Rewards + Amex Membership Rewards transfer 1:1 to a dozen airlines (rare globally)
2. United MileagePlus has Star Alliance partner sweet spots that hide cheap routes
3. American AAdvantage accepts transfers from Citi, Bilt, and Marriott with bonuses

I'll teach you the full playbook. Not theory. This is how I earned 1.3 million points in 2024 from real personal spend (no business, no fraud).

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Why United + American specifically

There are 8 programs relevant to U.S. flyers in 2026:

• United MileagePlus
• American AAdvantage
• Delta SkyMiles
• Alaska Mileage Plan
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Singapore KrisFlyer
• Lufthansa Miles & More
• Avianca LifeMiles

United MileagePlus is the best to earn in USD because:

1. Chase Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business transfer 1:1 instantly
2. Miles don't expire as long as the account is active
3. Star Alliance award chart has sweet spots (60k JFK-LHR business)

American AAdvantage is the best for premium cabin redemptions because:

1. 57.5k Y / 75k J one-way to Europe on partners (Qatar, BA, Iberia)
2. oneWorld — you use it on Qatar, JAL, Cathay, BA
3. Citi Premier and Bilt transfer with frequent bonuses

The combo is: earn UR/MR points, transfer to United or AAdvantage when needed, redeem premium cabin on partners.

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How to earn 100,000 United miles per month without changing anything

Mandatory setup:

1. Chase Sapphire Reserve — $550 annual fee, $300 travel credit makes it net $250. Earns 3x on travel and dining, transfers 1:1 to United.

2. Amex Gold Card — $325 annual fee, $120 dining + $120 Uber credit. Earns 4x on dining and groceries, transfers 1:1 to multiple airlines.

3. Bilt Mastercard — no annual fee. Earns 1x on rent (uncapped to 100k/year). The only card that gets you points on rent without fees. Transfers to United and AAdvantage.

Typical monthly flow ($6,000 personal spend + $2,500 rent):

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: $3,000 dining/travel × 3 = 9,000 UR points
• Amex Gold: $2,000 groceries × 4 = 8,000 MR points
• Bilt on rent: $2,500 × 1 = 2,500 Bilt points
• Bilt Rent Day double points (1st of month): extra 2,500

Total: ~22,000 transferable points per month from spend.

How do you get to 100,000/month? Bonuses and strategies:

4. Sign-up bonuses — open one new card per quarter. Chase Sapphire Preferred 80k, Amex Gold 90k, Citi Premier 75k. That alone is 245k in a year.

5. Business cards (if you have an LLC or even sole prop) — Chase Ink Business Cash + Unlimited + Preferred = 90k each. Stack three of those.

6. Buying groups + reselling — controversial but legal. Buy electronics, ship to a buying group, get reimbursed plus credit. Earns 2-3x on $50k+/year of "spend".

7. Hotel and shopping portals — Rakuten + UR portal stack for 6-12x on online shopping.

But to use all of this well, you need a fourth thing: timing.

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The 3 annual windows that change everything

January: Amex MR → Air France bonus (20-40%)

Every January, first 2 weeks. Transfer bonus to Flying Blue. Stack these to fly Air France business to Europe for 50k miles.

In 2025, the bonus was 35% for 10 days. I moved 100,000 MR which became 135,000 Flying Blue miles.

May-June: Citi → Avianca LifeMiles bonus

Doesn't happen every year. 2024 had a 25% bonus. 2023 didn't. Follow @thepointsguy and @doctorofcredit on Twitter for alerts.

If it happens: 100k Citi ThankYou points become 125k LifeMiles. JFK-LHR business on Lufthansa via LifeMiles is 87k. You get a business class flight from a single transfer.

November: AAdvantage off-peak award sales

American releases off-peak awards (typically mid-Jan to mid-March) at 57.5k for Europe business. Black Friday adds 25% off select redemptions.

JFK-LHR business is normally 75k. Off-peak + sale brings it to 45k.

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Expensive mistakes I see people make

Mistake 1: Hoarding miles in one program

Delta SkyMiles looks great because of the credit card pull, but redemption rates have inflated to 200k+ for transatlantic business. United and AA hold value better.

Mistake 2: Not using transfer bonuses

Paying $1,000 on a card earning 1x straight to United (1,000 miles), when you could have used Amex Gold 4x grocery × 25% bonus to Air France for 5,000 Flying Blue miles. 5x the value.

Mistake 3: Waiting for the "perfect" deal

There's no such thing as $200 JFK-LHR. There are $200 in fees on award tickets. The ticket itself is $1,800 or 60k miles + $200 fees. Anyone promising less is using illegal hidden city or a pricing error you won't catch in time.

Mistake 4: Burning miles on economy when business is available

Economy JFK-LHR: 30k + $200. Business: 60k + $400. Difference: 30k miles and $200.

What do you prefer: spending 30k miles to sleep lie-flat for 7 hours, or saving 30k miles for another economy flight that costs almost as much in cash?

Mistake 5: Not using Star Alliance partners

United charges 60k JFK-LHR. But you can pay 55k United on a Lufthansa flight JFK-FRA-LHR. More connections, but you save 5k and get a newer cabin.

ANA via United from JFK-NRT: 75k in business. Compare before redeeming.

Practical redemptions (with real 2025 numbers)

U.S. → Europe in business:

• JFK-LHR United metal: 60k + $200
• ORD-FRA Lufthansa via United: 60k + $250
• JFK-MAD Iberia via AAdvantage: 57.5k + $300
• EWR-CDG La Compagnie cash: ~$1,800

U.S. → Asia in business:

• LAX-HND ANA via United: 75k + $200
• SFO-SIN Singapore via KrisFlyer (transfer from Amex): 99k + $250
• JFK-DOH Qatar Qsuite via AAdvantage: 75k + $300

U.S. → South America in business:

• MIA-GRU LATAM via Delta or partner: 65k + $200
• IAH-SCL United: 80k + $300
• MIA-EZE American: 57.5k + $250

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The annual playbook in 4 steps

January to April: Accumulate UR and MR points. Don't transfer yet. Use business cards for taxes via Plastiq. Build minimum 200k transferable.

May: Watch for Citi → LifeMiles or Amex → ANA bonuses. If they come, transfer for premium redemption.

June to October: Keep earning. Don't redeem yet.

November: Wait for AAdvantage off-peak sale. Redeem business for March/April.

December: End of year, top off Alaska or Aeroplan (depending on what's bonusing).

Typical result: 1 international business class flight per year + 4 domestic flights. All on points. Only paying fees.

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Practical appendix

Sites to follow (in order of quality):

1. The Points Guy — deals and analysis
2. Doctor of Credit — credit card opportunities
3. One Mile at a Time — premium cabin reviews
4. SeatGuru — compare seats before redeeming business

Essential apps:

• AwardTool ($69/year) — searches award availability across programs
• ExpertFlyer — sees real partner award space
• Google Flights + Matrix (free) — sees cash price to compare

Quick point value calculator:

• United MileagePlus: 1.3-1.8 cents
• American AAdvantage: 1.5-2.0 cents
• Chase UR: 1.8-2.5 cents (transferred to partners)
• Amex MR: 1.7-2.3 cents (transferred to partners)

Rule of thumb: if you're redeeming economy on a route under $400 cash, don't use points. Use them on business or routes where cash is $1,500+.

Don't trust anyone who promises:

• "Manufactured spending" — works but IRS scrutiny is real now
• "Buying miles for half price" — fraud. Account shut down on first review
• "Instant status match" — works in some programs, but the industry is tightening up

Final tip: subscribe to the AwardWallet newsletter for tracking. Sells and buys flights with miles. You can sell your miles when you need cash, or buy a cheap flight while you're banking.

Miles aren't bank currency. They're time currency. Whoever banks time, gains life.

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Real cases of Americans who applied the method

Case 1 — Couple from Austin, 38 years old, household spend $7,500/month

Jennifer and Mark opened a Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Gold in February 2024. Both put everything on cards (groceries at HEB, dining out, Whole Foods, AT&T bills via Plastiq). By October they had 140,000 UR points + 95,000 MR. Watched for Flying Blue 25% transfer bonus in November. Moved 100k MR to Flying Blue for 125k, redeemed two seats DFW-CDG in business during Promo Awards for 100k miles + $500 in taxes. Cash equivalent: $8,400. ROI: $7,900 in 9 months of card discipline.

Case 2 — Software engineer from Seattle, 29 years old, spend $4,500/month

Alex put everything on Chase Sapphire Reserve. Earns ~9,000 UR/month from 3x dining and travel. After 14 months, 126,000 UR. Stacked the Chase Ink Business Cash sign-up bonus ($900 = 90,000 UR) for $6,000 spend in 3 months (used Plastiq for rent). Transferred 100k UR to Hyatt for 4 nights at the Park Hyatt Tokyo (cash rate $1,800/night = $7,200 total). Spent 8 nights in Japan, slept like a king.

Case 3 — Solo entrepreneur, Miami, $180k revenue

Carlos opened Chase Ink Preferred and Ink Unlimited in 2023. Annual fees $95 each. Uses for Facebook Ads, SaaS subscriptions, contractor payments via Plastiq. Earns 12,000 UR/month. In 18 months: 216,000 UR plus 200,000 in sign-up bonuses. Transferred 140k to United for round-trip business MIA-NRT via SFO. Cash equivalent: $7,200. Difference: $7,000 saved on a single trip.

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Glossary of essential terms for U.S. flyers

Award Chart — fixed table of how many miles each route costs. American AAdvantage and Aeroplan still have one; United and Delta moved to dynamic pricing (variable price).

Sweet spot — route/program combination where the mile cost is disproportionately low vs cash equivalent. Ex: JFK-LHR business with American via Iberia for 57.5k miles is worth ~$3,200 in cash.

Hidden city ticketing — buying a flight with a layover and exiting at the layover. Ex: ATL-DFW-PHX and exiting in Dallas. Works occasionally but is prohibited by contract and can lead to account banning. Not recommended.

Stopover — staying 24h+ in an intermediate city without extra mile cost. Aeroplan allows stopover for 5,000 extra miles. Alaska allows free stopovers on award tickets, which is unique.

Open jaw — flying A to B, returning C to D. Ex: flying LAX-CDG and returning FCO-LAX. Usually costs the same as a round-trip in miles, but expands possibilities.

Fuel surcharges — fuel taxes embedded in redemptions. British Airways is notorious for charging $600+ in fuel surcharges even on premium flights. Lufthansa and Air France also charge. American AAdvantage on Iberia is moderate. Programs that don't charge: United, Aeroplan (partial), Alaska.

Devaluation — when the program raises the mile cost of a route without warning. Happened with Delta in 2015, with United in 2017, with Flying Blue in 2018. Lesson: redeem miles within 18 months of earning. Don't hoard for 5 years.

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Underused TPG/American partner network

Beyond Star Alliance and oneWorld, AAdvantage accepts redemptions on:

• Etihad Guest — first class JFK-AUH used to be 62.5k AA miles (sweet spot mostly gone, but check)
• Cathay Pacific — JFK-HKG business 70k AA miles
• JAL — JFK-NRT business 60k AA miles (one of the best deals in points)
• Royal Jordanian — Middle East routes
• SriLankan Airlines — Asia routes

Rare but powerful combination: using Bilt rent points to top off AAdvantage, then redeeming JAL business class to Tokyo for 60k miles. Cash equivalent: $5,000+.

Miles aren't bank currency. They're time currency. Whoever banks time, gains life.