I recently wrote about an offer from United’s MileagePlus X. With the offer, you could earn 500 bonus miles after making your first purchase through the app.

This got me thinking that maybe it was time to finally give the MileagePlus X app a try.

I had planned to use the app when it came out but never bothered. The way MileagePlus X works is that you’re essentially paying through the app by pre-buying a gift card for your purchase. Once you get your final price at the register, you buy an e-gift card through the app for the exact amount. The store/ restaurant then scans it to pay for the transaction.

My main problem with this kind of set-up was that I didn’t want to get stuck with gift cards if I decided to return an item. This clearly isn’t an issue for restaurants but for clothes and other goods, it could be one.

When the recent bonus offer came out, I decided to reinstall the MileagePlus X app on my phone. Various comments from readers convinced me to give it a try.

Last weekend, we ended up doing some shopping at Old Navy. It turns out that MileagePlus X was offering 5 points per $1.

When I got to the register, I gave the app a try. Once I received the total for our purchase, I entered it into the MileagePlus X app and almost instantly, an e-gift card popped up.

The cashier scanned the app, entered the pin and the transaction was complete! Easy enough, and it wasn’t really any longer than paying by credit card directly.

It made me wonder if I’ve been throwing some easy miles away in recent years…

Again, the only issue I have with using MileagePlus X is related to returns. If we decide to return any of our items, Old Navy will be refunding us with a gift card not with a refund to our credit card. We aren’t frequent shoppers at Old Navy so this could be annoying but in the end, we can definitely find something else to use the refund for.

Have you used the United MileagePlus X app? If so, do you find it easy to use?