AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for the United MileagePlus® Club Business Card are not available through this site. All information has been independently collected by AwardWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers.
The United Airlines MileagePlus program is one of the most popular and easy-to-use frequent flyer programs out there. There are many ways to earn miles, and finding and booking award flights is pretty straightforward.
Today, I'll go over the basics of how to earn MileagePlus miles and how the United award travel chart works. Then, I'll show you the step-by-step process for finding and booking award flights with United miles.
Page Contents
How to Earn United MileagePlus Miles
Before you get started, it's important to ensure you've signed up for a free United MileagePlus account. If you haven't yet, you can do that here. This will be where all your United miles go, so you can use them to book award flights. You can use AwardWallet to track your account for new miles you earn, bookings you make, and more.
When it comes to earning miles, you have a lot of options. Let's look at each of them.
United personal credit cards
An easy way to earn United miles is to open one of its co-branded cards from Chase. There are six options total: four personal cards and two business cards. After qualifying spending, each of these cards has a sign-up bonus that can help you jumpstart your stash of United miles, putting you on your way to booking an award flight.
Related: Current Offers on United Credit Cards
This entry-level card earns 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Here's how you'll earn United miles when using this $0-annual fee card:
- 2 miles per $1 spent at gas stations
- 2 miles per $1 spent on United® purchases
- 2 miles per $1 spent on local transit and commuting
- 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
This is by far the most popular United card — and for good reason! You earn 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. This card's annual fee is $95 ($0 intro for the first year). After that, the benefits far outweigh the nominal annual fee.
- Free first checked bag for you and a companion
- Two United Club one-time passes each year
- Up to $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee application credit
- Earn up to 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points toward United status through credit card spending
Here's how you'll earn miles using the United Explorer Card:
- 2X miles per $1 spent on purchases from United®
- 2X miles per $1 spent at restaurants and on hotel stays
- 1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
This mid-tier United card will earn you a lot of miles and more perks — with a corresponding annual fee. You can earn 60,000 bonus miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. The annual fee is $250. If you are a frequent United flyer, this card may be a good choice for you, due to these perks:
- Two free checked bags for you and a companion
- $125 annual purchase credit
- Two 5,000-mile anniversary award flight credits
- Up to $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee application credit
- Earn up to 6,000 Premier Qualifying Points through spending
Plus, earn miles on purchases at the following rates:
- 3 miles per $1 spent on United® purchases
- 2 miles per $1 spent on all other travel
- 2 miles per $1 spent at restaurants
- 2 miles per $1 spent on select streaming services
- 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
This card is made for United loyalists. New applicants can earn 80,000 bonus miles bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
This card charges a hefty $525 annual fee, but there is one big benefit that may make it worth it: lounge access! This card comes with an annual subscription to United Club, which is valued at $650. In addition to your United Club subscription, you will get:
- Two free checked bags for you and a companion
- Premier Access travel services such as priority check-in, security screening, plus priority boarding and baggage handling
- Up to $100 TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee application credit
- Earn up to 8,000 Premier Qualifying Points through spending
- Automatic IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite status
Earn United miles on purchases at the following rates:
- Earn 4 miles per $1 spent on United® purchases
- Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on all other travel
- Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on dining
- Earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
Related: Which United Credit Card is Right for You?
United small business credit cards
In addition to the four personal cards above, United offers two business cards.
The United℠ Business Card offers:
- Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99
- First checked bag free
- Two United Club one-time passes each year
- 2 miles per $1 spent on United, local transit and commuting and at gas stations, office supply stores and restaurants. Plus, earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Earn up to 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points through spending
The United Club℠ Business Card has an annual fee of $450. Like the name says, it comes with lounge access! You will get:
- Annual membership to United Club
- 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- Two free checked bags for you and a companion
- Premier Access travel services
- Earn up to 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points through spending
Transferring points
Another way to earn United miles is to transfer flexible reward points from other programs to United. You have three options for transferring points to United to boost your mileage balance.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
The first is Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Because United is one of Chase's transfer partners, you can transfer these points from Chase to United at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 (1,000 Ultimate Rewards points equals 1,000 United miles). Several credit cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. However, you'll need to have a card with an annual fee to access Chase's transfer partners, including United. Transfers are immediate.
Related: How To Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Bilt Rewards
You can transfer points from Bilt Rewards to United at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 2,000. To earn Bilt Rewards, you need to pay your monthly rent through Bilt or hold The Bilt Mastercard® — or do both. This card has a $0 annual fee and can be used to pay rent with no transaction fees, and you'll earn 3x on dining and 2x on travel.
Marriott Bonvoy
You can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to over three dozen airlines, and United may offer the best deal among them. Transfers happen at a 3:1 ratio, but you'll get 10,000 bonus miles for sending 60,000 Marriott points. That means you'll end up with 30,000 United miles in the end. It involves an extra step, but any credit card earning Marriott points can effectively earn United miles.
Note that transfers can take up to five days.
Travel on United and Star Alliance partners
Obviously, you can earn United miles when flying with United or one of its Star Alliance partners.
When you book a flight on United, enter your MileagePlus number (the membership number from the free account you've created) during checkout. You will then earn 5x miles for every dollar you spend, not including taxes and fees. If you have any kind of status with United, your earning rate goes up. Here are the current earning rates:
| MileagePlus status | Base miles earned (based on fare) | Premier bonus miles earned (based on fare) | Total miles earned (based on fare) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | 5 x fare | - | 5 x fare |
| Premier Silver | 5 x fare | 2 x fare | 7 x fare |
| Premier Gold | 5 x fare | 3 x fare | 8 x fare |
| Premier Platinum | 5 x fare | 4 x fare | 9 x fare |
| Premier 1K | 5 x fare | 6 x fare | 11 x fare |
Additionally, when you fly on a Star Alliance partner, you can enter your United MileagePlus number to earn United miles. See the chart below for how those miles are calculated.
Travel partners
Along with earning miles from flying, you can book rental cars and cruises through United's transportation partners. United partners with more than 25 cruise lines,. and you can earn up to 45,000 points on sailings. United also partners with Avis and Budget rental cars, providing up to 1,250 award miles per qualifying rental (depending on your United status). It is important to include your MileagePlus number when booking travel through a travel partner; otherwise, you won'tearn miles.
United MileagePlus Shopping
Buying something? You can earn miles when you shop through the United MileagePlus Shopping portal.
Click the shopping portal link and sign into your MileagePlus account. Then, search for the store you want to shop at. There are over 1,100 stores, so you can find what you want pretty easily! Once you find the store you want, click on it and go to the store's website to shop like you normally would.
United tracks the purchase, and you will earn miles based on how much you spend. You'll earn different rates at different stores, and rates can change often — 0.5 to 20 miles per $1 spent. Shopping portals liked United's are an easy way to earn miles for shopping that you would already be doing.
United MileagePlus X app
You can download the MileagePlus X app to use for in-person and online shopping. Here, you'll essentially buy a gift card to the store you're shopping at, pay with that, and earn five miles per $1 spent doing so. Got a United credit card? You'll earn 25% more.
How Much Do Award Flights Cost?
Next up, let's look at how award flights are priced.
In April of 2020, United got rid of its award chart and moved to dynamic pricing. Now, instead of standardized pricing for flights based on where you're going from and to, the prices can change from day to day. Take a look at the picture below and you will see that a flight from San Francisco to New York costs 15k one day, 20.6k the next day, and 25.5k the following day.
This is important to remember when looking to book award flights with United. You can save a lot of miles if you're flexible with your dates! Thankfully, you can view both seven-day and 30-day charts, which will show you the cheapest flight dates.
Extra availability for cardmembers
According to United,
“MileagePlus Premier® members and qualified MileagePlus Chase Cardmembers are eligible for exclusive award travel availability.”
Thus, those with a United credit card or United elite status get access to extra award seats that aren't available to everyone else.
Partner award rates
When it comes to booking an award flight on a partner airline, prices can be all over the place. It can depend on dates, times, connections, which partner airline, and more. To provide some clarity, we have compiled an unofficial award chart here.
How to Book United Award Flights Using Miles
Now, it's time to book your United award flight! If you have earned miles directly with United, they're already in your account. If you have earned points through a credit card with flexible points, you should find flights BEFORE transferring your points to your United account.
In order to book an award flight, start by logging into your MileagePlus account. Then, click on “book” and fill out the search information. Make sure to select “book with miles.” When you've filled all of that out, click “find flights.”
The next screen shows all of your flight options. At this point, I suggest clicking either the seven-day or 30-day calendar to show all of the surrounding dates and prices. This is super helpful if you're able to adjust your dates to save some miles. Then, select both your departing and returning flights (if it's a round-trip booking).
After selecting your flights, enter all of your personal information. Make sure that your MileagePlus number is included. You can also include your TSA PreCheck information (if you have it) and any special travel requests.
Finally, you will see a breakdown of the cost and be able to pay for your flight.
Bottom Line
Despite several devaluations over the last few years, United miles are relatively easy to come by, and it's easy to book award flights with the MileagePlus program. Additionally, there are a ton of partner airlines that help make booking award travel an easy and affordable option to countless destinations. These are some of the reasons why MileagePlus remains such a popular program.
What's your favorite award flight you've booked with United miles? Let us know in the comments.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
30,000 united miles is nearly worthless with the major inflation United just introduced.