Starting March 2015, United will be moving to a revenue based rewards system for the MileagePlus loyalty program. I wrote about the details of these changes a few days ago: [Crappy new changes coming to United’s MileagePlus program]. For 2015, basic MileagePlus members will only earn you 5 miles per dollar spent, a fraction of what most of us are earning for our flights today.
With these upcoming changes coming to United’s loyalty program, some of us will probably want to drown our sorrows. I present to you a short list of Houston Bars, Pubs, and places that have a good winelist that reward up to 5 miles per dollar spent via United’s MileagePlus Dining program. Drinking for the same amount of miles per dollar as buying an actual ticket on an airplane seems like a fitting alternative to butt-in-seat economy torture. If you’re not familiar with United’s MileagePlus Dining program, you can read more about it here: [Earn free miles: United MileagePlus Dining program].
Without further ado..
- Oporto Cafe (3833 Richmond Ave)
- Lucky Strike-Houston (1201 San Jacinto St.)
- Saint Dane’s Bar and Grill (502 Elgin St.)
- Hearsay Gastro Lounge (218 Travis St.)
- Christian’s Tailgate Grill & Bar (2000 Bagby St)
- The Queen Vic Pub & Kitchen (2712 Richmond Ave)
- Mi Luna Tapas Restaurant & Bar (Rice Village)
- Boneyard Drinkery (8150 Washington Ave) [LEAVING PROGRAM 6/30]
- La Vista (1936 Fountain View Dr.)
- Winetopia (6363 San Felipe St.)
- Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse (8250 Westheimer Rd.) [Probably earn more from your food, unless you bling out your wine]
It should be noted that bars and restaurants leave (or join) the MileagePlus Dining program often, so this list will probably not be valid forever. For example, there once was a time when Boheme in Montrose was part of the program, and now it isn’t. During that time I think I probably earned a few thousand miles from them alone. (No, I don’t have a drinking problem; probably.)
There is an up-to-date restaurant and bar list on United’s MileagePlus Dining site, [here]. I guess it should go without saying, but if you haven’t registered a credit card for this program, you should. It’s one of the easiest ways to earn miles today.
One last thing to consider – if you have a card that earns miles or points for “Dining” like the Chase Sapphire Preferred you’ll probably earn an extra two points for most of the places on the list. So, 7 miles per dollar spent in that case. Now if you’ll excuse me, It’s time to drink up the miles for my next vacation.