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On an average day in the U.S., there are close to three million people catching a flight. By several metrics, United Airlines is the largest airline in the world, so a solid chunk of those three million people are boarding a United flight. If you're ready to leave behind the days of long lines to check your bag, being the last to board, having nowhere to sit when waiting for your flight, and consistently being stuck in a middle seat in the back of economy, consider working toward United elite status.
Although you will need to put in some time and money to reach status, the benefits will more than pay off, especially once you reach the higher tiers. As a top-tier member, you'll be prioritized for upgrades and will enjoy airport and in-flight perks like extra checked bags, Premier Access services, and Economy Plus seat selection.
In this guide to United MileagePlus Premier status, we will tell you everything you need to know about the four elite status tiers — including how to earn and maximize your benefits.
Page Contents
- Basics of the United MileagePlus Program
- Glossary of Terms
- MileagePlus Premier Status Qualification
- MileagePlus Premier Status Benefits
- Ultra-Frequent Flyers
- United MileagePlus Premier Status When Flying Star Alliance Partners
- Shortcuts to MileagePlus Premier Status
- Mimic MileagePlus Premier Status With a Credit Card
- Bottom Line
Basics of the United MileagePlus Program
The loyalty program of United Airlines is known as United MileagePlus. It was founded in 1981, just one week after American Airlines launched its AAdvantage program.
If you want to earn elite status, start by signing up for a free United MileagePlus frequent flyer account to get a MileagePlus number. Then, you'll link that number to your upcoming reservations, and the more you fly (and the more you spend on flights), the more miles you'll earn. You'll also earn Premier qualifying miles, but more on that later.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to United MileagePlus
Glossary of Terms
Before you can earn elite status, it's important to define a few key terms that we will use throughout this article.
- MileagePlus miles: These are the miles you earn when you book a United flight. A general member earns 5 miles per dollar, but you'll earn bonus miles once you reach elite status. You can use these miles for flights, upgrades, to pay for a seat or additional baggage, or even to purchase a United Club membership.
- Miles flown: This is the actual distance you've flown on a United airlines flight. It is used to determine your Million Miler status, which we will discuss later.
- Premier qualifying points (PQP): This is one of two metrics used to determine if you qualify for United Premier elite status. You'll earn 1 PQP for every $1 you spend on a United flight, but you have more ways to earn PQPs that we will discuss in a bit.
- Premier qualifying flights (PQF): This is the second metric used to determine if you qualify for United Premier status. You receive one PQF for every segment you fly. If you earn enough PQFs, you can lower the amount of PQPs you need to earn to reach status.
MileagePlus Premier Status Qualification
United is one of the last remaining airlines to calculate status through both flight segments and dollars spent. If you frequently fly on shorter, more affordable itineraries, this is great news. If you accumulate a lot of Premier qualifying flights (PQF), then you need fewer Premier qualifying points (PQP) to reach status.
Here's how many PQP and PQF you'll need to reach elite status:
- Premier Silver: 15 PQF and 5,000 PQP, or 6,000 PQP
- Premier Gold: 30 PQF and 10,000 PQP, or 12,000 PQP
- Premier Platinum: 45 PQF and 15,000 PQP, or 18,000 PQP
- Premier 1K: 60 PQF and 22,000 PQP, or 28,000 PQP
No matter what, you need to take four United or United Express flights throughout the year to qualify for status.
Earning Premier qualifying points
You'll earn 1 PQP for every $1 you spend on base airfare and carrier-imposed surcharges on United and United Express flights. In addition, you'll earn 1 PQP for every $1 spent on Economy Plus and preferred seating on United flights and on Economy Plus subscriptions.
You'll earn 1 PQP for every 5 award miles you earn on preferred partner airlines, up to a maximum of 750 PQP for economy and premium economy tickets, and 1,500 PQP on first and business class tickets. You'll earn 1 PQP for every 6 award miles you earn on MileagePlus partner flights, up to a maximum of 500 PQP for economy and premium economy tickets, and 1,000 PQP on first and business class tickets.
You can even earn 1 PQP for every 100 MileagePlus miles you redeem on United and United Express flights and seat upgrades. So, if you book a flight for 20,000 miles, you'll earn 200 PQP.
In other words, you have several ways to earn enough PQPs to reach status. However, the most quickest and most effective way will be by flying on a United-operated flight.
Related: The Best Strategies for Earning United Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) by Flying
Earning Premier qualifying flights
If you want to lower the threshold of PQPs you need to earn to reach status, you can focus on PQFs. You'll earn 1 PQF for every flight you take on United, United Express, or partner airlines. If you frequently fly within the same state, or on other short itineraries, this makes it easier for you to reach status. Although you'll still need to earn a solid amount of PQPs, you'll get there quicker.
Note that you won't earn PQF on flights to Venezuela or on flights to Cuba that aren't operated by United. You also won't earn any PQF on United basic economy fares, but you will still earn PQPs and award miles based on your status level.
Elite status timelines
You have a full calendar year (January 1 – December 31) to earn enough PQP and PQF for Premier status. Your status is valid from the day you qualify to the end of the next program year.
MileagePlus Premier Status Benefits
The benefits of holding United Premier status get substantially more lucrative the higher tier you're in. As you can see in the screenshot below, higher tiers receive perks like bonus miles, PlusPoints, priority boarding, and higher priority upgrades.
Complimentary Upgrades
There are several ways you can get upgraded to a higher class of service when you are a Premier member. First, you can be eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades (CPU), which are available on select flights. These upgrades clear at different times, depending on your level of status. For instance, Premier Silver members are eligible for upgrades on day of departure, while Premier 1K members are eligible for upgrades 96 hours before departure. These upgrades are for one-cabin upgrades.
Complimentary Premier Upgrades are available on these flights:
- Within the mainland U.S., except between New York/Newark and Los Angeles and San Francisco
- Between the mainland U.S. and Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador
- Between Hawaii and Los Angeles and San Francisco
- Between Guam and Asia, Japan and Micronesia
- Between Japan and the Philippines
- Between Japan and Mongolia
- Between Japan and Taiwan
Most of the time, Complimentary Premier Upgrades are only available on paid flights. However, if you are a Premier member and a cardholder of select co-branded United credit cards, you might be eligible for complimentary upgrades on award tickets.
Premier members can also upgrade their seat with miles on most paid tickets free of charge with United MileagePlus Upgrade Awards.
Here is the order in which upgrades clear when flying with United:
- United Global Services requests
- PlusPoints upgrades and MileagePlus Upgrade Awards
- Travelers with Premier status
- Fare class
- United Club Infinite and United Presidential Plus cardholders
- United Corporate Preferred participants
- United Chase cardholders with $25,000 in annual spending
- Date and time of request
So, if you want to guarantee an upgrade, you won't wait on your complimentary Premier upgrade, but you'll use your PlusPoints or MileagePlus miles to lock in your upgraded seat.
Related: How to Upgrade United Flights With Miles — And When It's Actually Worth It
United PlusPoints
The second way you can get an upgrade as a Premier member is through United PlusPoints. As a Premier Platinum member, you receive 40 PlusPoints, while Premier 1K members receive another 280 PlusPoints. The number of PlusPoints you need to upgrade your flight will vary:
- 10 PlusPoints: United Premium Plus to United Business on short-haul flights
- 20 PlusPoints: United Economy to United First or United Business on short-haul flights; United Economy to United Premium Plus on short-haul flights; United Economy to United Premium Plus on long-haul flights
- 30 PlusPoints: United Premium Plus to United Polaris business class on long-haul flights
- 40 PlusPoints: United Economy to United Polaris business class on long-haul flights
- 80 PlusPoints: Discounted economy to United Polaris business class on long-haul flights
As a Premier 1K member, you can use additional PlusPoints to instantly confirm your upgrade on select international flights, as long as you submit the request more than 30 days before your flight.
If you don't want to use your PlusPoints for an upgrade, you have several other options. Keep in mind that you only receive 40 PlusPoints when you reach Premier Platinum, which means your options are somewhat limited. You could gift Silver status to a friend, receive $80 in TravelBank cash, get 6,000 bonus miles, or receive 400 PQPs to fast track to Premier 1K status.
Related: All the Ways to Get United Club Access Before Your Next Flight
Ultra-Frequent Flyers
Unlike American Airlines, which gives ultra-frequent flyers the opportunity to earn additional Loyalty Point Rewards, your benefits are somewhat limited after reaching top-tier status with United. However, there are still a few things to know.
Bonus United PlusPoints
As we already mentioned, when you reach Premier Platinum, you receive 40 PlusPoints, and when you reach Premier 1K, you'll receive an additional 280 PlusPoints. Then, for every additional 3,000 PQPs you earn, you'll earn 20 more PlusPoints.
Those 20 PlusPoints can give you $40 in TravelBank cash or 3,000 bonus points, so it isn't much. Or, you could use 20 PlusPoints for the following upgrade requests:
- United Economy to United First or United Business on short-haul flights
- United Economy to United Premium Plus on short-haul flights
- United Economy to United Premium Plus on long-haul flights
If you have a feeling you'll earn substantially more PQPs throughout the year, you can always bank your PlusPoints until you reach a more lucrative reward.
MileagePlus Million Miler program
Once you've flown one million miles (or more) with United, you get lifetime Premier status and inducted as a United Million Miler.
- 1 million miles: Lifetime Premier Gold
- 2 million miles: Lifetime Premier Platinum
- 3 million miles: LifetimePremier 1K
- 4 million miles: Lifetime United Global Services
Apart from receiving lifetime status, you'll be able to select a companion to extend Premier status to, who can be a spouse, significant other, or a person who resides at your same home address.
In 2025 and 2026, companions of 1 Million Milers will share the Million Miler's highest earn Premier status for the program year. Starting in 2026, the companion of 1 Million Milers will automatically receive Premier Gold (unless they earn a higher level on their own). Companions of 2+ Million Milers will receive their sponsor's highest earn status during the program year.
United Global Services
Extremely loyal United frequent flyers can aspire to reach the invite-only United Global Services status. It comes with all of the benefits of Premier 1K, plus benefits like:
- Complimentary Premier upgrades up to 120 hours before departure
- Ability to use PlusPoints to upgrade award tickets
- Complimentary access to United Club locations
- Dedicated support and highest priority throughout your travels
The best part about being a member of United Global Services is the support you receive if something goes wrong during your journey. However, you need to be a heavy spender to be invited to this program. Some reports say you need to spend more than $60,000 per year to receive an invitation.
The only sure-fire way to be admitted into the program is by flying four million miles with United during your lifetime, which requires a substantial investment. To put that into perspective, you'd need to fly the approximately 5,165 miles between San Francisco (SFO) and Tokyo (HND) 775 times to reach this status.
It doesn't get much easier even if you fly on United's longest nonstop service from Houston (IAH) to Sydney (SYD), which rings in at approximately 8,849 miles. You'd need to fly this route more than 452 times — that's 10 roundtrip flights a year for 45 years, and almost a full year in the sky — so it's not attainable for most people.
Related: Subscribe to United Miles by the Month for Discounts on United Miles
United MileagePlus Premier Status When Flying Star Alliance Partners
United is a member of the Star Alliance, which means your Premier status equates to Star Alliance elite status. Premier Silver members are eligible for Star Silver status, while all other tiers are eligible for Star Gold.
As a Star Silver member, you won't notice many benefits — only priority waitlisting and standby. However, Star Gold members receive all sorts of benefits when flying a Star Alliance airline, like priority check-in, boarding, and baggage handling, extra baggage allowance, and airport lounge access.
In addition, United Premier members receive benefits on select non-alliance partners, like Brazilian low-cost carrier Azul. Premier Gold, Platinum and 1K members are eligible for priority check-in, boarding and baggage delivery, one additional complimentary checked bag, and access to the Azul lounge in Sao Paulo (VCP) prior to travel on Azul international flights.
When flying JetBlue, Premier members will soon be able to enjoy a variety of status benefits through the airlines new Blue Sky partnership,including priority check-in, security, boarding, and baggage handling, a free checked bag, free preferred or extra leg room seats, and more.
Related: How and Why You Should Use United Airlines ‘Expert Mode'
Shortcuts to MileagePlus Premier Status
All of the benefits of United elite status sound fantastic, but it can be cumbersome to actually get there. Fortunately, there are some shortcuts you can take advantage of, like a status match from competitor airlines or a PQP boost by being a United credit cardholder.
Status match
If you have elite status with another airline, but you want to transfer your elite status to United, you're in luck. United offers a status match challenge so you can quickly reach comparable status in the United MileagePlus program.
The above screenshot shows a partial list of carriers United will match status to, along with the corresponding status. For example, if you are a Delta Gold Medallion, you can match to MileagePlus Premier Gold.
To match your status, you need to submit some required documentation so United can confirm you meet the criteria to participate in the challenge. Once that happens, you will be upgraded to your corresponding status within five to seven business days after completing an “activating flight.” This is a flight operated by United or United Express that's completed within 90 days after your documentation has been approved. Once you do this, you'll receive complimentary status for 120 days.
To keep your matched status for the rest of the year, you'll need to earn a combination of PQF and PQP depending on your Premier status level you are matched to.
- Premier Silver: 5 PQF and 1,700 PQP
- Premier Gold: 10 PQF and 3,400 PQP
- Premier Platinum: 15 PQF and 5,000 PQP
- Premier 1K: 20 PQF and 7,500 PQP
In other words, to keep your matched status, you'll need to earn roughly one-third of the typical requirements.
If you currently hold Premier 1K, you can potentially request to have your status extended once every five years without paying a fee, according to user reports. However, this isn't a guarantee.
Related: Complete Guide to Airline Elite Status Matches and Challenges
PQP deposit
United gave everyone who earned Premier status as of February 1, 2025, a bonus PQP deposit to help them renew status quicker:
- Premier Silver: 300 PQP
- Premier Gold: 600 PQP
- Premier Platinum: 900 PQP
- Premier 1K: 1,400 PQP
Although it's not much, it's a nice head start so you can renew status or upgrade to the next tier.
Credit cards
If you are a cardholder of a co-branded United credit card, you can earn PQP on every purchase, up to a maximum. If you are a cardholder of the United Club Infinite or the United Club Business, you'll earn 1 PQP for every $15 you spend. All other eligible cards earn 1 PQP for every $20 spent.
Eligible cards:
- The New United℠ Explorer Card: Up to 1,000 PQP
- The New United Quest℠ Card: Up to 18,000 PQP
- The New United Club℠ Card: Up to 28,000 PQP
- The New United℠ Business Card: Up to 4,000 PQP
- United Club℠ Business Card: Up to 28,000 PQP
Select cardholders will also earn bonus PQP each year:
- United Quest Card: 1,000 PQP
- United Club: 1,500 PQP
Premier accelerator
When you book a United flight, you have an option to buy extra miles with Award Accelerator. When you do so, you can also buy extra PQP with Premier Accelerator. This generally isn't a great option, but if you only need a few extra PQP to earn status, it's worth considering.
Mimic MileagePlus Premier Status With a Credit Card
If you don't care as much about lounge access, but you still want some terrific United perks, consider the United Quest Card. It has an annual fee of $350, but it comes with some phenomenal statement credits and benefits, including:
- $200 United travel credit on your account anniversary
- 10,000-mile discount to use for an eligible award flight on each account anniversary
- Earn another 10,000-mile discount after spending $20,000 each calendar year
- Earn 2 global Economy Plus seat upgrades after spending $40,000 each calendar year
Plus, you'll earn 5X miles per $1 at Renowned Hotels and Resorts, 3X miles per $1 on United® purchases, 2X miles per $1 at restaurants, on select streaming services & on all other travel, and 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.
If you want to be as close to elite as possible without putting in the time and money to get there, consider applying for the The New United Club℠ Card card. The most notable of all the benefits it access to the United Club, which might make you want to get to the airport early.
Other cardholder benefits include two free checked bags, Premier Access travel services, special pricing on award travel, and more. The more you spend, the more benefits you'll unlock, like a 10,000-mile award flight discount after $20,000 in purchases (up to two times each calendar year).
Related: United Airlines Credit Cards: Which One Matches Your Style?
Bottom Line
Having United Premier status is a great way to upgrade your airport and inflight experience. Although you need to spend a solid amount with United each year to earn top-tier status, the benefits pay off. When you're sipping champagne in your United Polaris business class seat on a long-haul flight, you'll be thankful you put the effort in to earn Premier 1K (or even United Globalist).
If you want an easier way to reach status — or a way to mimic the benefits — consider applying for a card like the United Club card, which will make you feel like a VIP for a fraction of the cost.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The New United Quest℠ Card (Rates & Fees), and The New United Club℠ Card (Rates & Fees)
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