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Earning elite status with United MileagePlus can take a lot of effort, but it can be worth it if you travel enough. This is especially true when you consider the benefits that come with status, including early boarding, free checked bags, and complimentary upgrades. In 2019, United revamped its loyalty program to feature PlusPoints, which can be used to upgrade your flights or redeemed for other perks — and then expanded the number of ways you can use them in 2025.
Let's look at United PlusPoints, how to use them, and how to find flights with PlusPoint upgrade availability.
Page Contents
What Are United PlusPoints?
United PlusPoints are awarded to those who earn either United Premier Platinum or United Premier 1K elite status. The amount you'll earn will depend on your status. United awards status based on how many Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) you earn each year.
| Elite Status | How It's Earned | PlusPoints Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Premier Platinum | 45 Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) and 15,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) OR 18,000 PQPs | 40 |
| Premier 1K | 60 PQFs and 22,000 PQPs OR 28,000 PQPs | 280 (for a total of 320) And for every 3,000 PQPs you earn beyond that, you’ll receive 20 additional PlusPoints |
United PlusPoints can be used to upgrade domestic and international flights. This includes all flights and cabins of service, so you can use PlusPoints to upgrade from economy to long-haul international business class.
Thanks to a recent addition in June 2025, you can now exchange PlusPoints for a variety of different perks, including:
- TravelBank cash
- Bonus miles
- Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs)
- Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs)
- Gifting Premier status
United PlusPoints are valid for the rest of the program year in which you earn them plus the following year and the beginning of the year after. This means that if you earn PlusPoints in October 2026, they'll expire on January 31, 2027.
The Cost to Upgrade United Flights With PlusPoints
The amount of PlusPoints you'll need to redeem for your flight will depend on a few factors:
- The fare class you've paid for
- Your destination
- The cabin to which you're upgrading
- Upgrade availability
Costs will range from 10 to 80 PlusPoints:
- 10 PlusPoints: Premium economy to short-haul business
- 20 PlusPoints: Economy to Premium Plus (both short-haul and long-haul) or economy to domestic first on short-haul flights
- 30 PlusPoints: Premium Plus to long-haul international business
- 40 PlusPoints: Economy to long-haul international business
- 80 PlusPoints: Discounted economy to long-haul international business
Note that basic economy flights or flights containing a basic economy leg are not eligible for PlusPoints upgrades.
Premier 1K members also have the option to skip the waitlist on eligible flights. This can be done up to 30 days in advance but will cost much more than a regular upgrade (at least double the cost).
Finally, it's worth noting that those booked in Premium Plus will have their upgrade requests cleared before those who booked in economy.
Economy vs. discounted economy fare classes
Sitting in business class is all well and good, but how are you supposed to figure out which economy-class tickets are going to be 40 PlusPoints versus 80 PlusPoints for long-haul international upgrades? Here's how to tell based on fare class:
- Economy (40 PlusPoints): Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, and W
- Discounted economy (80 PlusPoints): S, T, L, K, and G
The Cost to Upgrade Partner Flights With PlusPoints
United PlusPoints can be used to upgrade flights on Copa Airlines, ANA, and Lufthansa. The cost for this is always 40 PlusPoints per flight segment. So, you'll want to utilize this option on longer flights.
How to Use United PlusPoints For Upgrades
There are two main ways to redeem your United PlusPoints. The first is done when booking, while the second can be used after you've already purchased your flight.
Redeeming PlusPoints during booking
You'll first want to navigate to United's website. Here, you'll be presented with the standard search bar. Rather than using this, you'll instead want to click the Advanced Search button in the bottom left of the screen.
Ensure you're signed in for this next step since the option to redeem PlusPoints will only appear if you're eligible. Once on the Advanced Search page, scroll down to Upgrade Type. From the drop-down menu, choose the option to search for flights that are upgrade-eligible using your PlusPoints.
Once selected, scroll back up to put in all your flight information, then hit Find Flights. United will present your results next.
From here, you'll be able to choose the flight you'd like and which upgrade you're looking to score. As you can see, in this example it's possible to upgrade to Premium Plus or United Polaris business class. As you go through the booking process, your points will be redeemed, and you'll be immediately confirmed into your upgraded cabin.
Redeeming PlusPoints after booking
It's also possible to redeem your PlusPoints after booking flights. To do so, you'll want to log into your account, and then navigate to your trips.
Select the trip that you'd like to upgrade and hit Manage Trip. This will bring up the details of your booking. At the top, you'll see the option to Upgrade Cabin.
From here, you'll be presented with all the different ways you can upgrade your ticket, including cash upgrades, Mileage Upgrade Awards (MUAs), or PlusPoints.
If there's current upgrade availability, you'll be able to confirm your upgrade immediately. Otherwise, you'll be placed on the waitlist.
How to Find United PlusPoint Upgrade Availability
United PlusPoints can be extremely valuable when used properly, especially if you redeem them for upgrades to United's Polaris business class. However, finding availability can be frustrating, and putting yourself on a waitlist doesn't necessarily mean your upgrade will clear.
Enabling United's Expert Mode
The first thing you'll want to do when searching for upgrades is enable expert mode for United. This can be found in your preferences section under settings. Once you're logged in, click on your name at the top of the page to go to your account.
On the left-hand side, you'll see a section for Settings. Expand this and select Special Preferences and Accommodations.
Scrolling down again brings you to the Expert Mode box, which you'll want to tick.
Save this preference, and Expert Mode will be enabled. What does this do, exactly? Well, it shows you how many seats are available in which fare classes during a standard search. This means you don't need to use the advanced search for PlusPoints upgrades if you don't want to.
Instead, you'll be able to tell what upgrades can be had at a glance.
If you're looking to upgrade your flights, look at the available fare classes on the bottom left of your results. The class you're looking for will depend on which upgrade you're trying to use:
- PZ: Upgrades to United Polaris.
- RN: Upgrades to Premium Plus.
The number after the PZ or RN result indicates how many seats are available in that fare class. In the screenshot above, PZ5 indicates that there is one seat available for upgrade to business. RN9 indicates that there are nine Premium Plus seats available for upgrade.
Note that United's counting system only goes up to nine, so there may be more Premium Plus seats available. You just won't see that reflected in your results.
Seats.aero
Expert mode can make it simpler to find upgrade space, but the real heavy hitter here is Seats.aero. This website can save you a ton of time when it comes to searching for confirmable upgrade space.
You'll need a Pro account if you'd like to use the PlusPoints finder on Seats.aero. It costs $9.99 per month but is well worth the expense if you have PlusPoints to burn.
Once logged in, select the Tools dropdown at the top of the page.
This handy tool displays every flight with upgrade space available for PlusPoints. You can sort by date, route, how many seats are available, and the time the space was last seen.
You can also toggle between the different fare types to look for business or Premium Plus upgrades. Finally, it's also possible to set an alert to notify you when upgrade space appears.
Clicking on a Seats.aero link takes you directly to United's website for results. It's important to be logged in and have expert mode enabled since the result page brings up every flight available for the day. You can compare flight numbers against Seats.aero to cross-reference availability.
Note that Seats.aero isn't providing fully live award availability. This means you'll want to double-check that there is still space available to use your PlusPoints, which you can do by reviewing available fare classes.
Related: How Far In Advance Can You Book Airline Award Tickets?
Exchanging PlusPoints For Perks
If you're one of the many who struggle to use PlusPoints, United has also created the option to exchange them. The cost of each perk varies, and each perk has a maximum number of PlusPoints you can exchange. Each year, you're able to exchange up to 600 PlusPoints for perks.
To exchange your PlusPoints, you'll first need to log in to your account. From there, you'll want to navigate to United's exchange PlusPoints page. You can then review available perks, add them to your cart, and check out.
Bottom Line
United PlusPoints can be incredibly valuable to those who maximize them. This is especially true if you redeem them for long-haul international business-class flights, which often cost thousands of dollars.
However, finding confirmable upgrade availability for PlusPoints can be frustrating. Enabling expert mode and subscribing to Seats.aero's pro tier can save you a lot of time and effort in the process. And if worst comes to worst, you can also opt to exchange your PlusPoints for a variety of perks, including gifting elite status or getting you closer to your next level of elite status.
- Best Offer Ever: Earn 100,000 bonus miles and 3,000 PQP
- 3x miles on United® purchases
- 2x miles on dining, select streaming services, and all other travel
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- Earn a 10,000-mile eligible award flight discount after spending $20,000 each calendar year
- Earn 2 global Economy Plus® seat upgrades after spending $40,000 on purchases each calendar year
- Get a jump start on earning Premier status with 1,000 Card Bonus PQP each year, awarded within 6 to 8 weeks after February 1 each year, starting in 2026.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 5 miles per $1 spent at Renowned Hotels and Resorts
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For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The New United Quest℠ Card (Rates & Fees)
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