Limited-Time 3000 Bonus United Miles from Rocketmiles.com For First-Time User

I did not participate in Rocketmiles' 3000 bonus miles promotion in the past.

3,000 Bonus United Airlines miles link
3,000 Bonus Alaska Airlines milies link
3,000 Bonus American Airlines miles link (already expired)

It makes sense for us to earn the limited-time promotion 3000 bonus United miles for first-time user this time.  The purchase met my following checklist criteria:

• 5,000 bonus UA miles for two nights is a good deal: 3,000 bonus United Airline miles in addition to the minimum 1000 United Airline miles per night stay.  Typical cost for 5,000 United miles is $188.  An ideal purchase would be to book one hotel night using the UA link, and the 2nd hotel night using the AA link.  But the hotels we selected require minimum two night stay purchase via Rocketmiles.com.

We booked 6 hotel nights using my Barclay Arrival Plus card, Isa's Barclay Arrival card and my mother's Chase Marriott card, earning 5,000 UA miles for each of us.

• Rocketmiles hotel stay purchases are eligible to be redeemed by Barclay Arrival points.  Isa and I each had $200 worth of points from our Barclay Arrival card accounts.  Now is the perfect time to redeem the points.  Isa and I will each earn 5,000 bonus United miles, worth $188.  Note, because Barclay allows redemption only if over $25, redeem in a way such that you would still have over $25 credit.  In my case below, I still have $36 credit to redeem for travel expense.

• My mother needs 5,000 UA miles to top off her UA account to redeem business class flight ticket to Taiwan.  (My parents never fly business-class flight in the past.  I plan to give them a treat for their next flight to Taiwan.  The idea is to use UA miles; paying cash is too expensive.)  Rocketmiles hotel offering price seems to be on average 10% higher than that listed in Hotels.com for advanced purchase (i.e. non-refundable).  The hotel night we booked is about $100 per night on Rocketmiles.com and $90 per night on Hotels.com.  Therefore, paying additional $228 for two nights to receive 5,000 UA miles (worth $188) is a decent deal.

During the last month, I have given credit card bonus point program more thoughts.  I become more interested in the other finance matters.  So, from now on, regarding credit card sign-up bonuses, I will share about only those that has a potential value of at least $500.  I like to spend more time to research, learn and share with you all about general finance subjects.  Thanks.


Updated: December 12, 2014