United Airlines MileagePlus Loyalty Program Review

- Updated: December 14, 2022|

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United Airlines Summary Table

Home Country U.S.
Airline Website United.com
Loyalty Program MileagePlus
Major Hubs Chicago-O’Hare, Newark, Washington-Dulles, Houston Intercontinental, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo-Narita, Guam
Airline Alliance Star Alliance
Points Are Worth ~1.4 cents per mile
Signature Lounge United Club, United Polaris Lounge, GlobalFirst Lounge
Earn Points/Miles
Redeem Points/Miles
Airline Review
- United Airlines Review – Seats, Amenities, Customer Service, Baggage Fees, & More
Airline Fees
- United Airlines Baggage Fees (& How To Avoid Paying Them)
Award Chart Link
- MileagePlus Interactive Award Chart

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.

MileagePlus Sign-in — Image Credit: United

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

MileagePlus Premier Benefits — Image Credit: United

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.

You can also transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards, which transfer to United 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 Explorer^SM 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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Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock

Frequently asked questions

What is United Airlines MileagePlus? What are the benefits?

MileagePlus is the name of the United loyalty or frequent flyer program. By joining the program, you get access to a number of additional benefits through elite status, reward tickets, and more.

Elite status tiers in the program are called Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Premier 1K.

Benefits include priority check in and boarding, free checked bags, priority security lines, lounge access and discounts, complimentary upgrades, seat upgrades, and more.

You’ll earn a higher status by achieving a certain number of qualifying miles or segments combined with total spending.

Miles can be redeemed for cheap flights, or for other awards through United’s rewards portal.

What is my MileagePlus number?

To find this, you can either log in to your account, use the “forgot my password” tool to get another login email sent to you, find your membership card, or call customer service.

How do I join United Airlines MileagePlus?

You can sign up for a MileagePlus account here.

Can I transfer miles with United Airlines?

Yes, miles can be transferred to other MileagePlus members. Rather than “transferring” them to other airline partners, you can simply use them to book award flights with any Star Alliance partner.

What is the United Airlines MileagePlus login?

You can sign in to United MileagePlus here.

What are the United Airlines MileagePlus airline partners?

United Airlines is part of the Star Alliance. This means you can travel on airlines such as Air Canada, Air China, Brussels Airlines, and Singapore Airlines.

What is the United Airlines MileagePlus phone number?

You can reach MileagePlus via phone at 1-800-421-4655.

When do points expire on United MileagePlus?

United MileagePlus miles no longer expire.

When do points post in my United MileagePlus account?

In some cases, points can take up to 6-8 weeks to post.

What are United Airlines MileagePlus points worth?

MileagePlus points can be redeemed for different values depending on the flight. Values can be anywhere from $0.015 to $0.025 per point or more.

Is there a United MileagePlus credit card?

Yes, United has 4 different MileagePlus credit cards at this time.

Currently, we have reviews posted for the United Explorer^SM Card and the Chase United MileagePlus® Explorer Business Card.

Soon we will add the Chase United MileagePlus® Club Card and the Chase United MileagePlus® Club Business Card.

You can also use all Ultimate Rewards cards to earn and transfer points to United Airlines.

About Brian Graham

Brian's first ever airplane ride was in a private turbo-prop jet. He was merely an intern boy trying to make a good impression, but it turns out the plane made an impression on him. It wasn't until Brian relocated to Dallas, TX, and moved in with an American Airlines employee that he truly discovered how incredible travel could be.

Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.

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.
Reply
mick August 5, 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.
Reply
- Christine Krzyszton August 5, 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: https://upgradedpoints.com/best-credit-cards-for-united-flyers/
  Reply
Nick September 5, 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.
Reply
Michael Jan Brooks May 29, 2021
How do you win free flights for a year on “Your Shot to Fly”?
Reply
- 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
  Reply
Scott July 14, 2021
You broke the GPU rules didn’t you?
Reply
- 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?
  Reply
bryan January 24, 2022
I am in the UK. How do I transfer and use another family member’s miles with mine?
Reply
- 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.
  Reply
Gary72 February 14, 2022
How do you match Air Canada silver status to United silver status?
Reply
- Jarrod West February 18, 2022
  Hi Gary,
  You can submit a status match request at this page on the United website.
  Reply