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- You can earn lots of United miles quickly with excellent credit cards like the
United℠ Explorer Card . - If you have a Chase Ultimate Rewards card, you can transfer points to your United account.
- You can use United miles to book award flights on United and partners like Lufthansa and Air Canada.
- Read Insider’s guide to the best airline credit cards.
United is one of the largest airlines in the world, so it should come as no surprise that its frequent flyer program, MileagePlus, has over 100 million members. If you’re one of them, there are myriad ways both to earn and redeem MileagePlus miles for the best value, including some phenomenal United credit card offers.
In fact, there’s currently a monster intro offer attached to the
Read more: Guide to the best travel rewards credit cards
Here’s what you need to know to maximize your United MileagePlus miles, all the ways you can rack them up quickly, and how you can redeem them for the rewards you want.
How to earn United miles
From flying United and its partner carriers, booking certain hotels, signing up for promotions, and simply carrying the right credit card, there are plenty of ways to accumulate United miles in a flash. Because United miles never expire, you can focus on earning miles now without worrying about when you’ll be able to travel again.
Earn miles with Chase United and Ultimate Rewards credit cards
As is the case with many frequent flyer programs these days, the quickest, cheapest, and easiest way to accrue United MileagePlus miles is to open and use a co-branded credit card. United partners with Chase as its issuer, so in addition to the airline’s co-branded cards, you can transfer points from some of Chase’s other products to your MileagePlus account.
There are six United credit cards to consider if you just want to earn United miles and enjoy some day-of-travel perks to boot.
United℠ Explorer Card
The popular
Read more: United Explorer credit card review
United Club℠ Infinite Card
A premium credit card, the
Read more: United Club Infinite credit card review
United Quest℠ Card
The newest United card, the
Read more: United Quest credit card review
United Gateway℠ Card
The
Read more: United Gateway credit card review
United℠ Business Card
If you already have one of the other United credit cards, you could consider this small-business card instead. The
Read more: United Business credit card review
United Club℠ Business Card
The premium
Read more: Guide to the best Chase credit cards
If you prefer a card that earns transferable points, you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United MileagePlus (as well as over a dozen other Chase airline and hotel partners) if you carry one of the following cards. Given that versatility, you might want to apply for one of them instead.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
This customer-favorite travel rewards credit card offers
Read more: Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card review
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
With the
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Don’t forget about the
Travelers have some fantastic choices when it comes to credit cards they can use to accumulate United MileagePlus miles. But there are more ways to earn, too.
Transfer Bilt Rewards
Bilt Rewards is a program that allows you to pay rent fee-free — and earn travel rewards while you’re at it. You can also open the
- 3 points per dollar on dining (including food delivery services like Uber Eats and GrubHub)
- 2 points per dollar on travel booked directly with airlines, hotels, car rentals, or cruise lines
- 1 point per dollar on rent payments (with no fees) on up to $50,000 in rent payments every year
- 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
Bilt is a 1:1 transfer partner of United Airlines. This is a great way to rack up United Airlines miles on some of your biggest monthly expenses.
Earn United miles by flying United and its partners
Of course, the other main way to stock up on a lot of United MileagePlus miles is to fly United and its other airline partners. Regular MileagePlus members (i.e. those without elite status) earn 5x miles per dollar spent on airfare with United or United Express. Those with Premier Silver status earn 7x, Premier Golds earn 8x, Premier Platinums get 9x and finally, Premier 1Ks earn 11x miles per dollar.
Read more: 7 ways to earn points and miles without traveling, from maximizing credit cards to shopping online
United also has 25 Star Alliance airline partners and 13 non-alliance airline partners with whom MileagePlus members can accrue miles when traveling. They include major carriers like ANA, Air Canada, EVA Air, Lufthansa, SAS, and Singapore Airlines, among others.
The earning rates vary from partner to partner, but are usually based on the fare class purchased and the distance flown. For instance, tickets on Singapore Airlines earn between 0-150% of the distance flown, while those on SWISS earn 0-200%. So it pays to check the mileage rates on each individual partner page before committing to a ticket.
Earn United miles with other travel
In addition to just flights, you can earn United miles by booking stays with United’s hotel partners, sailings through United Cruises, and entire trips through United Vacations, as well as partner car rentals.
Earn United miles through shopping and dining rewards
Aside from travel, you can rack up miles by keeping a few other opportunities in mind. United offers an online shopping portal – kind of like an online mall – with hundreds of retail partners where MileagePlus members can earn bonus points on purchases. New members with a United co-branded card can currently earn up to 1,000 bonus miles by signing up and spending $25 within two weeks.
Read more: The 3 steps I take to save money and earn more than 100,000 points each year shopping online
Members can also register for MileagePlus Dining and earn between 3x and 5x miles on tabs at thousands of participating restaurants around the country.
And don’t forget that Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to United MileagePlus instantly at a 1:1 ratio, so if you’re just a few thousand miles short of an award, this is one of the best ways to top up your account.
How to use United miles
Speaking of awards, there are plenty of ways to redeem your United miles when the time comes.
Use miles for United award flights
It’s to be presumed that one of the primary reasons to focus on United miles is to use them for award flights on the airline itself. First, the bad news: United has removed award charts with fixed rates between various regions from its website and gravitated to a dynamic pricing model for award tickets.
This means that the number of miles you’ll need for a flight now depends more on how much paid airfares are running. That usually makes it cheaper to fly less expensive routes. On the flip side, however, if you’re looking for seats in business or first class, the mileage prices have risen recently and can be downright astronomical for Polaris business class on busy international routes.
Read more: United credit cards give you access to expanded saver award availability
These days, one-way domestic economy award tickets start at a mere 5,000 miles, but can range up to over 30,000 miles. You can find saver business or first-class awards within the US for as few as 25,000 miles, but also as high as over 60,000 miles.
Internationally, it’s hard to pinpoint exact values for routes these days given how few the airline is actually operating due to the COVID pandemic. But in general, expect one-ways from the US to other regions to start at around 32,500 miles in economy and 63,000 miles in business class and to skyrocket from there.
There’s also a new redemption option called “Money + Miles,” which is similar to Delta’s Pay With Miles feature. Money + Miles is currently available on select United flights, and it allows you to pay for part of your fare with cash and the rest with miles, at a fixed rate of 1 cent per mile.
Redeem United miles for partner flights
Just as you can earn United miles on flights with partner airlines, you can also redeem them for award tickets on the carrier’s Star Alliance and non-alliance partners. United stealthily raised award prices across the board by around 10% in early 2020, and then bumped them up again for close-in bookings — all of which has driven these prices higher still.
Read more: The best ways to fly to Europe with points and miles
While the number of miles you need for a specific flight will also depend on the route, airline, and dates, expect to pay about 33,000 miles each way from the US to Europe in economy and 77,000 miles in business class. Flights from the US to Asia start at around 44,000 miles each way in economy and 88,000 miles in business class.
How to search for awards using United miles
On the bright side, United has one of the most robust award-search engines – both for its own flights and those of its partners – of any airline out there. To search for tickets, just go to United.com, enter in your origin, destination, and flight dates, and make sure the box that says, “Book with miles” is checked. You can even check “Flexible dates” to see a month’s worth of award availability and filter your search by cabin class, which makes it easier to find the flights you need.
In terms of value, you should try to get at least 1 cent per redeemed mile in value for any award flights that you book, and aim higher for tickets in business or first class.
Other ways to redeem United miles
Beyond award tickets, United lets you redeem MileagePlus miles for other travel-related purposes, such as seat upgrades and United Club memberships. The latter costs $650 or 85,000 miles, meaning you’re only getting 0.76 cents per mile in value, which is definitely not worth it. You can also purchase inflight Wi-Fi passes or subscriptions using miles – but this is an even worse value.
Among the other options are redeeming miles for TSA PreCheck applications, merchandise, gift cards (many of these only net you a measly 0.3 cents per mile), various experiences like concerts and Broadway shows (once they resume), charitable donations, and even for hotels and cruises. Unfortunately, these redemptions are less than ideal if you’re looking to maximize value.
United Airlines miles — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How much are United Airlines miles worth?
United Airlines miles value is hard to nail down, as they can be worth less or more depending on how you redeem them.
Insider estimates that United Airlines miles are worth an average of 1.3 cents each when used for airfare. However, it’s possible to receive a return as little as 0.3 cents per mile when using them to purchase gift cards or merchandise. And you can achieve a value as high as 7+ cents per mile when you use them for fancy lie-flat international business class seats.
Do United Airlines miles expire?
United miles do not expire.
Can I use my United Airlines miles for someone else?
You can use United Airlines miles for anyone — as long as you have the relevant personal info to book the ticket.
Can you use United miles on other airlines?
United Airlines is part of Star Alliance — a group of 26 airlines that work together to serve nearly every corner of the Earth.
You can use United miles to fly on these partners. Simply search for your award flight through United’s website, and United will automatically present to you its partner routes for your desired travel alongside United Airlines flights, if any are available.
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