United Offers 5 New Ways To Use PlusPoints (Beyond Flight Upgrades)

Updated: June 19, 2025, 12:57pm CDT

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Table of Contents

What Are United PlusPoints?
New Options for Using PlusPoints
How To Exchange United PlusPoints
Final Thoughts

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If you’re a United elite member frustrated about the PlusPoints system, you’ll now be able to use these rewards in additional ways.

Not all of these options will provide equal value, and there are restrictions on exchanging your PlusPoints for other perks. Overall, many customers who find the current system frustrating may be interested in other options for using their PlusPoints before they expire, even if those options aren’t as valuable as an upgrade to Polaris business class.

Here are the changes you should know.

What Are United PlusPoints?

United PlusPoints are earned as you move up the elite status ranks in the MileagePlus program. For long, these perks could only be redeemed for flight upgrades, but now, there are a few new options.

United Polaris business class — You’ll still be able to use PlusPoints for flight upgrades, along with the new options. Image Credit: Katie Corrigan Seemann

Once earned, PlusPoints are valid until January 31 at the end of the following program year. For example, PlusPoints earned in 2025 are valid until January 31, 2027.

New Options for Using PlusPoints

Earlier this year, United indicated elite status program changes were coming soon. Beyond just upgrading flights, the airline is now providing more options for using these PlusPoints.

That’s good news for travelers who have complained about the frustration of trying to use PlusPoints, seeing their upgrade requests not clear on the day of the flight, and potentially losing their PlusPoints to expiration.

Now, United is letting you exchange PlusPoints for things like TravelBank cash, gifting status to others, or even MileagePlus miles to use for award tickets. A chart outlining the new options is available here.

You’ll be able to exchange a maximum of 600 PlusPoints per expiration date, even if you have more than that set to expire on the same date. The chart below provides an overview of the number of PlusPoints (across the top) that you can exchange for various benefits:

SCROLL FOR MORE

	10	20	40	80	100	160	320	440	600
Gift Premier status			Silver (max 3 times)		Gold (max 2 times)			Platinum (max 1 time)	1K (max 1 time)
TravelBank cash	$20	$40	$80	$160	$200 max
Bonus miles	1,500	3,000	6,000	12,000	15,000 max
PQFs						2	4 max
PQPs	100	200	400	800	1,000	1,600 max

United will let you redeem PlusPoints with an expiration date of January 31, 2027, or later for these new exchange options. PlusPoints with an earlier expiration date can’t be redeemed using these new methods.

Additionally, you’ll have until March 31 of the year prior to your PlusPoints’ expiration to exchange them. After that, they’re only valid for flight upgrades until they expire. That means PlusPoints expiring on January 31, 2027, must be exchanged by March 31, 2026, to use these new options.

Speaking of, there are 5 new options: gifting premier status, TravelBank cash, bonus miles, PQF credits, and PQPs in your account. You’ll be able to exchange PlusPoints for benefits multiple times each year — it’s not a one-time-only opportunity.

1. Exchanging PlusPoints for a Status Gift

If you’d like to gift United elite status to someone, you can do so by trading in some PlusPoints.

Gifting Premier Silver status costs 40 PlusPoints, while gifting Premier Gold costs 100 PlusPoints. You can gift Premier Silver a maximum of 3 times, but you can only gift Premier Gold twice each year. You have the option to gift Premier Platinum and Premier 1K status once each year. You’ll exchange 440 PlusPoints to gift the Platinum tier, while you’ll exchange 600 PlusPoints (the annual maximum) to gift top-tier 1K status.

2. TravelBank Cash

You can exchange PlusPoints for TravelBank cash at a rate of $2 per point. Thus, 10 PlusPoints become $20, 20 Points become $40 — up to the maximum of 100 PlusPoints becoming $200.

TravelBank cash can be used to purchase future United flights, and it’s worth face value on these purchases.

3. Bonus Miles

You can convert PlusPoints into United Airlines miles at a rate of 10 PlusPoints to 1,500 miles. The maximum redemption is 100 PlusPoints for 15,000 miles.

We value United miles at 1.2 cents each, meaning you’re turning 10 PlusPoints into $18 worth of miles.

Hot Tip:

Check out the best ways to redeem United Airlines miles for top value.

4. Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs)

Each year, you need to earn PQFs to reach United Airlines status. For the 2025 qualification year, you need the following elements to reach status:

Premier Silver: Either 15 PQFs and 5,000 PQPs or 6,000 PQPs
Premier Gold: Either 30 PQFs and 10,000 PQPs or 12,000 PQPs
Premier Platinum: Either 45 PQFs and 15,000 PQPs or 18,000 PQPs
Premier 1K: Either 60 PQFs and 22,000 PQPs or 28,000 PQPs

Premier Qualifying Flights are based on flight segments, so a flight from Los Angeles to Indianapolis with a connection in Chicago would yield 2 PQFs — since you took 2 flights. Just note that you don’t earn PQFs on basic economy tickets.

If you’re short on PQFs for status qualification, you’ll now be able to exchange 160 PlusPoints for 2 PQFs or 320 PlusPoints for 4 PQFs. Those are the only 2 options in this category.

5. Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs)

Similarly, if you’re short on PQPs for your status goals, you’ll be able to exchange PlusPoints at a rate of 10 points per 100 PQPs. The minimum redemption is 10 PlusPoints for 100 PQPs, while the maximum is 160 PlusPoints for 1,600 PQPs.

Remember that Chase and United also increased the number of PQPs you can earn from credit card spending earlier this year.

How To Exchange United PlusPoints

If you’re interested in these new redemption options, log in to your MileagePlus account and review your PlusPoints balance. Then, head to the exchange portal. You’ll add items to your cart like a typical online shopping experience, and then confirm details to finalize the exchange.

Exchange United PlusPoints page — Image Credit: United Airlines

You also can continue to use PlusPoints in the traditional way: for an upgrade on a flight. Pricing is as follows:

10 PlusPoints to move from Premium Plus to business class on short-haul flights
20 PlusPoints
- To move from economy to business or first on short-haul flights
- To move from economy to Premium Plus on short-haul flights
- To move from economy to Premium Plus on long-haul flights
30 PlusPoints to move from Premium Plus to Polaris business class on long-haul flights
40 PlusPoints to move from economy to Polaris business class on long-haul flights
80 PlusPoints to move from discounted economy to Polaris business class on long-haul flights

PlusPoints are only deducted from your account after completing an exchange or after a flight upgrade is confirmed.

Hot Tip:

Did you know it’s possible to use PlusPoints on a few partner airlines? These requests always cost 40 PlusPoints, and those are deducted from your account immediately.

Final Thoughts

As promised, United Airlines has rolled out additional ways to use PlusPoints beyond flight upgrades. The value you assign to some of these options will be extremely subjective.

You should carefully analyze them in light of your previous PlusPoints redemptions — or how often you let PlusPoints expire because your upgrade requests didn’t clear before a flight.