United Airlines is one of the biggest carriers in the United States when it comes to passenger volume and fleet size. Additionally, it’s apart of the Star Alliance which is the largest airline alliance there is in the world. This alliance offers more flights available to you worldwide. If you’re a frequent traveler, either domestically or globally, you’ll want to check out MileagePlus which is United’s loyalty program.
Check out our list of the best credit card bonuses here.
Read below for more information on what they have to offer.
MileagePlus Quick Facts
| Domestic Hubs | Chicago, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Washington D.C. |
| Personal Credit Cards | United Club Infinite Card United Explorer Card |
| Business Credit Cards | United Club Business Card United Business Card |
| Redemption Options | Award flights, seat upgrades, hotel stays, rental cars, cruise vacations, TSA Precheck, United WiFi, United Club, merchandise, dining, gift cards, experiences, magazines, newspapers, transfer & donate miles. |
| Average Mile Value | $0.014 |
 The United Explorer Card offers 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. You'll earn: • 2x miles on United® purchases, dining, and hotel stays. • 1x mile on all other purchases Perks of this card include: • Enjoy priority boarding privileges and visit the United Club with 2 one-time passes each year for your anniversary • Free first checked bag - a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip. Terms Apply. • Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit • 25% back as a statement credit on purchases of food, beverages and Wi-Fi on board United-operated flights and on Club premium drinks when you pay with your Explorer Card There is a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95. Member FDIC |
MileagePlus Premier Status
Signing up for MileagePlus will get you basic membership with a frequent flyer number. This enables you to build up miles and if you want to enjoy more valuable VIP perks, you’ll have to earn Premier status.
To receive Premier status, you’ll have to earn a specific amount of Premier Qualifying Flight (PQF) and a certain amount of Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) in a calendar year.
PQF are earned based on the number of flight segments flown with United and their partners.
PQP is earned based off of the fare and carrier-imposed surcharge of flight purchases with seating purchases and upgrades. TIP: you can earn PQP with eligible MileagePlus credit cards.
| Premier Status | Requirements |
| Premier Silver | 12 PQF + 4,000 PQP or 5,000 PQP* |
| Premier Gold | 24 PQF + 8,000 PQP or 10,000 PQP* |
| Premier Platinum | 36 PQF + 12,000 PQP or 15,000 PQP* |
| Premier 1k | 54K PQF + 18,000 PQP or 24,000 PQP* |
During normal times, you’ll have Premier Status once you’re eligible until the end of the following calendar year.
With Premier Status you’ll benefit from:
- Mileage bonuses
- Seat upgrades
- Priority check-in
- Discounted or waived fees
- Free checked baggage
- Better award seat availability
- And more
Premier Gold Status and higher have lounge access when traveling internationally. For more, read what the status is worth here.
Earning MileagePlus Miles
Earn MileagePlus miles when you fly with United Airlines. The amount of miles you’ll get depends on how much you spend and your MileagePlus status level.
| Status Level | Status Bonus | Miles Earned |
| Basic | 0% | 5x miles |
| Premier Silver | 40% | 7x miles |
| Premier Gold | 60% | 8x miles |
| Premier Platinum | 80% | 9x miles |
| Premier 1k | 120% | 11x miles |
Be sure that you remember you don’t earn miles on government taxes and fees.
Earn MileagePlus miles when you fly with one of United’s 35 partner airlines. The amount of miles you get will depend on the price, fare class, and flight distance.
Star Alliance partners are:
- Aegean
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- ANA
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- Avianca
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Air
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- SAS
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- SWISS
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
Other airline partners are:
- Aer Lingus
- AEROMAR
- Air Dolomiti
- Azul
- Boutique Air
- Cape Air
- Edelweiss
- Eurowings
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Olympic Air
- Silver Airlines
Gain MileagePlus miles when you use a United AIrlines co-branded credit cards issued by Chase.
United Club Infinite Card comes with an annual fee of $525 (currently offers a $0 annual fee introductory offer for the first year). It comes with:
| Welcome Bonus | $0 intro annual fee, then $525 |
| Ongoing Rewards | 4x miles on United purchases 2x miles on all other travel 2x miles on dining 1x miles on all other purchases |
| Other Benefits | United Club membership Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit Free 1st and 2nd checked bags 25% back on inflight purchases No foreign transaction fees |
The United Explorer Cards as a $95 annual fee, waived for your first year. It features:
| Welcome Bonus | Get 40,000 miles (a $560 value) when you spend $2,000 within 3 months. |
| Ongoing Rewards | 2x miles on United purchases 2x miles on dining 2x miles on hotels 1x miles on all other purchases |
| Other Benefits | 2 United Club passes per year Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit 1 free checked bag Priority boarding 25% back on inflight purchases No foreign transaction fees |
Co-branded business cards include: United Club Business Card and United Business Card.
You’ll be able to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy points to MileagePlus miles.
- Chase Ultimate Rewards. If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred Card, transfer your points to miles at a 1:1 ratio in 1,000-point increments.
- Marriott Bonvoy. Thanks to MileagePlus’s special partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, you’ll be able to receive 10% more miles when you convert your points to miles. Additionally, you’ll get a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott points you transfer. The minimum to convert is 3,000 points with a maximum of 240,000 points a day.
Hotels. Book your stay directly at 15,000+ partner hotels around the world or via a partner booking service and earn MileagePlus miles. For a complete list of participating hotels and booking sites click here.
Transportation. Build up MileagePlus miles when you take a cruise, rent a car, or use a partner ground transportation service. For more information click here.
Additionally, you can earn MileagePlus miles by:
Usually, it’s not recommended to buy miles. However, you can buy additional miles if you’re short of an award. The price you’d have to pay is more than what they’re worth when you redeem them.
Redeeming MileagePlus Miles
Recently, United Airlines got rid of the 18-month expiration date on their miles. In other words, the rewards you earn will remain in your account and available for redemption indefinitely.
Use your MileagePlus miles for award flights with United Airlines. Pick from 2 different levels of award seats:
Saver Awards. These are cheaper but have a limited number available.
Everyday Awards. More plentiful but require more miles. Premier status and MileagePlus credit card members are able to book what seat they want.
MileagePlus used to publish an award chart up until November 15, 2019. The frequent flyer program has then been gone, pricing award flights are based off of demand now.
Use your MileagePlus miles when you fly on any Star Alliance network airline. Pick from more than 1,000 destinations around the world. And more than 20,000 daily flights across 28 carriers:
- ADRIA Airways
- Aegean Airlines
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- ANA
- Asiana
- Austrian Airlines
- Avianca
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Airways
- Juneyao Airlines
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- SAS
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- SWISS
- TAP Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
Use your MileagePlus miles to upgrade a paid or award ticket on United Airlines. Or, a paid ticket on select Star Alliance partners. Upgrade award pricing depends on region of travel, seat type, fare class, and your Premier status (if applicable).
You can use your MileagePlus miles for hotel awards, car awards, cruise awards, and to better your travel experience with United Airlines. The latter will include TSA Precheck application fee, a United WiFi subscription and United Club membership.
Other ways for you to use your MileagePlus miles are:
| Shopping & Dining | Merchandise awards Apple products FTD flowers & gifts Airport dining |
| Gift Cards | MileagePlus X gift cards MileagePlus eGift cards |
| Subscriptions | Magazines Newspapers |
| Other | Transfer or give miles Donate miles |
MileagePlus Tips & Tricks
Award flights. As long as you’re getting at least $0.01 per MileagePlus mile, we’ll say it’s and recent redemption if you get more for your miles even better.
Seat upgrades. Upgrading to a better seat can be another good use for your miles. Just as long as you’re getting more than $0.01 every mile. Generally, upgrading from a cheaper fare class will cost more. Remember, some upgrades to business or first class will require a combination of miles and cash.
Stay away from any redemption that will yield a value lower than $0.01 each mile. This include hotel stays, car rentals, cruises, gift cards, and United Cub membership fees.
Open a Chase card that earns transferable Ultimate Rewards points, and you’ll be able to build up on rewards you can convert into MileagePlus miles at a 1:1 ratio.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
- 60,000 bonus points when you spend at least $4,000 in your first 3 months.
- 2x points on travel and dining. 1x points on everything else.
- $95 annual fee.
Chase Sapphire Reserve.
- 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in your first 3 months.
- 3x points on travel and dining, 1x points on everything else.
- $550 annual fee.
Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
- 100,000 bonus points when you spend $15,000 in your first 3 months.
- 3x points on travel, shipping, telecom, and digital advertising (Capped at $150,000 in spending every year), 1x points on everything else.
- $95 annual fee.
If you have Marriott Bonvoy Titanium elite status, you’ll have free, automatic MileagePlus Premier Silver Status without having to fly with United Airlines.
To get Titanium Elite status, you’ll need to earn 75 qualifying nights via Marriott Bonvoy.
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Conclusion
If you live near a United Airlines hub, or you can take advantage of the carrier’s many airline partnerships. Then, you just sign up for MileagePlus to start earning miles. Additionally, there are plenty of ways for you to earn miles and burn them. The average MileagePlus mile comes with good value and award booking is easy with no additional charges.
