United Airlines MileagePlus: Guide to earning and redeeming miles, elite status and more

United’s MileagePlus program has made some recent changes, such as devaluing first-class partner redemptions in 2024 and overhauling its cobranded credit cards earlier this year. However, since United miles never expire, PlusPoints and miles can be used to confirm long-haul Polaris upgrades and MileagePlus now lets you pool miles, the program still has many bright spots.

This guide will provide you with all the necessary information on the program, including how to earn United miles and status and how to maximize your miles for award travel.

Related: Best frequent flyer programs for US travelers

United MileagePlus overview

With over 100 million members, United MileagePlus is one of the largest loyalty programs in the world.

MileagePlus members can earn miles by flying United and its partners, as well as by spending on their credit cards, shopping and dining. You can redeem your miles for award travel on the airline as well as its Star Alliance partners.

MileagePlus members can also earn United elite status by meeting a certain threshold of Premier qualifying points. Elite status includes additional benefits, such as upgrades, preferred and Economy Plus seating, priority boarding and free checked bags. Additionally, United offers various cobranded credit cards that can help members earn miles more quickly and enjoy additional perks.

Related: How to get maximum value from the United MileagePlus program

United Airlines partners

You can earn and redeem miles with various international airlines through United Airlines’ membership in Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance. United Premier members can often enjoy perks like lounge access (depending on status) and extra baggage allowance when traveling with these partners.

Here’s a look at United’s current Star Alliance partners:

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• Aegean Airlines
• Air Canada
• Air China
• Air India
• Air New Zealand
• All Nippon Airways
• Asiana Airlines
• Austrian Airlines
• Avianca
• Brussels Airlines
• Copa Airlines
• Croatia Airlines
• Egyptair
• Ethiopian Airlines
• EVA Airways
• Juneyao Airlines (a connecting partner)
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Shenzhen Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways
• Swiss
• TAP Air Portugal
• Thai Airways
• Turkish Airlines

United also partners with several airlines outside of Star Alliance:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Dolomiti
• Airlink
• Azul Brazilian Airlines
• Cape Air
• Discover Airlines
• Edelweiss
• Emirates
• Eurowings
• FlyDubai
• Hawaiian Airlines
• JSX
• Lufthansa City Airlines
• Olympic Air
• Silver Airways
• Virgin Australia

Partners can have their own limitations regarding MileagePlus members — including applicable bonuses, eligible fare classes and excluded routes — so be sure to review United’s airline partners page for full details of each one.

Related: The best websites to search for Star Alliance award availability

United Airlines Premier status

MileagePlus has four levels of elite status: Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum and Premier 1K. There’s also an exclusive Global Services tier, which you can only earn after completing 4 million flight miles or receiving a personal invitation.

There are two ways to earn United Premier status: With a combination of Premier qualifying points and Premier qualifying flights or by earning PQPs alone. To earn any level of status, you must also take at least four United or United Express flights.

You can earn PQFs and PQPs by flying United or its partners. You can also earn PQPs by spending on most of United’s cobranded credit cards.

This is what it takes to qualify for United status in 2025 (valid through Jan. 31, 2027):

United Premier members enjoy perks like bonus miles on paid tickets, free checked bags and complimentary waitlisted upgrades on most United-operated flights.

Higher-tier members have access to more valuable perks like complimentary Economy Plus seating, PlusPoints (which can be used to confirm upgrades), Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Star Alliance Gold status (which provides benefits like lounge access, priority boarding, extra bags and more when you fly on other Star Alliance carriers).

Related: United unveils big Premier status, PlusPoints changes for 2025

How to earn United miles

You can refer to our guide on how to earn United miles for the complete picture, but here are some of the most popular ways to boost your MileagePlus balance.

Fly on United Airlines

When flying on United-marketed and -operated tickets, you earn MileagePlus miles (up to 75,000 miles per ticket) based on your ticket’s price minus taxes and your MileagePlus status rather than the distance you fly.

Here’s how many miles you’ll earn per dollar spent based on your level of status:

• General member: 5 miles
• Premier Silver: 7 miles
• Premier Gold: 8 miles
• Premier Platinum: 9 miles
• Premier 1K: 11 miles

For example, suppose you buy a one-way United ticket from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with a base fare of $200 and $30 in taxes and fees. In that case, you’d earn 1,000 miles as a regular MileagePlus member but 2,200 miles if you’re a top-tier Premier 1K member.

These earning rates also apply if you book United’s basic economy fare class.

Fly on United partner airlines

You can earn MileagePlus miles when flying with United’s partners, but it can be complicated. If you book a partner flight through United (indicated by a 016 ticket number), you’ll earn miles based on your ticket fare and elite status.

But if you book on partner ticket stock, you’ll earn miles based on the length of your flight and fare class. Generally, you can see your fare class when booking your flight or in your confirmation email. Mileage-earning rates vary by airline, so check your booking class and use United’s partner airline list to determine your award miles. As expected, premium cabin tickets earn more miles than economy tickets, and Premier members are eligible for bonus miles on select partners.

Related: United’s best-kept elite status secret: How to earn PQPs faster with partner flights

Get and use United Airlines credit cards

United’s cobranded credit cards issued by Chase are among the most popular ways to earn MileagePlus miles (and, on some cards, PQPs). Here’s a look at the current welcome bonuses on some of our favorites:

Related: Why someone in your family needs a United credit card

Transfer credit card points

There are two transferable currencies that partner with United MileagePlus: Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards. You can transfer points from either program to your MileagePlus account at a 1:1 ratio, and transfers usually happen instantly — making this an easy way to boost your balance for a United redemption.

Related: How to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United

More ways to earn United miles

Like most airlines, United has an online shopping portal where you can earn miles for your online purchases. The MileagePlus X app provides another way to earn bonus miles on everyday purchases, both in-store and online.

Meanwhile, MileagePlus Dining awards up to 5 miles per dollar when you dine at participating restaurants and use a linked credit card.

Other ways to earn United miles include buying miles and transferring Marriott Bonvoy points, as well as booking hotels, car rentals and cruises through the United travel portal.

Related: Earn MileagePlus miles with United’s airline, hotel and credit card partners

United Miles pooling

In 2024, United announced the addition of miles pooling, which will allow MileagePlus members of all ages to share and redeem miles in one account.

This is especially useful for families. Since there is no age restriction on joining MileagePlus, kids can earn miles and pool them with their parents’ miles toward a larger redemption. A pool can have up to five members. You can choose how many of your miles to put in a pool, and there is no limit to how many miles you can contribute.

To get started pooling, you must be at least 18 years old to create a pool and become the “pool leader.” You’ll then have the power to add other members and decide which members have redemption privileges.

There are a few stipulations. When you’re contributing miles to a pool, you have 24 hours to reverse a transaction, after which you cannot get your pooled miles back. You can also only operate in one pool at a time. If you exit a pool, there’s a 90-day “cooling” period before you can join another pool or before a new member can join your old pool.

Lastly, you cannot pool Premier qualifying points, and pooling miles does not affect your Premier status.

Related: Airlines that allow families to pool miles

How to redeem United miles

United has retired its award charts and now uses dynamic award pricing. Still, there are ways to maximize the program.

Generally, you’ll get the most value out of your miles when you redeem them for flights, which is easy to do on United’s website or app. United credit card holders and Premier members can access additional award space on United flights, so be sure to log into your MileagePlus account before searching for award flights if you fall into these categories.

United also has a payment option called Money + Miles. However, we don’t recommend this because it offers a fixed rate of 1 cent per mile — well below our April 2025 valuation of 1.35 cents for United miles.

The same goes for most other ways to redeem United miles, such as with United Club memberships, inflight Wi-Fi purchases, TSA PreCheck fees, car rentals, hotel stays, retail products and gift cards. The value you’ll get from these redemptions is almost always significantly lower than what you’ll get on an award ticket.

Related: How to exchange your unwanted gift cards for United miles

Best uses of United miles

You might find award options starting around 5,000 miles on high-frequency, short-haul flights. Although these flights almost always cost less than $100, these awards can be a great way to keep your travel plans flexible since United no longer charges redeposit fees when you cancel award flights.

You can also find transcontinental flights starting at 15,000 miles in economy class or 30,000 miles in business class when there’s saver award space. You might consider keeping a healthy “just in case” stash of miles in your MileagePlus account for last-minute situations.

For something a little more complex, the United Excursionist Perk is a great way to maximize your United miles when booking multicity trips. Basically, the first flight within a region different from your departure and destination region is free in the same class as the preceding flight. For example, if you book a round-trip business-class flight from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) and back, you can also get a “free” business-class flight from London to another European airport, such as Brussels Airport (BRU).

Finally, you can consider using United miles to fly on top partner carriers — including those with products like ANA’s “The Room” business class or EVA Air’s business class, which offer high-end amenities but come with high award rates.

Related: Amazing first-class seats you can book with points and miles

Bottom line

Since United has a wide network — and adds new routes frequently — it’s easy to earn and redeem MileagePlus miles on flights. If you live near a United hub or want to enjoy the perks of elite status, sticking with the MileagePlus loyalty program could make sense. Even if you don’t fly United very often or don’t care about elite status, you may still find it useful to transfer miles from the program’s credit card transfer partners.

Whichever type of United flyer you are, knowing the intricacies of the MileagePlus program can be rewarding.