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United Airlines is one of the biggest legacy carriers in the US. Founded nearly 100 years ago, it is a founding member of Star Alliance and serves destinations across the globe from its various hubs in the US.
The airline's loyalty program is United MileagePlus, where you collect and redeem miles for awards. If you are wondering if United miles expire, here is all you need to know.
Do United Miles Expire?
United miles don't expire as long as your MileagePlus member account is open and in good standing. Per the United MileagePlus rules page:
“Mileage accrued in a Member's account shall be maintained in the account until it is redeemed for an award or until it is otherwise forfeited.”
Track your points and miles expiration for 630+ loyalty programs and get email alerts before your miles expire by signing up for a free AwardWallet account.
When Could You Forfeit United Miles?
According to the United MileagePlus terms and conditions, there are six reasons why your mileage balance can be forfeited:
- “Otherwise forfeited pursuant to these Rules, United’s Contract of Carriage or United’s fare rules”
- Engaging in prohibited conduct.
- Due to applicable regulations and laws.
- You request the closure of your account.
- The death of the account holder.
- Failure to respond to repeated communications from United about your account status.
Avoiding the above behaviors will keep your account open and your mileage balance valid. Otherwise, your United miles don't expire as long as your account is open.
Use AwardWallet to Track Your United Airlines Miles
Most airlines, hotels, financial institutions, and other loyalty providers have no issue with AwardWallet helping customers track their mileage balances and expiration dates. But, United and a few other airlines block AwardWallet from doing so directly.
However, you can still use several workarounds to use AwardWallet to track United mileage balances.
Related: How to Track Your Rewards Using AwardWallet
Boosting Your United MileagePlus Miles Balance
Because United miles don't expire, you can take your time to accrue miles before booking a high-value award flight. In addition to flying United and its partners, the major ways to earn United miles are through United credit cards, transfer partners, and other earning partners.
United credit cards
When it comes to boosting your United MileagePlus balance, the easiest way is through everyday spending on United credit cards. Also, earning the welcome bonus from one of the many United cards can significantly boost your mileage balance.
Some top United credit card options include:
- 2X miles per $1 spent on purchases from United®
- 2X miles per $1 spent on dining and hotel stays when booked with the hotel
- 1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 2 miles per $1 spent on United® purchases
- 2 miles per $1 spent at gas stations, on local transit and commuting
- 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 5 miles per $1 spent at Renowned Hotels and Resorts
- 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
Transferrable points
MileagePlus members who find themselves short a few miles can transfer flexible credit card points to United MileagePlus. Both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards let you transfer rewards to United MileagePlus.
In addition, you can transfer hotel points from several hotel loyalty partners — including Marriott Bonvoy points:
United MileagePlus earning partners
United Airlines has an enormous number of partners, and earning United miles has never been easier. In fact, you can earn a ton of miles without ever setting foot on a United aircraft. You can boost your United mileage balance in all the following ways:
- Earn United miles for your next hotel stay at various hotel chains, including IHG, Hyatt, and Marriott.
- Boost your mileage balance via car rentals through Avis and Budget.
- Earn United miles for shopping through the United MileagePlus shopping portal.
- Book cruises through cruises.united.com.
- Earn United miles at restaurants through the United dining program.
- Buy flowers via Teleflora or 1-800 Flowers.
- Use the MileagePlus X app when shopping.
The list is by no means exhaustive. United has many other rewards partners with which you can earn miles, so it's always worth checking United's partner list to see if you can earn extra miles on an upcoming purchase. Considering that United miles do not expire, you can put all your efforts into squeezing every mile out of every partner that crosses your path.
Related: United MileagePlus Sweet Spots
Buying United miles
It's also worth noting that there are regular promotions to buy United miles with a bonus or discount. If you hit the cap on buying United miles, you can utilize United Airlines Miles by the Month to purchase up to an additional 120,000 United miles each year.
Buying miles is an easy way to top up your account for an award redemption. However, we only recommend buying more miles after exhausting other potential sources of miles — such as transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points or Bilt Rewards points.
Related: All of the credit cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points
Our Take
The fact United miles no longer expire is excellent news for United MileagePlus members. However, make sure you don't become complacent. Although you don't have to worry about when United miles expire, avoid the temptation to keep accumulating miles in your account with the knowledge they won't expire.
With United devaluation after devaluation, the value of your miles will only erode with time. Plus, you only get something from airline miles when you redeem them. If you're looking for inspiration, here's how to redeem United Airlines miles for maximum value.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The New United℠ Explorer Card (Rates & Fees), The New United Gateway℠ Card (Rates & Fees), and The New United Quest℠ Card (Rates & Fees)
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