How to earn and redeem United Airlines Miles

With more than 40 years of history and three dozen airline partners, the United Airlines MileagePlus program provides many opportunities to earn and redeem miles — to nearly any point on the globe. 

To make it easier to navigate the program, let’s look at the many ways to earn and redeem United miles, focusing on the most lucrative earning opportunities and the redemptions that provide the best value for your miles.

How to earn United Airlines miles

There’s no shortage of ways to earn United miles. You can earn when flying with United and its partners, as well as from hotel stays, car rentals, cruises, vacation home rentals, your next mortgage and an array of co-branded credit cards. 

Earn United miles from credit cards

United Airlines and Chase now offer six credit cards, plus legacy cards that are no longer available to new applicants. Here’s an overview of how many miles you can earn with each card:

• United Gateway℠ Card * The information for the United Gateway℠ Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. : For a ​​$0 annual fee you’ll earn 2 miles per $1 at United, gas stations and local transit and commuting and 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.
• United℠ Explorer Card * The information for the United℠ Explorer Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. : For a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 annual fee you’ll earn 2 miles per $1 on dining including eligible delivery services, hotel stays and United purchases and 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.
• United Quest℠ Card * The information for the United Quest℠ Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. : For a $250 annual fee you’ll earn 3 miles per $1 at United, 2 miles per $1 on dining, select streaming services and all other travel and 1 mile on all other purchases.
• United Club℠ Infinite Card * The information for the United Club℠ Infinite Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. : For a $525 annual fee you’ll earn 4 miles per $1 at United, 2 miles per $1 on all other travel, dining including eligible delivery services and 1 mile on all other purchases.
• United Club℠ Business Card * The information for the United Club℠ Business Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. : For a $450 annual fee you’ll earn 2 miles per $1 on United purchases and 1.5 miles per $1 on all other purchases.
• United℠ Business Card * The information for the United℠ Business Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. : For a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99 annual fee you’ll earn 2 miles per $1 at United, on dining (including eligible delivery services), at gas stations, office supply stores and local transit and commuting and 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.

For those who live outside the 50 U.S. states, there are options for credit cards in other countries and U.S. territories as well.

Earn United miles from flights

How many miles you’ll earn on a flight depends on whether it’s a United ticket (even if you’re flying on a partner airline, your ticket might have been issued by United) and what level of elite status you have, if any. There are multiple earning charts at play for flights on partner airlines, but the simplest is for United flights with tickets issued by United. 

You’ll earn 5 miles per $1 spent on United fare as a member without elite status. Earnings only apply to the base fare, so you won’t earn miles on the taxes or fees you’ll pay for your ticket. If you have United elite status, you can earn even more. Here’s how the earning rates increase as you move up the Premier tiers:

• Member: 5 miles per $1 spent.
• Premier Silver: 7 miles per $1 spent.
• Premier Gold: 8 miles per $1 spent.
• Premier Platinum: 9 miles per $1 spent.
• Premier 1K: 11 miles per $1 spent.

Earning rates when flying on other airlines vary. For example, if you’re flying Lufthansa and your ticket isn’t issued through United (United ticket numbers start with “016”), you’ll earn up to 200% of the distance flown as miles when flying in first class but might not earn any miles for the most discounted economy fares (fare classes I, O, R, and X).

With Air Canada, you can earn an excellent 200% of miles flown on some business-class fares. With TAP Air Portugal, the highest earning rate is 150% of miles flown (C and D business-class fares), and the fare types that don’t earn any miles are different (F,I, N, R, and X).

And buying a ticket through a partner airline can invoke its earning rates, even if you’re flying on a United plane. This can sometimes help you earn miles at a higher rate. Keep in mind that these rates are for paid tickets. You can earn miles on the cash portion of a Money + Miles ticket, but you won’t earn miles on flights where your ticket was paid entirely with miles.

Earn on other types of travel

You can earn United miles on more than just flights. A cruise package booking with United Cruises may include up to 25,000 bonus miles, a bonus earning rate (such as double miles) or even an on-board spending credit for your cruise. Outside these offers, you’ll earn 2 miles per $1 spent on interior and oceanview rooms or 4 miles per $1 spent on balcony rooms and suites. On hotel stays, you can earn miles booking through United Hotels or Villas of Distinction.

It’s also possible to choose to earn United miles, rather than the hotel’s own points program, with programs such as Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt and Wyndham Rewards. You also can earn on rentals through VRBO and bookings with Rocketmiles. And you can earn up to 1,250 miles per car rental with Avis and Budget, depending on your United Premier status tier. United Packages is powered by Priceline and offers vacation packages for hotels, flights, rental cars and combinations of these. You’ll earn miles on your bookings and can find various promotions, such as 1,000 bonus miles per booking.

Earn on non-travel expenses

When shopping online, MileagePlus shopping can provide bonus miles on purchases you’re making anyway. The number of miles varies by merchant, but a few extra clicks can prove rewarding. Also, this site routinely offers bonuses to new members. You can also earn miles when purchasing gift cards from various online merchants.

Through MileagePlus Dining, you can earn up to 5 miles per $1 spent at participating restaurants. This program also offers new member bonuses regularly, such as 500 miles after signing up and completing a survey after your first restaurant visit. 

MileagePlus members also can earn up to 6 miles per $1 spent on wellness items from Therabody, a hefty discount and thousands of miles on a Norton 360 with LifeLock subscription and even earn thousands of miles for a new mortgage through Rocket Mortgage.

Convert points to United miles from other programs

While it’s possible to transfer your miles to others, it’s not the best idea. You’ll pay a fee of $7.50 for every 500 miles you transfer, as well as a processing fee of $30 per transaction. Thus, a transfer of 10,000 miles would cost $180. You can avoid these fees by simply redeeming your miles for a ticket in someone else’s name, which doesn’t incur extra fees.

Purchase United miles

You can also purchase United miles at a rate of $35 per 1,000 miles, which works out to 3.5 cents per mile — not a great price. However, United runs regular promotions, which can drop the price to below 2 cents each. Unless you’re certain you’ll redeem miles at a higher value than what you paid, this isn’t the best way to accumulate miles, though it can be a way to top off your account to make a valuable redemption if you’re a bit short on miles.

How to redeem United Airlines miles

You can use United miles to upgrade your seats, dine at United’s main airports, checked bags, United Club lounge memberships, in-flight Wi-Fi and in-flight meals. You also can use miles for Apple products, online shopping and magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Redeeming for gift cards tends to provide poor value, but is also an option.

However, booking award flights is the most common way to redeem United miles, and it’s the one that has the best chance to provide high value.

To search for flights with miles, head to United.com. On the search page, put in the number of passengers, travel dates, origin and destination. Then, click the box next to “Book with miles.”

If you aren’t logged into your account, you can still search. However, logging in can help you find extra award availability or discounted award prices available only to United credit cardholders or frequent flyers with elite status. Here’s an example of one such flight with special pricing.

You’ll then be presented with flight options for the day you entered into the search bar. However, you’ll see a weeklong view of pricing across the top of the page and an option for a 30-day calendar on the left side.

If you click on the calendar option, you’ll see a full month of pricing. If your travel dates are flexible, this can help you hone in on the cheapest prices. Obviously, this is just the price and doesn’t show any details that might push you away from the cheapest flights, such as odd departure hours, inconvenient routing or a long layover.

Once you’ve chosen a travel day, you’ll see a list of flights with departure and arrival times. The information will also highlight whether the flight has a connection. Flights labeled as “Saver Award” are the cheapest flight options for that route on that day. This also indicates that these flights should be available to partners. Thus, if you’ve got both United miles and Aeroplan points, for example, you should be able to find these Saver flights on the Aeroplan site to compare prices.

Beyond this, using your United miles feels like booking any other flight. You’ll choose the flight you want, input the passenger details and then pay the mandatory taxes and fees on the final page.

What are United Airlines miles worth?

The value depends on how you use them. You could get as little as half a cent or as much as 10 cents per mile in redemption value. That’s quite the range. So, how do you know what United miles are worth on a given redemption, and how do you identify the best-values?

On average, you should aim to use your United miles at 1.5 cents per mile or better. The way you find that number is simple. Find the cash price of a flight and subtract any cash element (taxes and fees) you’ll have to pay when redeeming miles for that flight. Now, divide this number (the cash you’d save by using miles) by the number of miles required.

Confused? Let’s look at an example.This flight from Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) to Chicago’s O’Hare airport (ORD) costs 28,200 miles plus $133.70 in taxes and fees. That might feel high for an economy ticket.

But consider the cash price for this ticket, given that it’s during Oktoberfest. You’ll pay $1,591 in economy or $1,479 in basic economy (without the option to choose your seat in advance or check a bag).

To calculate the value of the miles you’d redeem for this flight, take $1,591 (the price for the economy ticket) and subtract $133.70. That gives you $1,457.30. Now, divide that number by 28,200 (the number of miles needed). You’ll get 0.0517 — 5.17 cents per mile. That is incredible value for an economy flight redemption. Remember that we said you should aim for at least 1.5 cents or better with United miles, and this flight provides nearly four times that amount.

Best ways to use your United Airlines miles

We’ve already seen an example of using United miles when the cash price of a ticket is inflated. Let’s look at some other options for using United miles for solid value.

Short domestic flights

Short flights within the U.S., especially those to regional airports and on routes with little competition, can be expensive. Consider this 58-minute flight from Chicago to South Bend, IN that costs nearly $200. Redeeming 8,700 miles here is a quality redemption.

Short flights on partners

United’s short hops aren’t the only time where you’ll find good value. Flights in West Africa are notoriously expensive on some routes and provide an excellent example of how much money you can save by redeeming miles. This one-hour flight on Brussels Airlines from Freetown, Sierra Leone to Monrovia, Liberia costs $450 on most days. Unfortunately, you’ll still have to pay $299 in government fees, but you’ll redeem 8,800 miles to save $160 — making your miles worth 1.7 cents apiece here.

Flights in the Pacific

Flights within the Pacific also are expensive — especially considering the distance you’ll fly for the cost of some of these flights. Consider this flight from Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (PNI) to Guam. This flight costs $545 and takes just four hours, so redeeming 20,000 miles to save $538 is a great way to save money and lets you use your miles at nearly 2.7 cents apiece.

Business-class fares

You also can achieve great value from your miles when flying in the front of the plane. You can pay 88,000 miles + $5.60 to fly in business class from Washington, D.C. to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines. This nonstop flight costs $4,712, so you’ll get 5.35 cents per mile on this redemption — more than three times the value we’re aiming for.

Excursionist Perk

United MileagePlus also offers an interesting way to maximize miles: the Excursionist Perk. With this benefit, you can add a free flight in the middle of a trip, so long as you follow a few rules. The free flight must be within a single region of United’s award map, and the award booking you add must start and end in the same region. For example, you could start a flight to Europe from Chicago but return to Miami as those two cities are in the same region (continental U.S.). However, you couldn’t return from Europe to Hawaii as that’s in a different region.

Let’s look at an example. To do this, you’ll want to find each piece of your itinerary separately, searching for one-way flights. Then do a multi-city search from the “advanced search” page. Let’s say you fly from Newark to Paris. From there, fly to Frankfurt paying only the government-imposed taxes and fees. Then, fly home from Frankfurt. You’ll pay as you normally would for the flights from Newark to Paris and Frankfurt to Newark. However, you won’t owe any additional miles for the flight in the middle, thanks to this benefit.

Using this perk can be a great way to stretch your miles, and explore a new place or cover an expensive flight in the middle.You also can use it to get yourself to your intended destination if award flights aren’t available. Imagine you can’t find any award flights to Germany around Oktoberfest. An award to France could be easier to find, then a day or two later you could continue to Germany. Awards on these shorter flights could be easier to find, and you aren’t footing extra costs for getting to your destination in this way.

Best credit cards for United Airlines miles

As you might expect, United has a wide range of airline credit cards, from a no-annual-fee card with basic benefits to one that includes United Club lounge membership — plus many options in between.The majority of United’s credit cards also can help you earn elite status through spending. For personal use, consider the following cards, several of which have elevated bonuses right now:

• United Gateway Credit Card: Earn 20,000 miles after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. You’ll also get 25% back as a statement credit for in-flight purchases.
• United Explorer Card: Earn 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Get a free checked bag and priority boarding when flying United (including one companion on the same reservation for both benefits). You’ll also be eligible for premier upgrades on award tickets (if you have elite status), 25% back on in-flight purchases, and two United Club one-time passes after account opening and on each account anniversary. 
• United Quest Card: Earn 60,000 miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Get a free first and second checked bag on United flights, up to $125 in statement credits toward United purchases each year and up to 10,000 miles back each year after booking award flights with your United miles.
• United Club Infinite Card: Earn 80,000 miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. You’ll get two complimentary checked bags, priority boarding, a 10% discount on United economy saver awards in the continental U.S. and Canada, 25% back on in-flight purchases, premier upgrades on award tickets, Avis President’s Club status, IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status and the card’s headline benefit: a United Club membership.

United also has a pair of rewards credit cards for small business owners:

• United Club Business Card: Earn 50,000 miles and 1,000 Premier qualifying points after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of account opening. The card’s feature benefit is a United Club membership, but you’ll also get two free checked bags on United flights, premier access, premier upgrades on award tickets, 25% back on in-flight purchases and Avis President’s Club status.
• United Business Card: Earn 75,000 miles after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of account opening. Benefits include a complimentary checked bag on United flights, up to $100 United travel credit, 5,000 bonus miles each year you hold this card and a personal United card, two United Club one-time passes after account opening and on each account anniversary, 25% back on in-flight purchases and priority boarding.

United’s credit cards also can help you earn elite status by earning Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) through spending. You’ll earn 25 PQPs for every $500 spent on an eligible card, with varying maximum PQP earnings. Note that the United Gateway and United MileagePlus Card with no annual fee do not provide this benefit. On other cards, you can earn the following PQPs each year:

• Up to 1,000 PQPs from spending each year: United Business Card, United Club Business Card, United Explorer Card, plus several cards that are no longer open to new applicants.
• Up to 3,000 PQPs from spending each year: United MileagePlus Select Card.
• Up to 6,000 PQPs from spending each year: United Quest Card.
• Up to 10,000 PQPs from spending each year: United Club Infinite Card, United Presidential Plus Card and United Presidential Plus Business Card.

If you’re planning to use spending as a path to elite status, note that United requires a minimum of four United-operated flight segments to earn Premier status.

United transfer partners

It’s also possible to earn United miles indirectly by earning points in other programs and moving those to your United MileagePlus account.

United partners with two bank points programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards® and Bilt Rewards. You can transfer your Chase and Bilt points to United at a 1-to-1 ratio, and most transfers are immediate. That means any credit card that earns either of these points currencies can be used to earn United miles.

You also can convert points from the following hotel programs to United miles:

• Marriott Bonvoy: Convert 3 points to 1 United mile, plus a 10,000-mile bonus for each 60,000 Marriott points converted.
• Marriott Vacation Club: Convert 500 Vacation Club points to 8,000 miles, then 250 points to 4,000 United miles with a minimum of 500 points per transaction and a maximum of 40,000 points converted annually.
• Accor Live Limitless: Convert 2,000 points to 1,000 United miles.
• Choice Privileges: Convert 5,000 points to 1,000 miles.
• Hilton Honors: Convert 10,000 points to 1,000 United miles.
• IHG One Rewards: Convert 10,000 points to 2,000 miles.
• Shangri-La Circle: Convert at a 1-to-1 ratio with a minimum of 2,500 points.
• World of Hyatt: Convert 5 points to 2 miles, plus a 5,000-mile bonus when converting 50,000 points into 20,000 miles.
• Wyndham Rewards: Convert points at a 5-to-1 ratio in increments of 6,000, 16,000 or 30,000 Wyndham points.

Final verdict

There are numerous ways to earn and redeem United miles. Some options provide more value than others for maximizing miles, and the examples above should help you understand the possibilities and how to look for them when it’s time to travel.

The quickest way to amass a large number of United miles will always be a welcome bonus from a new credit card, but there are other options for earning miles through daily activities as well. Some of the simplest ways to earn United miles don’t even involve travel.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

How many miles do you need for a free flight on United Airlines?

United doesn’t publish an award chart. Prices are dynamic, changing with demand and the cash price of tickets. The cheapest award tickets for short flights within the U.S. can be as low as 8,000 miles.

Can I transfer my United miles to another person?

Yes, it’s possible to transfer your United miles to others, but it’s not the best idea. You’ll pay a fee of $7.50 for every 500 miles you transfer, as well as a processing fee of $30 per transaction. Thus, a transfer of 10,000 miles would cost $180. You can avoid these fees by simply redeeming your miles for a ticket in someone else’s name, which doesn’t incur any additional fees.

Do United MileagePlus miles expire?

No, United miles don’t expire. As long as your account remains open, your miles are safe. You’ll only lose them if you violate the program’s terms or forfeit your miles during account closure.

Can I redeem miles for flights on any airline?

United has a long list of nearly three dozen airline partners. While you can redeem miles on quite a large number of airlines, it’s not every airline. Some airlines don’t have award programs or operate independently and don’t provide award booking options.

How much does 50,000 United miles get you?

It depends. It could get you a round-trip ticket to Hawaii in economy class, several short flights within the U.S. or even a one-way ticket to South America in business class.