How to get maximum value from the United MileagePlus program

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A few weeks ago, United massively devalued its miles by increasing award rates on some flights by up to 122%.

Despite its numerous devaluations, we’ll help you get some great redemptions from the MileagePlus program. The carrier’s Star Alliance membership allows you to earn and redeem miles on partner airlines.

United MileagePlus is a 1:1 transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards, so travelers with cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees) can easily boost their MileagePlus balances through various travel and dining purchases. That said, we generally don’t recommend transferring Chase and Bilt points to United since we value United miles at just 1.1 cents each.

However, earning United miles is just one part of the puzzle. Knowing which redemptions to target can ensure you get a solid value from your United credit card sign-up bonus.

United MileagePlus overview

A United Airlines domestic first class meal. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY

United’s MileagePlus program is free to join and miles never expire. Even if you don’t earn or redeem miles for a while, you don’t have to worry about losing your account balance due to inactivity.

The carrier has hubs at airports in seven cities across the U.S. — Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey; Washington’s Dulles International Airport (IAD); Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in Chicago; Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH); Denver International Airport (DEN); Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) — and offers service to hundreds of destinations around the world. However, as a Star Alliance member, you can earn and redeem MileagePlus miles on carriers like Lufthansa, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines.

Related: The best websites to search for Star Alliance award availability

How to earn United miles

United Airlines Polaris business class on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY

The simplest way for most people to earn United miles will be by flying with the carrier or one of its Star Alliance partners and crediting the flights to your MileagePlus account.

When you book a flight through United, you’ll typically earn miles based on the ticket’s base fare, with bonuses for elite members. However, flights booked directly with partner airlines and credited to your United MileagePlus account will earn miles based on the distance flown and your booked fare class. You can view this page on United’s website for full details.

As mentioned above, United is a 1:1 transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards. That means you can transfer points to your United MileagePlus account — a process that should be completed within minutes.

Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to United at a 3:1 ratio thanks to United and Marriott’s RewardsPlus partnership. You’ll get 10,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred to United MileagePlus. Transfers from Marriott Bonvoy to United MileagePlus take around three days.

If you’re starting from scratch or looking to save up for an expensive award, consider signing up for a United credit card. You’ll have your choice among entry-level and premium cards, as well as personal and business options:

United’s cobranded cards are issued by Chase, meaning they’re subject to the 5/24 rule for new applicants.

Related: Earn up to 3,000 bonus miles when you join United MileagePlus Dining

Benefits of United Premier status

United Premier Gold members and higher enjoy special perks when traveling on partner airlines like Lufthansa. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY

You can qualify for United elite status by earning Premier qualifying points (PQPs) and Premier qualifying flights (PQFs). To qualify for any status, you must fly at least four United and/or United Express segments annually. Earlier this year, United deposited extra PQPs into Premier members’ accounts. By spending on your United cobranded credit card, you can also earn bonus PQPs.

There are four published tiers of United Premier elite status that offer bonus miles and other perks. All United elites get placed on the list for complimentary premier upgrades, with higher priority for upper-tier elites. United elites also get access to complimentary Economy Plus seating, though depending on your tier, that might be available only at check-in or at the time of booking.

Related:What is United Airlines elite status worth?

Dynamic pricing for all flights

A United Polaris lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY

In 2019, United formally switched to dynamic award pricing for its own flights. In April 2020, the carrier pulled its Star Alliance partner award chart without advanced notice and increased prices on most routes by 10%.

With no award chart to reference, United is free to increase the prices on some of the most popular MileagePlus redemptions without warning. This happened in May and June 2023, when United significantly increased award rates without notice.

Related: Why I consider my United miles to be worth 5 cents apiece

There’s plenty of doom and gloom news about devaluations, decreased award availability and the stripping of benefits from award tickets. However, one positive trend over the last few years is the launch of limited-time, discounted award sales. Historically, Delta has been one of the best airlines at offering award sales, but United is making progress on that front.

Earlier this year, United offered round-trip flights to the South Pacific from just 42,000 miles to celebrate its 42nd anniversary. We hope to see more of these sales in the future.

After working hard to build your stash of miles, keep your eyes on our website for deal alerts so you can jump on the next sale and stretch your miles even farther.

Related: The ultimate guide to getting upgraded on United Airlines

Premium cabin redemptions

United has heavily invested in its international premium experience, between Polaris lounges, taking delivery of new planes with sleek Polaris cabins and retrofitting its existing long-haul fleet. Best of all, booking United Polaris through MileagePlus is often cheaper than booking a partner airline’s business-class cabin.

Let’s look at a flight from Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA), a premium United route operated by its Star Alliance partner Lufthansa. A one-way business-class award on Lufthansa’s 747-8 would cost you 88,000 United MileagePlus miles. However, you may be able to book the same route on a United-operated flight for as low as 80,000 miles depending on the dynamic pricing calculator. Those 8,000 miles you save are worth $88 based on TPG’s most recent valuations.

The savings can be even more significant on other routes, like from the U.S. to South Asia. A business-class award on a Star Alliance partner can cost an extra 10,000 miles or more on these routes. Of course, this won’t always be true due to the unpredictable nature of dynamic pricing. Plus, some of United’s partners, like EVA and ANA, are worth paying a premium for. Still, these potential savings are worth keeping an eye out for.

Unfortunately, United is often stingy with its business-class award space, so you might be forced to book with a partner. However, you can use ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures) to set alerts for United and its Star Alliance partners if there’s no business-class award space on your desired date(s) of travel.

Related: Your ultimate guide to the United MileagePlus program

No fuel surcharges

A Lufthansa award might require more miles with United, but you’ll save on taxes and fees compared to other Star Alliance programs. ALBERTO RIVA/THE POINTS GUY

The excitement of snagging a “free” trip using your miles can be dampened significantly by fuel surcharges. Those extra costs that many programs will add to award tickets. Other Star Alliance programs can add hundreds of dollars in fuel surcharges to their award tickets, but you can keep some serious cash in your pocket by booking through United, as it’s one of the few programs out there that doesn’t add these.

Of course, United’s award rates are generally higher than many of its partners. While the airline technically eliminated its close-in award booking fee, you might find award rates higher for close-in travel.

However, if you can save $500 or even $1,000 in fees on a single award ticket by booking through United, it can easily be worth it. Savings like that are easy to come by if you’re looking at certain awards, like Lufthansa first class between the U.S. and Europe, where taxes from other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs can easily exceed $1,000.

Related: United’s best kept elite status secret: How to earn PQP faster with partner flights

United Excursionist Perk

United MileagePlus doesn’t offer an unrestricted stopover like other frequent flyer programs, but it does offer the Excursionist Perk. If used strategically, it has the potential to be even more valuable. It allows you to add a qualifying, one-way flight to a round-trip award ticket without additional miles at its most basic level. Here are the rules United lists on its website:

This perk’s simplest and most obvious use would be for a round-trip award from the U.S. to Europe or Asia. You could fly from Washington, D.C., to Frankfurt, use the Excursionist Perk for a free flight from Frankfurt to Paris, and then complete your round-trip award booking with a flight back to Washington, D.C.

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In this case, you’d pay the normal award rate for a round-trip flight from the U.S. to Europe, while the leg from Frankfurt to Paris would be “free.”

Of course, you could get much more creative than this. Maybe you add an open jaw and fly back to Chicago instead of Washington.

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That’s still pretty tame in the grand scheme of what’s possible with this perk. To learn about crazy routing possibilities like “the time machine” or the “Southern North America/South of Central America/North of South America/West of Everywhere Turtler,” check out TPG’s complete guide to the Excursionist Perk.

Related: How to unlock additional award availability with United Airlines

Flights outside the US

With so many United flyers using miles for travel from the United States, U.S. redemptions have been disproportionately devalued compared to the rest of the world. Some impressive non-U.S. redemptions include Melbourne Airport (MEL) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) for 55,000 miles in business class on Singapore Airlines, São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) to Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) for 27,500 miles in business class (or 38,500 miles in first class) on Swiss and Seoul to Tokyo for 8,800 miles in economy class on Asiana Airlines.

If you’re planning a trip outside of the United States, it’s worth comparing the cash price of your flight to the award price. Remember, just because you’re flying a route that United doesn’t operate doesn’t mean you can’t use your United miles.

Last-minute bookings

If you’re like me, it might be worth keeping a healthy “just in case” sum of miles in my MileagePlus account for last-minute situations. A year ago, I was traveling in Belgium and had to return immediately to the United States due to a family emergency. The urgent nature of the situation meant that I needed to be on the first flight that would get me home to San Francisco.

Shopping on my phone for a flight back while en route to the Brussels airport by taxi, I found a United flight in Polaris business class for 62,800 miles connecting through Chicago. Miraculously, this flight was scheduled to depart Brussels in two hours and had the soonest arrival in San Francisco. The cash price was over $8,000.

Even with the increase in award prices for close-in bookings, this flight was a bargain and I avoided paying for an expensive last-minute paid fare.

Bottom line

Despite negative changes to the United MileagePlus program, plenty of high-value options remain for redeeming your miles.

Knowing which award types, cabins and routing rules to utilize can help you boost your redemption values every time. At the very least, review the Excursionist Perk to add a free second destination to your next vacation booked with United MileagePlus miles.

Additional reporting by Ethan Steinberg.