While it's gone through many changes United's MileagePlus remains one of the most valuable airline loyalty programs.
Among U.S. frequent flyer programs, United MileagePlus offers the most ways to earn and use airline miles. It also offers perks you don't get with other programs.
Along with many redemption sweet spots, the MileagePlus program is known for its great economy award availability — a huge benefit as earning miles doesn't mean much if you can't use them!
MileagePlus also doesn't pass on fuel surcharges and it has relaxed award rules that help you maximize the value of your miles.
Ready to get started with the MileagePlus program?
Here's a complete overview of the frequent flyer program, including how to earn and use miles, how to reach MileagePlus Premier status and what it gets you.
It's easy to sign up for MileagePlus to start earning miles and working your way toward Premier status.
In fact, you can earn miles toward free flights without even flying!
Here are the basics of the program to help you get started.
Launched in 1979, United MileagePlus is the frequent flyer program for United Airlines. The program is free to join and allows you to earn United miles that can be redeemed for free flights and upgrades on United, Star Alliance airlines, and United's non-alliance partners.
The program also allows you to earn elite status through United spending and flight segments.
As you earn elite status, you'll get perks like free checked bags, priority boarding, and waived fees.
It's easy to sign up for MileagePlus in just a few minutes.
Go to the MileagePlus enrollment page and provide basic information including your name, contact information, and email to get your unique MileagePlus member number.
You'll use your member number when you fly United, book flights on partner airlines, or with partners like financial partners, hotel partners, and rental car partners to earn miles.
United MileagePlus has more than 35 partners. You can earn and redeem United miles on all of its partner airlines.
United Airlines is part of the Star Alliance with 25 partner airlines:
United also has 12 non-alliance partners:
After joining MileagePlus, you'll start earning Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) on flights that help you earn elite status.
As you achieve MileagePlus Premier status, you can enjoy benefits like complimentary flight upgrades with PlusPoints, preferred seating, waived fees, and more.
The program has four elite status levels:
There's also a fifth level: United Global Services.
It's an invitation-only status with unpublished requirements. Most members spend thousands each year on full-fare tickets.
Here's how to reach elite status in United's frequent flyer program and what each status level offers.
There are a few ways to earn Premier status in MileagePlus:
United introduced a major overhaul to its Premier status qualifications in 2020. Under the old system, you needed a combination of Premier Qualifying Dollars and Premier Qualifying Miles or Premier Qualifying Segments.
Since January 1, 2020, you the number of miles you fly no longer matters.
United MileagePlus is now one of the few frequent flyer programs that does not use distance as a qualification for elite benefits.
Now, you need either a combination of Premier Qualifying Points and Premier Qualifying Flights or just a higher number of PQPs.
Each flight or segment counts as a single Premier Qualifying Flight (PQF). All flight classes are worth 1 PQF except basic economy tickets which don't earn PQF.
You earn 1 Premier Qualifying Point (PQP) for every $1 you spend on:
You also earn PQP on flights operated by Star Alliance partners at a reduced rate.
With preferred partners, your award miles are divided by 5; with a MileagePlus partner, your award miles are divided by 6.
You can also earn PQP with a United credit card. PQP earning depends on the credit card.
You'll earn 500 PQP per $12,000 in spending (up to 1,000 PQP per year applied up to Premier Platinum status) with:
You'll earn 500 PQP per $12,000 in spending (up to 3,000 PQP per year applied up to Premier 1K status) with:
You'll earn 500 PQP per $12,000 in spending (up to 10,000 PQP per year applied up to 1K status) with:
* These cards are no longer available for new applicants.
You can earn a combination of PQP and PQF or just PQP to reach an elite status tier. Under the new program changes, here's what you need for each tier.
The Million Miler program allows you to earn lifetime elite status in MileagePlus. Lifetime status is still earned by lifetime flight miles:
With lifetime status, you can invite a significant other to share your Premier status.
As you reach each Premier level in the program, you can unlock travel benefits with United including more miles earned on flights. Here are the perks included with each status level.
Premier Silver
Premier Gold
Premier Platinum
Premier 1K
Along with the benefits above, many of United's fees are waived once you reach a certain Premier status.
The fee to change award travel within 60 days of departure is reduced to $75 at Gold, $50 at Platinum, and waived at 1K.
Phone booking fees and award travel change fees before 61 days are also waived at Platinum level and above.
You can also enjoy perks like:
One of the more confusing perks of Premier status in MileagePlus is its upgrade benefit.
There are many ways to qualify for free upgrades with United, depending on your Premier status.
Premier members can qualify for space-available, Complimentary Premier Upgrades (CPUs) on select United-operated flights. This perk is available to all Premier members and companions on the same reservation as long as you do not book a full-fare Economy ticket, not basic economy.
You can qualify for a CPU as soon as you book your flight if you're in a Y- or B-class fare. M-class fare upgrades are only available for 1K Premier members. This will be done automatically.
To qualify for a CPU, you must be flying in one of these regions:
The window for confirmation of CPUs depends on your elite status:
| Status Level | Upgrade Window |
|---|---|
| Premier Silver | Day of departure |
| Premier Gold | 48 hours |
| Premier Platinum | 72 hours |
| Premier 1K | 96 hours |
Award flights aren't eligible for CPUs but you can get around this if you have a United credit card.
Prior to 2019, United offered Platinum and 1K members Regional Premier Upgrades and Global Premier Upgrades to upgrade flights. These have been replaced with a new system: PlusPoints.
Premier Platinum, 1K, and Global Services members earn the following PlusPoints:
PlusPoints can be used to upgrade any flight operated by United, Lufthansa, Copa, or ANA. They can be used to upgrade several segments on the same itinerary and you can confirm an upgrade as soon as booking and up to departure.
The number of PlusPoints you need to upgrade depends on whether it's a short-haul or long-haul flight, the purchased fare, and the requested seat.
For short-haul flights, you'll need 10 to 20 PlusPoints to upgrade to Premium Plus, First, or Business.
Here's how much it costs to upgrade for long-haul flights:
You have many ways to earn United miles in the program — even without flying United! Here are the many ways to start earning United MileagePlus miles toward your next award flight.
As you can imagine, you'll earn the most United miles when you book United flights, especially if you use a United credit card.
You'll earn miles on the base fare but the number of miles depends on your MileagePlus status.
All MileagePlus members earn 5x miles on the base fare. With Premier status, you earn bonus points when you fly United:
| Status Level | Bonus Points Earned |
|---|---|
| Premier Silver | 2x miles |
| Premier Gold | 3x miles |
| Premier Platinum | 4x miles |
| Premier 1K | 6x miles |
For instance, if you book a United flight with a $200 base fare, you would earn 1,400 miles at Silver level and 2,200 miles at 1K level.
There are some exceptions to these mileage earning rates.
Here's the chart for specialty tickets.
You'll earn miles based on the fare class and flight distance for some specialty tickets like unpublished rates when you don't pay the fare directly to United.
You also earn United miles on Star Alliance airlines, but it gets a bit complicated here.
Instead of earning a flat number of miles based on the fare cost, the miles earned depends on how the flight is ticketed.
If you book a partner flight through United (with a ticket number starting with 016), you'll earn miles just as if you booked a United flight.
Book a partner flight with another airline and miles are based on the fare class and flight distance — not the base fare cost.
To make things more confusing, mileage rates also vary by partner. Click here to check how many miles you'll earn on partner flights booked through other airlines.
For example, here's the mileage rates for Hawaiian Airlines:
As you can see, you won't earn a fare class bonus for most fares.
Here's how you'll earn United miles on Lufthansa by comparison.
One of the fastest ways to earn miles is with a co-branded United credit card. You'll earn miles on all spending with bonus points on United flights.
There are currently five United cards open to new cardholders — three personal and two business cards. One of the personal cards, however, earns TravelBank cash, not miles.
Along with earning miles, you'll also get expanded award availability as a United cardholder. Economy award seats with "XN" class are only for MileagePlus elite members and cardholders.
All four United cards earn an extra 2x miles on United purchases.
The difference in earning rates between the business cards is similar.
Learn more about earning miles with United credit cards here.
Earn extra United miles when you book hotel stays!
There are many ways to earn United miles when you stay at hotels, whether you book directly with the hotel, belong to a hotel loyalty program, or book through third-party websites.
One option is booking through a booking website:
United has several partnerships with hotel loyalty programs too.
With each partner, you'll typically need to choose at check-in that you want to earn MileagePlus miles instead of hotel points. You'll earn anywhere from 250 miles per stay or 1-2x miles per dollar depending on the brand.
Earn United miles with the following hotel programs:
Note: United and Marriott have a unique RewardsPlus partnership with reciprocal elite status.
If you have at least MileagePlus Premier Gold status, you can receive complimentary Marriott Gold status. With Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status or higher, you get complimentary United Premier Silver status.
This partnership also allows you to earn Marriott points and United miles when you book Marriott stays with United flights.
Currently all United credit cards are issued by Chase. Because United partners with Chase, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to MileagePlus at a 1:1 ratio.
Just keep in mind this isn't necessarily the best use of Chase points. Make sure you're getting a value of 2.0 cents or more and have an award flight in mind.
You can earn United miles on your next rental car!
Earn miles when you book a rental car or travel on Amtrak. United has the following transportation partners:
With Hertz, you'll earn 500-1,250 miles per rental depending on your elite status. You must use discount code CDP 62455 and your MileagePlus number to earn bonus miles.
Dining out can mean earning more United miles when you enroll in MileagePlus Dining
With the MileagePlus Dining program, you can earn up to 5x United miles at hundreds of participating restaurants. You'll need to sign up for a free account and link your credit or debit cards to get started.
If you spend at least $25 at a participating restaurant within the first month, you'll get up to 3,000 bonus miles!
Shop using the MileagePlus shopping portal to rack up extra miles
You can earn United MileagePlus miles at more than 900 online retailers through the United MileagePlus shopping portal. Depending on the retailer, you'll earn up to 20x miles plus the miles you earn if you use a United credit card.
The MileagePlus portal has frequent promotions to earn even more bonus points, including limited-time offers to get up to 1,000 bonus points for spending a certain amount within the time limit.
There are also plenty of retailers at which you can earn miles in-store by linking your debit or credit card first.
You can also earn United MileagePlus miles with these partners:
From award flights on United and its 35+ airline partners to flight upgrades and even experiences, you'll have seemingly endless options for using United miles in the MileagePlus program.
Here's how to use your miles to book award flights and other redemption options available to you.
Unfortunately United no longer publishes an award chart. MileagePlus switched to dynamic pricing for United and United Express awards which means there isn't a set amount of miles needed to book an award ticket.
This means there is no minimum or maximum price for award prices on United-operated flights, but awards generally start at 5,000 miles and go up to 100,000+ miles.
With dynamic pricing there is not way to know how much a United award flight will cost
If you like to get maximum value for your miles during peak holiday seasons, that's definitely bad news. However, it has made some routes and dates more affordable if you can be flexible with your travel plans.
While there is no United award chart anymore, the good news is United still uses award charts for its partner awards.
You can use United's interactive awards chart to get an idea of the minimum number of miles for one-way flights.
You can use MileagePlus miles to book award flights not only on United but also its 35+ Star Alliance and non-alliance partners. The Star Alliance alone flies to more than 1,300 destinations around the world in 98% of countries.
Among U.S. global airlines, United ranks #1 in economy award availability with the most award destinations.
You'll find United MileagePlus has excellent award availability compared to other frequent flyer programs, especially economy awards.
When you book award flights through United, unlike many of its partners and other major carriers like American, you will never pay fuel surcharges — even on partner flights!
United has two types of award flights:
Here is an example of United's featured Saver awards:
Pro Tip: With a United credit card such as the United Explorer Card, you'll have access to hidden Saver awards only available to cardholders and MileagePlus Premier members. This expanded award availability is only offered on economy class award flights.
Make sure you read our in-depth guide to using United miles for more information on United award flight rules and the best ways to maximize the value of your miles.
Along with booking award flights, you can use your United miles to upgrade United and Star Alliance flights.
Just note this usually isn't the best value, although it may be worth it for long-haul international flights.
The amount of miles to upgrade depends on your:
Unless you're booked in B, O, or Y class — or you're a Premier member flying on a select route — you'll have to pay a co-pay.
Here's a sample of what United upgrade awards cost between the mainland U.S. and Europe.
After buying a ticket, go to "Manage Trip" on your MileagePlus account and select "Upgrade Cabin."
If there's upgrade availability, you can buy your upgrade with miles with a co-pay of up to $600. You can also upgrade with miles during the booking process.
You won't get max value, but you can redeem your United miles for gift cards
There are actually plenty of other ways to redeem United miles, although you'll probably want to stick with award flights and possibly flight upgrades.
You'll usually get a value of 0.5 cents or less per mile with the following redemption options:
MileagePlus is United Airlines' frequent flyer program. Earn miles that can be redeemed for award flights on United and partners plus free upgrades and more.
Yes, it's free to join and participate in United MileagePlus.
You'll earn miles toward free flights on United and its 35+ partners. You also earn elite status with perks like free checked bags and priority boarding.
You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to United with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Ink Business Preferred.
Earn United miles with these credit cards:
United Explorer Card
United Club Card
United TravelBank Card (earns TravelBank cash redeemable at United)
United Business Card
United Club Business Card
This depends on your travel habits. The United Club Card is worth the $495 annual fee but the United Explorer card earns United miles on several bonus categories.
United is part of the Star Alliance with 25 other members. United also has 12 non-alliance partners like Hawaiian Airlines and Aer Lingus.
United miles are usually worth about 1.3 cents each. You can get 0.5 to 6.0 cents or more when you use miles for award flights, however.
No, starting in 2019, United miles never expire.
There are four levels in MileagePlus:
Premier Silver
Premier Gold
Premier Platinum
Premier 1K
There is also an invite-only level called United Global Services.
Earn Premier status by reaching the minimum number of Premier Qualifying Points (PDPs) and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) or a higher number of PQPs.
Earn United miles in the following ways:
Fly with United or one of its 35+ partners
Use a United credit card
Shop through the MileagePlus shopping portal
Dine through the MileagePlus Dining program
Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United
Stay with United hotel partners
Use transportation partners like Hertz
Book a United Vacation
Buy eGift cards
United miles can be used for:
Award flights on United and partners
Seat upgrades on United and Star Alliance partners
Merchandise
Gift cards
Experiences
Travel including rental cars and hotel stays
United Club memberships
United Wi-Fi
TSA Precheck