How to earn miles with the United MileagePlus program

By DFB Guy On Sep 11, 2024

United MileagePlus miles may not be as valuable as they once were, but they have their place. You can use them for United Airlines and Star Alliance partner awards with no fuel surcharges, saving you hundreds of dollars per ticket.

Though the airline operates using dynamic pricing, you can still find low-cost domestic award tickets and reasonable pricing on long-haul international business-class tickets operated by United. Because of this, it’s an excellent program for points and miles newcomers who want to earn and redeem miles.

In this article, I’ll show you the best ways to earn United miles — many of which don’t even require stepping on a plane.

Earn United miles by flying

Polaris business class on a United Dreamliner. ZACH HONIG/THE POINTS GUY

As you’d expect, you can earn United miles by flying with the carrier or one of its partners. However, how you earn United miles depends on several factors, including the airline operating the flight, how you booked the flight and your fare class. Let’s take a closer look.

Flying on United

Over the years, United has changed how you earn miles when flying on United-operated flights. Instead of earning miles based on distance flown, you now earn miles based on your ticket’s base price (not including taxes and fees). You’ll also earn additional miles if you have MileagePlus elite status — the higher your status, the more miles you earn.

Here’s how many miles you’ll earn per dollar spent based on your level of status (these rates apply even if you’re booked into United’s basic economy fare class):

General member: 5 miles
Premier Silver: 7 miles
Premier Gold: 8 miles
Premier Platinum: 9 miles
Premier 1K: 11 miles

Here’s an example of how this works: If you buy a one-way United ticket from Chicago to Philadelphia with a base fare of $310 and $30 in taxes, you’ll earn 1,550 miles ($310 times 5 miles per dollar) as a MileagePlus traveler without status. However, if you’re a top-tier Premier 1K member, that earning jumps to 3,410 miles ($310 times 11 miles per dollar) .

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United flights also count toward earning Premier status. You’ll earn status based on a minimum number of Premier qualifying points or a combination of PQPs and Premier qualifying flights. PQPs are based on spending, and PQFs are based on the number of segments you fly on United or its partner airlines.

Flying on Star Alliance partners

You can earn United MileagePlus miles when flying any of United’s Star Alliance or nonalliance partners; you’ll earn miles based on the length of your flight and fare class. However, if you book a partner flight through United (indicated by a 016 ticket number), you’ll earn miles based on your ticket fare and elite status.

The mileage earning rates also vary from airline to airline. For more details, check out our full guide to earning MileagePlus miles with United’s partners.

United elite status on partner flights

United Premier members automatically qualify for Star Alliance elite status — meaning you’ll get elite benefits not just on United flights, but when you fly on any of United’s Star Alliance partners. Some Premier members can also access elite perks like free checked bags and priority check-in, boarding and baggage delivery on select non-Star Alliance partners. To understand your benefits, head to United’s partner page and click the airline you’re interested in.

One of the best ways to qualify for United Premier status is by flying on long-haul, premium-cabin Star Alliance tickets. As mentioned, you generally earn around 1 PQP per dollar spent on United flights. However, on partner airlines, you can sometimes earn over 3 PQPs for each dollar you spend. Refer to our guide on earning PQPs with partner flights to learn how flying with United’s partners can help you qualify for United status. Just keep in mind that United requires at least four paid flights on United or United Express per year to qualify for any status level.

Let’s unpack this by looking at a real example of a Lufthansa-ticketed and -operated flight. We’ll start with United’s earning chart for Lufthansa, which you can find on United’s airline partner page.

Let’s say you’re flying from New York to Munich. Your flight is booked in Z-fare business class, meaning you’ll earn 150% of the mileage flown. The flight from New York to Munich clocks in at 4,038 miles, so you’d earn 6,057 redeemable miles (4,038 times 1.5). As noted above, a United Premier Gold member would earn an additional 50% of the usual miles earned, giving them 9,086 total miles for this example (6,057 times 1.5).

To determine the distance between two airports, use gcmap.com and input your departure and arrival airport codes.

Earn United miles with credit cards

Another way to earn United miles is by spending on United cobranded credit cards. You can quickly rack up miles using these cards to pay for your everyday purchases, and they offer lucrative welcome bonuses that can give you a hefty chunk of miles right off the bat — so long as you meet the minimum spending requirement. Several of these cards provide enhanced award availability when it’s time to redeem your hard-earned miles, as well as additional perks like free checked bags, priority boarding and lounge access.

Here’s a look at some of the best United cards you can use to earn MileagePlus miles:

United Quest℠ Card: Earn 60,000 bonus miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open. Plus, you’ll earn 3 miles per dollar spent on United purchases; 2 miles per dollar spent on dining, travel and select streaming services; and 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.
United℠ Explorer Card: Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open. The card earns 2 miles per dollar spent on United purchases, dining and direct hotel purchases, and 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.
United Club℠ Infinite Card: Earn 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. The card earns 4 miles per dollar spent on United purchases; 2 miles per dollar spent on all other travel, dining and eligible food delivery services; and 1 mile per dollar spent on other purchases.
United℠ Business Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open. Plus, earn 2 miles per dollar spent on United purchases, dining (including eligible delivery services), gas stations, office supply stores and local transit and commuting, and 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.

Transfer points to United MileagePlus

Another way to boost your United miles balance is by transferring other loyalty currencies to your MileagePlus account. Let’s take a closer look at United’s transfer partners: Chase Ultimate Rewards, Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are a popular transferable currency. Although there are many ways to redeem Ultimate Rewards points, the most lucrative is to transfer points to one of Chase’s airline or hotel transfer partners, which include United.

You can transfer Chase points to United at a 1:1 ratio, effectively turning 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points into 1,000 United miles, and most transfers happen instantly. Ultimate Rewards has various other transfer partners, including Air France-KLM Flying Blue, British Airways Executive Club and World of Hyatt. This added flexibility is why we recommend earning Ultimate Rewards points over United miles. Plus, Chase’s suite of Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards may be a better fit for your wallet because they have broader bonus categories than United’s cobranded cards.

Transfer Bilt Rewards points

The other credit card points program that currently offers transfers to United is Bilt Rewards. This program is relatively new to the points and miles world, but it’s been steadily adding hotel and airline transfer partners, including United. As with Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can transfer your Bilt Points to MileagePlus at a 1:1 ratio, and the process usually takes minutes.

Transfer Marriott Bonvoy points

One of Marriott Bonvoy‘s best perks is that you can transfer points to the program’s many airline partners. You can transfer Marriott points to most airline partners at a 3:1 ratio, and you’ll get a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points you transfer. However, United has a preferred transfer rate due to the airline’s RewardsPlus partnership with Marriott, so you’ll get a 10,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott points you transfer to United. That means 60,000 Marriott points will become 30,000 United miles.

To transfer Marriott points to United, log in to your Bonvoy account, head to the “Transfer Points to Miles” page and click the “Transfer Points” button. Then, select United from the airline drop-down menu, enter your United MileagePlus number and enter how many points you’d like to transfer. Click the “Continue” button at the bottom of the window to initiate the transfer, and the miles will typically appear in your United account within 48 hours.

Earn United miles with travel partners

Carnival Dream. DANNY LEHMAN/CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE

Beyond airlines and credit card rewards programs, United has a handful of other travel partners like cruise lines, hotels and rental car companies with which you can earn additional miles.

For instance, the MileagePlus cruise portal lets you earn up to 4 United miles per dollar spent when you book a sailing (or up to 7 miles per dollar if you’re a United cardholder). It’s not unusual to earn up to 45,000 bonus miles per booking, even on low-cost cruises. You can also redeem United miles toward sailings through the portal, but this generally won’t give you much value for your miles, so we don’t recommend it.

United has a suite of hotel partners, too, which lets you earn United miles instead of hotel points on your stay. This generally won’t give you as much value as earning hotel points, but this option could be useful if it’s a chain you rarely visit or if you’re short a few United miles for an upcoming redemption. See our full guide to United’s partners for how many miles you can earn at various hotels.

If you have your eye on an independent hotel where you wouldn’t otherwise earn rewards, you can earn miles for your stay using the United Hotels portal or Rocketmiles. But prices vary, so always make sure to compare the cost of the stay through the portal with booking directly.

When it comes to rental cars, United ended its partnership with Hertz in 2021 and now has a relationship with Avis and Budget. MileagePlus members can earn up to 1,250 miles per qualifying rental (sometimes more if there’s a promotion) and save up to 35% off base rates at Avis and Budget. To use these perks, book through United’s car rental page with your MileagePlus loyalty number and Avis Worldwide Discount number A791500 or Budget Customer Discount number B204900.

Earn United miles with other partnerships

MileagePlus also has several non-travel-related partners. Here are some of our favorites to help you earn extra United miles.

MileagePlus Shopping

Like most airlines, United offers an online shopping portal where you can earn miles for making everyday purchases online. Just sign up for a MileagePlus Shopping account and find your merchant on the site before making a purchase.

Starting at this portal rather than at the retailer’s site will give you extra miles on your purchases in addition to the rewards you’ll earn using your credit card of choice. This can be a great way to earn 1, 2 or even 5 additional miles per dollar spent when shopping online. In addition, MileagePlus Shopping frequently runs holiday and seasonal promotions. Keep an eye out for these promotions and use them to earn even more on your online purchases.

However, you may be able to earn more on a purchase at a different shopping portal. We recommend using a shopping portal aggregator like Cashback Monitor to see which portal offers the best return on your purchases.

MileagePlus X app

Download the MileagePlus X app to earn United miles on the go. Simply put, you earn a set number of miles per dollar spent when you use the app to buy gift cards at select merchants. The gift cards are available immediately, and you can purchase them in any amount. Participating merchants include major brands like Walmart, Staples, Lowe’s, Regal Cinemas and Panera Bread.

This can be a great way to earn miles on purchases where you wouldn’t normally earn much. For instance, REI doesn’t fall into any common credit card bonus categories and isn’t available on most shopping portals, but you can earn bonus United miles per dollar spent when you buy an REI gift card through MileagePlus X and use it to pay for your REI purchase. Even better, primary United Chase cardmembers earn a 25% bonus on miles earned from MileagePlus X.

One of the best things about the MileagePlus X app is that miles are awarded instantly in most cases. So if you’re ever a few miles away from a redemption, simply buy a gift card to a store or restaurant you frequent.

MileagePlus Dining

Like most other domestic carriers (and some hotels), United has a dining rewards program: MileagePlus Dining.

In short, this is a shopping portal for eating out. Just sign up for an account and link the credit cards you use for dining. You’ll earn up to 5 miles per dollar spent (depending on your membership tier) when you swipe a linked card at participating restaurants. These earnings are in addition to what you earn on the credit card you use, so be sure to use one that offers a bonus on dining purchases.

Basic MileagePlus Dining members earn only 1 mile per $2 spent, but you can easily reach the next tier (Select) by opting in to receive email communications. Doing so will boost your earning rate to 3 miles per dollar spent. Once you’ve made 11 dining purchases in 12 months, you’ll reach VIP status and start taking home 5 miles per dollar spent.

Small businesses can earn rewards with PerksPlus

United’s PerksPlus program lets businesses earn points (different from MileagePlus miles) when their employees travel on United, United Express and select partners. You can redeem these points for United elite status for employees, award travel certificates, United Club memberships and more. You can use these to reduce employee travel costs or enhance their travel experience. PerksPlus points are earned in addition to the miles an employee earns when traveling, so both parties win. Check out United’s PerksPlus website to learn more and enroll.

Buy United miles

If you need United miles in a pinch, you can buy them from the airline. Unfortunately, this is usually quite expensive.

The standard price for United miles is $35 per 1,000 miles, which comes out to 3.5 cents apiece — well above TPG’s September 2024 valuation of 1.35 cents — so it’s rarely worth it unless you need to buy a small number of miles to top up for an award. This price may go down if you can take advantage of a promotion on buying points or miles, but in general, we recommend buying miles only when you have a specific redemption in mind and have already found bookable award space.

Bottom line

As you can see, there are many ways you can earn United miles. The most robust approach is to use some or all of the above methods in tandem — you’ll unlock some terrific earning rates that will quickly get you within striking distance of your next award trip.

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