New Offers To Buy a Higher Status Tier With United Airlines

Didn’t qualify for the elite status you wanted with United Airlines? You might be able to pay to move up a tier with these new offers.

Not everyone will be eligible. In fact, the vast majority of our team didn’t have any offers. Additionally, these status buy-up offers from United may not be worth it, and you’ll need to make some personal decisions about the value you place on MileagePlus elite status.

Here’s a look at this latest promotion and how to check your offer.

Pay To Upgrade Your United Elite Status

United Airlines is hoping some of its MileagePlus members didn’t reach the elite tier they want, so it’s targeting various members with the ability to pay to upgrade from their current tier to the next tier above it.

You can check your current offer here. United will be very direct about it if you aren’t eligible for this offer.

For example, we saw an offer to upgrade from United Premier Silver to Premier Gold for $3,839 or 383,940 miles. Note that this price goes up after January 31, 2025. With the current offer, your miles are worth around 1 cent each.

Offers seem to defy logic, though. I also have an offer to move from Premier Silver to Premier Gold status, but my cost is higher. Paying $4,556 is an 18.7% price increase over the offer above.

It also doesn’t make sense considering I was much closer to earning United Gold status than the other person — meaning my cost is higher to close a smaller gap from my current tier to the next one.

Is It Worth It?

As offers are personalized, you’ll need to decide on your own how you value United elite status. What are the perks at the next tier worth to you, and is that a higher value than the price you’ll have to pay to move up — assuming you’re eligible for this promotion?

If you’re interested in some of the perks with United MileagePlus elite status, it’s also worth pointing out that just holding a United Airlines credit card can mirror some of those benefits. Depending on the card, you can get things like priority boarding or lounge access without any effort or flight requirements.

If you’re interested in the offer you received, paying cash is the better option — unless you just have so many United miles you don’t know what to do with them. We value United miles at 1.2 cents apiece, so redeeming them at 1 cent each for this offer isn’t a great value.

Final Thoughts

United Airlines is offering a status buy-up to select members, letting you pay to move from your current status level to the one above it. Offers are targeted to each individual, and you can pay with cash or miles, though we advise against the latter. If you have an offer, consider the cost carefully and compare that against the value you expect to obtain from the elevated benefits over the next year. Ensure the cost is worth it before pulling out your wallet.