Airline Loyalty Rewards
United Airlines MileagePlus Loyalty Program Review
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Branded and Partnered Credit Cards
You have a few credit card options to help you earn United miles that can be redeemed for some amazing flights.
United Airlines MileagePlus Credit Cards
Check out Chase’s co-branded United credit cards if you want to earn United miles directly.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards
Probably the best way to collect United miles is to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards. With plenty of bonus categories across these cards, you can earn tons of points.
Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)
Recommended Chase Cards (Business)
United Airlines Overview
United MileagePlus is the second-oldest frequent flyer program in the world (only a week younger than American’s AAdvantage program!).
It is consistently voted the world’s Best Frequent Flyer Program by Global Traveler Magazine’s U.S. readers. A key to the popularity of MileagePlus is the ability to redeem miles for awards on Star Alliance partner airlines.
Joining MileagePlus
To join the MileagePlus program, you simply need to sign up on their website. Membership is free and you can start earning and redeeming miles immediately.
Image Credit: United
How to Sign in to Your MileagePlus Account
Sign in on the homepage with your account number and password. United has removed the username and e-mail address sign-in method.
You’ll have to set additional security questions and remember the answers, such as your favorite pizza topping or winter sport.
Viewing Your Account Activity
Use the MileagePlus My Account page to review your activity.
Account activity is displayed in 4 sections:
- Airline activity
- Non-airline activity
- Award activity
- Upgrade activity (for upgrade certificates issued to MileagePlus members with 1K or Platinum status)
Points Expiration
United MileagePlus miles no longer expire.
United MileagePlus Program
MileagePlus Elite Status
MileagePlus has 4 elite status levels, plus the invitation-only Global Services level:
- Premier Silver
- Premier Gold
- Premier Platinum
- Premier 1K
Due to COVID-10, United has reduced requirements for status through the 2022 program year beginning on January 1, 2021:
| 2022 Status | Earn Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) | and Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) | …or Meet a Higher PQP Goal |
| Silver | 8 | 3,000 | 3,500 |
| Gold | 16 | 6,000 | 7,000 |
| Platinum | 24 | 9,000 | 10,000 |
| 1K | 36 | 13,500 | 15,000 |
Members holding United MileagePlus Premier status at the end of 2020 will receive a 25% bonus of the 2021 PQP requirement to help them achieve status for the following year.
The bonuses are:
- Silver: 875 PQP
- Gold: 1,750 PQP
- Platinum: 2,500 PQP
- Premier 1K: 3,750 PQP
The PQD waiver for Chase MileagePlus cardholders has been discontinued, but members can earn PQP with select cards.
Hot Tip: Learn more about COVID-19-related changes to United MileagePlus is our guide: Coronavirus (COVID-19): Airline Elite Status Extensions, Changes, and Update.
MileagePlus Elite Benefits
Premier Silver:
- Complimentary Economy Plus seats at check-in
- Complimentary upgrades at day of departure (subject to availability)
- Priority check-in, security, and boarding
- 1 free checked bag of 70 lbs on domestic flights, 2 free checked bags of 70 lbs for international flights (3 on any flight if traveling in business, first, or Polaris)
- Increased Saver Award availability in economy on United
- Reduced award ticket fees
- Discounted membership in CLEAR for $109 so you can breeze through airport security
- Hertz Five Star status (register here)
Premier Gold:
- All Silver benefits plus:
- Complimentary Economy Plus seats at booking
- Complimentary upgrades 48 hours prior to departure (subject to availability)
- Free same-day flight change (subject to availability)
- 2 free checked bag of 70 lbs on domestic flights, 3 free checked bags of 70 lbs for international flights (3 on any flight if traveling in business, first, or Polaris)
- United Club access when traveling internationally
- Star Alliance Gold status for access to partner lounges, even on domestic travel (excludes United Club)
- Marriott Gold Status with the RewardsPlus program (register here)
Premier Platinum:
- All Gold benefits plus:
- Complimentary upgrades 72 hours prior to departure (subject to availability)
- 40 PlusPoints to be used for flexible upgrades
- 3 free checked bags of 70 lbs on any flight
- Increased Saver Award availability in premium cabins on United
- Award fee waivers up to 60 days prior to travel
- Hertz President’s Circle status (register here)
Premier 1K:
- All Platinum benefits plus:
- Complimentary upgrades 96 hours prior to departure (subject to availability)
- 280 PlusPoints (plus the 40 you earned with Platinum status)
- Additional 20 PlusPoints for every 2,000 PQP beyond 15,000 PQP
- Complimentary award change and redeposit
- Free drinks and snacks when in economy on United
- Free membership to CLEAR so you can breeze through security
See the full line-up of benefits for all the details and benefit terms.
Value of MileagePlus Elite Status
MileagePlus has not made significant changes to its elite status benefits in several years.
Premier Silver is of limited value.
Premier Gold’s fee waiver for same-day changes (even on international flights) is a road warrior favorite. Delta excludes international flights entirely from its same-day change program, and American only waives fees for Executive Platinum.
Premier Gold also comes with Star Alliance Gold status. Many travelers do not realize that if your airport has a Star Alliance member lounge, you can use that lounge when flying any Star Alliance airline (even United domestically).
For example, when flying Los Angeles to New York, you will not get United Club access. However, with Premier Gold you can visit the superb Star Alliance Lounge in the Tom Bradley International Terminal (you can enter with a boarding pass for any terminal).
Premier Platinum recently saw the introduction of fees for changes to award tickets within 60 days of travel. Anecdotally, upgrade rates are low even when using PlusPoints. Premier Platinum has fallen behind Delta Platinum, but it is roughly on a par with American’s new Platinum Pro.
Premier 1K members enjoy a higher level of service and still have award fee waivers. The headline benefit of PlusPoints is not all it seems: upgrade availability on international routes is severely limited, though travelers no longer have to gamble in advance by buying more expensive upgrade-eligible flights than the cheapest economy flights. Delta and American have much more customer-friendly upgrade systems for their top-tier elites.
How to Earn United Miles
You’ll have plenty of ways to earn United miles between flights and credit card partnerships.
Earn Miles Through Flying
Mileage earning on United Airlines and select partner flights is now based on ticket price (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, excluding government-imposed taxes and fees):
- General Member – 5 miles/dollar
- Premier Silver – 7 miles/dollar
- Premier Gold – 8 miles/dollar
- Premier Platinum – 9 miles/dollar
- Premier 1K – 11 miles/dollar
Other partners still earn based on distance, but depending on fare class you may earn more or less than 100% of the distance flown. Consult the MileagePlus airline partner page to see how many miles your ticket will earn.
For chasing elite status, Premier Qualifying Dollars can only be earned on United flights and United flight-numbered codeshares.
| Aegean | Ethiopian |
| Air Canada | EVA Air |
| Air China | LOT Polish Airlines |
| Air India | Lufthansa |
| Air New Zealand | Scandinavian Airlines |
| ANA | Shenzhen Airlines |
| Asiana Airlines | Singapore Airlines |
| Austrian | South African Airways |
| Avianca | SWISS |
| Brussels Airlines | TAP Air Portugal |
| Copa Airlines | Thai Airways |
| Croatia Airlines | Turkish Airlines |
| Egypt Air | United Airlines |
United also has several other partners outside of Star Alliance that could fit your needs.
| Other Partners | |
| Aer Lingus | Germanwings |
| Aeromar | Great Lakes Airlines |
| Air Dolomiti | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Azul | Island Air |
| Cape Air | Jet Airways |
| Edelweiss | Silver Airways |
| Eurowings | |
Earning Miles With Credit Cards
Extra miles can be earned through MileagePlus credit card spending and activity with MileagePlus partners. Chase offers several co-branded credit cards with United that can help you earn United miles.
United is a Chase transfer partner at a 1:1 ratio. Because Chase credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards often have very lucrative bonus categories, you can often earn the most United miles using these cards.
How to Redeem United Miles
Time to spend those hard earned miles! On United, all award travel is booked one-way for flexibility, so you can book a different award type or even class of service on your outbound and return flights.
You can even purchase only a one-way ticket if there are one-way sale fares. This is especially true for international travel, since international origin one-way tickets are usually cheaper than U.S. origin tickets.
United provides an award chart for their destinations that is helpful for planning out your travel.
New in 2019, United is testing new dymanic pricing, with awards as low as 5,000 miles one-way. Award prices are still capped to the maximums in the award chart.
Types of Award Redemptions
Saver Awards give you the best bang for your buck, but are capacity-controlled and may be restricted, especially during peak travel periods. Check out United’s Saver Award homepage for up-to-date promotions on Saver Award destinations and times.
Standard Awards give you more availability while requiring more miles, but are still capacity-restricted unless you’re a MileagePlus Premier member or United ExplorerSM Card holder.
Travelers in these categories also have the benefit of booking up to the last seat. Premier members can also waitlist for international premier cabin award seats, which will be awarded as seats become available up to 24 hours before departure.
MileagePlus Upgrade Awards can be purchased on most ticket types. Depending on your premier status, these can be complimentary on domestic flights, or cleared immediately on international segments.
While award bookings may be made using another person’s miles and account, benefits such as Economy Plus seating and other Premier member privileges will only apply if the traveler themselves is a Premier member.
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The information regarding the United Club℠ Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the United℠ Explorer Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the United Club℠ Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
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About Alex Miller
Founder and CEO of Upgraded Points, Alex is a leader in the industry and has earned and redeemed millions of points and miles. He frequently discusses the award travel industry with CNBC, Fox Business, The New York Times, and more.
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13 comments
Lonestar
April 21, 2018
GPUs and RPUs are now just about useless. They used to be great and you could just upgrade almost anything. Now it usually gets full of paid folks who can pay as little as 40 buck sometimes last minute. Only Platinum and higher can get these, so usually your status already has you at that level. The biggest issue is that it no longer works on award tickets which was the only time I really wanted to use them. United wants you to think you are getting something when you are not. Their system really went downhill since Continental.
mick
August 05, 2019
Your website does not seem to discuss the United MileagePlus Club Card in credit card discussions. This makes me worried that you are not presenting all information that is available or that you are not being balanced.
This card can be very useful for United flyers, and even if you do not favor it, I believe it (and perhaps others?) should be discussed.
Christine Krzyszton
August 05, 2019
Hi Mick. We have mentioned the United Club Card in several of our articles. Here is an example in our article on the best cards for United flyers: /best-credit-cards-for-united-flyers/
Nick
September 05, 2019
This airline has no ethics. They drag a passenger out of the plane after they beat him up – with absolutely no regret. This was not an isolated incident but a philosophy ingrained in their culture and DNA.
In my case, I had been 1k with them for 5 years – had 1.2 million miles in my account – and they canceled my account since I gave my GPU, which I had earned by flying with them, to someone. Thief rouge organization. Stay away.
Michael Jan Brooks
May 29, 2021
How do you win free flights for a year on “Your Shot to Fly”?
Jarrod West
May 31, 2021
Hi Michael,
The details of that promotion can be found here on the United website: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/your-shot-to-fly-sweepstakes.html
Scott
July 14, 2021
You broke the GPU rules didn’t you?
Jarrod West
July 15, 2021
Hi Scott,
I’m not sure I know what you mean? Is your comment in reply to something in the article?
bryan
January 24, 2022
I am in the UK. How do I transfer and use another family member’s miles with mine?
Jarrod West
January 24, 2022
Hi Bryan,
This seldom makes sense to do, as United charges a $30 fee plus $7.50 for every 500 miles transferred, with a limit of 15,000 miles transferred per year.
Gary72
February 14, 2022
How do you match Air Canada silver status to United silver status?
Jarrod West
February 18, 2022
Hi Gary,
You can submit a status match request at this page on the United website.
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