United Airlines' Exciting Perk Lets You Add An Extra City To Your Itinerary For Free

With flight prices continuously rising, and rising, and rising, it makes sense that frequent travelers and wanderlust enthusiasts would want to make the most out of their budget by looking into tips and strategies to successfully book the cheapest flights out there. From hunting for mid-week fares to using incognito browser windows, signing up for alerts, and booking well in advance, flyers are always on the lookout for the next "great hack" — all with the hope of making air travel just a little more affordable.

That said, while a lot of these strategies are typically just flight booking myths that don't affect ticket prices, there are still ways out there to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to planning a trip. This is especially true if you're a frequent flyer with United Airlines who has collected miles over the years. Enter: the Excursionist Perk.

Available through the airline's MileagePlus loyalty program, United's little-known Excursionist Perk lets you add an extra flight segment to your trip without using up any extra miles. Basically, think of it as a free one-way flight within your already-planned longer journey that allows you to visit more destinations while, at the same time, keeping all of those pesky flight costs down. Better yet, unlike some complicated airline rules filled with restrictions and exclusions, United's Excursionist Perk is actually pretty easy to use as long as you meet the conditions.

Although United Airlines' website is relatively vague regarding their Excursionist Perk program, there's an easy way to understand what's allowed and what isn't. In order to qualify for a "free" flight, the airline really only has four conditions that travelers need to follow. First, your larger trip has to start and end in the same region (think North America). Second, the "free" leg of your trip has to take you outside of that region and into a different one (like Europe, for example). Third, your Excursionist Perk flight has to stay within the same region you've just flown to (in this scenario, within Europe only). Finally, United's last requirement is that the free flight isn't in a higher cabin class than the one before it (but lower is totally fine).

Let's break this down using a real-life scenario. For example, if you're planning a trip to Asia, you could fly from San Francisco to Tokyo, add in a free flight sometime during your travels from Tokyo to Seoul, and then fly home from Seoul to San Francisco. In this specific case, the Tokyo to Seoul segment would cost no additional miles.

Beyond that, you can get even more creative with your itineraries if you want. That could look a little something like this: flying from New York to Madrid, choosing a free flight from Barcelona to Rome, and then flying back to New York from Paris. The Barcelona-to-Rome leg of the journey would come out at no extra cost. As for getting from one spot to the other once you've touched down in Europe, trains are a great budget and eco-friendly option to move around between cities until you've made it to your departure destination before heading back home.

Overall, United's Excursionist Perk is a great way to travel more for less while helping you make the most out of your airline miles — which might otherwise sit in your account untouched for however long. Plus, the best part about the entire process is that you don't even need any special codes or booking platforms to snag the deal. Conveniently, United's website will automatically apply the discount when you book directly through their website using the multi-city search option. Just make sure you tick the "book with miles" box before you enter your desired routes.

Along with the Excursionist Perk, United Airline's MileagePlus program also has several other benefits going for it. This includes features like miles that never expire, no fuel surcharges on mile-bought tickets, access to members-only sales events, and premium cabin redemptions to help make long-haul trips a little more comfortable. This ultimately means that, by signing up, you have plenty of options when it comes to maximizing your rewards beyond just getting a free flight every now and then. Although, let's be honest: That's already a fantastic deal on its own.