United to Reveal a Daily Surprise Flight Deal for International Destinations This Week

If your New Year’s resolution is to travel more and embrace spontaneity, United Airlines' new mystery sale might just be the ticket. They’re launching a week-long event for MileagePlus members called Adventure Week. Every day from January 8 to 12, at midnight Central Time, United will unveil a new international destination on sale—for 24 hours. The surprise location for January 8 is London.

Here’s how to secure the discounted award tickets.

This sale is exclusively for MileagePlus members, the airline's frequent flyer program; members can snag round-trip tickets from the U.S. to surprise international locations for just 50,000 miles (plus taxes and fees starting at $194.60).

To access the discounted fare, travelers must log into their United MileagePlus account, select their departure city and the announced surprise destination (Monday’s is London’s Heathrow Airport), enter their travel dates, and click submit—the fares are already adjusted in the system.

In contrast to previous fare promotions, this time United has no blackout dates, but travelers must begin and conclude their trips between January 10 and March 20, 2024.

There are additional details to consider: travelers must book by 11:59 p.m. CT each day, the fares are limited to United Economy, and flights must start in the continental U.S. (Alaska and Hawai’i are excluded). However, there’s no cap on the number of award tickets one can reserve.

United has eliminated its award chart, making it trickier to estimate the miles needed for flights at other times of the year. For example, searches for round-trip tickets to London in April 2024 showed rates from 30,000 to 40,000 miles each way, so you can anticipate saving at least 10,000 miles with this promotion.

If your United account lacks sufficient miles for a ticket but you have a Chase Ultimate Rewards account (linked to Chase cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred) with enough points, you can transfer them at a 1:1 ratio (meaning 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points equal 50,000 United miles).

Those interested in the sale can check the announcement page on United’s website or use the United app to see which international destination is revealed each day.