United MileagePlus Program: The Complete Guide

United MileagePlus is the frequent flyer program for United Airlines, which is among the largest airlines in the U.S. and the world.

The airline operates 4,500 daily flights to more than 300 cities across five continents. In addition, United has partnerships with 16 airlines and is also a member of Star Alliance. These relationships mean you can earn and redeem United miles on more than 40 airlines while traveling to almost anywhere in the world.

And if you’re an infrequent United flyer, relax: Your United miles will not expire, as long as your account remains open.

United Airlines frequent flyer sign-up

To earn miles with United Airlines, you’ll first need to sign up for a MileagePlus frequent flyer account. It’s free to join.

Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values United MileagePlus miles at 1.2 cents apiece. To determine the value of reward miles, we compared cash prices and reward redemptions for economy round-trip routes across several destinations and dates.

We divided the cost of the cash ticket by the cost of the reward ticket to determine a “cent per mile” value for each flight, then averaged this value across several flights and dates. Read more about how we arrived at these figures.

NerdWallet’s valuation is a baseline value, based on real-world data collected from hundreds of economy routes, not a maximized value. In other words, aim for award redemptions that offer at least 1.2 cents or more in value from your United miles.

Use our United miles calculator to determine the value of your miles.

United MileagePlus miles value over time

During NerdWallet's 2022 valuation analysis, United MileagePlus miles increased in value. The value held steady in 2023 and 2024.

You can earn miles when you fly on paid tickets with United or its partner airlines, by using a United Airlines credit card, and by shopping and dining with partners.

MileagePlus miles can be redeemed for award flights and many other uses, though flight redemptions typically offer the most value. United miles do not expire, as long as your account remains open and in good standing.

Earn MileagePlus miles when you fly

The total miles you'll earn for a United flight depends on how much you spent on the ticket and your status level within the MileagePlus program. All statuses above basic membership earn mile bonuses.

For example, the basic member rewards rate is 5 miles per dollar. But at Premier Silver level, you earn a 40% bonus, which turns your rate into 7 miles per dollar. We'll have more on status levels below — or you can jump ahead to that part now.

NOTE: You earn miles only on airfare and airline fees. Government-imposed taxes and fees do not earn miles. Generally, the most you can earn on a ticket is 75,000 miles.

Earning on other airlines: When the ticket is issued by United (ticket number starting with 016), you’ll earn miles based on the cost of the fare. But if your ticket is booked through one of United’s partners, miles are awarded based on a calculation involving the fare class of the ticket and the flight distance.

Earn United MileagePlus miles with a credit card

United Airlines offers co-branded credit cards through Chase. Bonuses between cards vary, so if you’re considering a credit card, take a look at its bonus history to take advantage of a high welcome offer.

» Learn more: The best airline credit cards right now

NerdWallet's favorite United credit card for the is the United℠ Explorer Card. It gives you 2 miles per dollar spent at restaurants, on hotel stays and on purchases from United, and 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases. You also get a great sign-up bonus to start. There's an annual fee, but the checked bag benefit and the two United Club lounge passes per year on this card can make up for it quickly.

Here's a quick look at United card options:

There are also two United business cards:

United℠ Business Card

• Earn 2 miles per dollar spent on restaurants, gas stations, office supplies stores, transit and United purchases.

• Earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.

• Annual fee: $0 intro for the first year, then $99.

United Club℠ Business Card

• 2 miles per dollar on United ticket purchases.

• 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase.

• Access to United Club airport lounges.

• Annual fee: $450.

Here are more resources for shopping United credit cards:

• The best benefits of United credit cards

• Is a United credit card worth it?

• Can you have 2 United credit cards?

Earn United MileagePlus miles through partners

• Hotels and Vrbo. You can earn additional MileagePlus miles at most major hotel chains and Vrbo. In some cases, you earn 1 to 3 miles per dollar spent; in others, you earn a flat number of miles per stay. See partner hotels and the earning rules here.

• Dining. Register a credit card with MileagePlus Dining, and every time you use that card at a participating restaurant, club or bar, you'll earn up to 5 miles per dollar spent. There are more than 11,000 participating locations.

• Auto rentals and other transportation. Avis and Budget offer the option to earn MileagePlus miles on car rentals. See the rules here. Car-sharing service Turo is also a partner.

• Shopping. When you shop online through the MileagePlus Shopping mall, you earn miles for every dollar you spend at more than 1,100 retailers.

• Financial partners. Earn miles when doing business with lending and utilities partners, among others. Details here.

Buy United miles

If you want to buy United miles, you can do so on the MileagePlus website, but this is generally not a good idea. You'll pay far more than the 1.2 cents per mile at which NerdWallet values MileagePlus miles. However, if you need a few thousand miles to top up your account for a valuable award, it could make sense.

United miles pooling

United’s miles pooling feature allows you to combine and share your miles with the miles of up to four other MileagePlus members, including children. These miles can then be redeemed for only United and United Express flights; you won’t be able to redeem them for anything else like upgrades, seat assignments or flights on partner airlines.

Any MileagePlus member can create a pool and be the pool leader as long as they are at least 18 years old. You can only be part of one pool at a time, but if you decide to leave your pool, you forfeit any miles that you contributed to the pool.

United mileage pooling is a much better alternative to transferring your miles to someone else’s account, which incurs hefty fees of $7.50 per 500 miles transferred and a $30 processing fee.

» Learn more: How to earn United MileagePlus miles

MileagePlus miles are redeemable for flights on United Airlines, on Star Alliance airlines and other airline partners. Star Alliance has 25 member airlines and United has partnerships with 16 airlines. All of this means that you can use United miles to fly on 40-plus airlines, creating many opportunities for traveling the world.

United award tickets

United offers several levels of award seats, requiring more miles for more desirable seats and cabins. Flights can be booked as one-way tickets or round trips; if you’re seeking maximum flexibility, it can be better to book a one-way ticket vs. round trip.

Generally, there are two kinds of award redemptions:

• Saver awards are cheaper in terms of miles required to book them — often ranging from 5,000 to 12,500 miles for domestic economy, for example. But they are scarcer and might not be available for the flight you want. Select Chase United cardholders and United elites are eligible for discounts on saver awards. 

• Everyday awards allow all MileagePlus members to book any open seat on a flight, even if it’s the last one available. However, these cost significantly more than saver awards.

Generally, prices that are cheaper with cash will also be cheaper with miles. It’s best to compare the cost of each before booking.

Note that if you pay for a flight with miles, you won’t earn frequent flyer miles for that flight.

Good redemption options

• Award flights. Aim for redemptions worth at least 1.2 cents per MileagePlus mile, NerdWallet’s baseline value. It's even possible to find redemptions worth much more than that. United has many opportunities for sweet spot redemptions.

• Upgrades. Upgrading to premium economy, business or first class with miles can also return a value greater than 1.2 cents per mile. Some upgrades require a cash co-pay as well as miles. The price of an upgrade depends on the fare class of your current ticket — upgrading from a cheaper fare will generally cost more.

» Learn more: How the United upgrade clearing order works

Bad redemption options

Other redemption options include United Club membership fees, hotel stays, car rentals, cruises and gift cards. These options tend to offer a lower value than 1.2 cents per mile, so we recommend avoiding them.

» Learn more: The complete guide to redeeming United MileagePlus miles

There are four levels of United MileagePlus elite status, which are (in order from lowest to highest):

• Premier Silver.

• Premier Gold.

• Premier Platinum.

• Premier 1K.

Here’s what each level entails, and what it takes to get there:

MileagePlus elite levels and benefits

On United, elite statuses are called Premier levels.

With Premier status, you’ll qualify for mileage bonuses, seat upgrades, priority check-in, complimentary checked baggage, better award seat availability, discounted and waived fees, and other benefits. And if you get Gold status or higher, you’ll have lounge access when traveling internationally. Here’s a full list of the perks at each level.

If you want elite perks but can’t qualify for Premier status, consider getting one of the airline’s co-branded credit cards. They offer many of the same benefits, including free checked bags, priority boarding, better access to award seats and even United Club airport lounge access.

» Learn more: 7 things to know about United Airlines lounges

How to get elite status on United

To earn MileagePlus Premier elite status, you need to do things the airline cares about as a business: fly often and spend a lot of money. This will earn you a combination of Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF).

• PQP are earned on the base fare, carrier surcharges, Economy Plus seats or subscriptions, preferred seat purchases, upgrade award co-pays, paid upgrades, and flights ticketed and operated by Star Alliance partners.

• A PQF is one flight. Each segment flown will count as one PQF. Flights taken in basic economy will not earn any PQF.

» Learn more: Guide to United Airlines Premier elite status

PQP and PQF are all credited to the person flying, not the person paying for the tickets. If you fly award flights on United booked with MileagePlus miles, you will earn 1 PQP for every 100 miles redeemed and PQF.

United elite status requirements

To become an elite member, you need a specific number of either PQF and PQP or PQP only. Here are the requirements to earn status in 2025:

For flights with Star Alliance partners that are not ticketed by United (ticket number does not start with 016), PQP will be earned based on the fare class, the flight distance and an airline’s designation as a “Preferred” or “MileagePlus” partner. There is a cap on the number of PQP you can earn for each segment, depending on the cabin class and the airline’s designation.

Star Alliance partner flights ticketed by United will earn based on the fare paid. This can significantly affect the number of award miles and PQP you earn, so it’s worth calculating whether it makes more sense to book through United or a partner airline if prices are similar.

Earning Premier status is based on flying and spending during the previous calendar year. Once you qualify for a Premier status, it is valid from the date you qualified through the end of the following program year (elite status levels reset at the end of January). For example, if you qualify for Premier Silver status in June 2025, you’ll keep your status through Jan. 31, 2027.

Star Alliance members

In general, you can earn MileagePlus miles on flights with Star Alliance partners and redeem your miles for flights on Star Alliance airlines.

» Learn more: Plan your next redemption with our airline partner points tool

Other partner airlines

On airlines outside the Star Alliance, your ability to earn and/or redeem miles is more limited. For example, you may be able to earn miles but not redeem them, or you may be able to redeem only for certain flights.

» Learn more: The guide to United Airlines partners: earning and redeeming miles

The information related to the United℠ TravelBank Card and United Club℠ Business Card has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card.