A Test of Your Knowledge of United Awards (Updated with Answer)

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How many miles would it cost to book a United award in economy from Aruba to Panama City to Bogota to the Galapagos with stops for as long as you’d like in each place? 

There is a layover in Quito, but that doesn’t affect the price. For reference, this single award would look something like this:

This award costs only 20,000 United miles. As you can see from United’s award chart, travel within the Caribbean, Central America, and Northern South America is only 10,000 miles each way in economy.

United allows one stopover per “roundtrip award.” United allows two open jaws per roundtrip award, and is very permissive about those open jaws. Combined, you can pretty much put together any three one way awards into a roundtrip award.

As seen above, I put three itineraries that would cost 10,000 United miles each, and they cost me 20,000 miles total. 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, but for United 10,000 + 10,000 + 10,000 can equal 20,000. I’ll have another post soon exploring some awards you can book to take advantage of United’s stopover and open jaw rules when you have no interest in a roundtrip award.