{"id":51354,"date":"2020-12-06T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T17:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/?p=51354"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:38:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:38:47","slug":"united-award-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/airlines\/united-mileageplus\/united-award-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Redeem United Miles for Maximum Value"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although United's MileagePlus slightly devalued its program recently<\/a>, United miles are still incredibly useful. For one, you can use them for award travel on 35+ partner airlines. Even better, United's awards are often paired with some of the lowest out-of-pocket costs of any program.<\/p>\n

To better illustrate the value of United miles, we've put together a few of the best ways to use them.<\/p>\n

What's so great about United miles?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Massive Partner Network<\/span><\/h3>\n

United is one of the largest airlines in the United States, operating domestic hubs in cities like New York, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco. Perhaps more important than that, United is a founding member of Star Alliance\u2014the largest airline alliance in the world.<\/p>\n

Why does that matter? Because it allows MileagePlus members to redeem miles for travel on all of United's partners to over 1,000 destinations worldwide. That's a lot of flexibility for one award currency.<\/p>\n

\"Star-Alliance-Map-300x146\"<\/p>\n

No Fuel Surcharges<\/span><\/h3>\n

One of my favorite aspects of the MileagePlus program is the fact that it doesn't charge carrier or fuel surcharges on award bookings. These are the nasty fees that award travelers often have to pay when booking flights to specific regions or flying certain products. Depending on the reward, these fees can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

It doesn't matter how much these airlines may charge. United doesn't pass along any fuel surcharges. For example, you can book Lufthansa from Chicago (ORD) to Frankfurt (FRA) in business class for just 77,000 miles and only $5.60<\/strong> in taxes and fees:<\/p>\n

\"Lufthansa-ORD-FRA-77k-United-miles\"<\/p>\n

Flexible Routing Rules<\/span><\/h3>\n

Compared to American Airlines or Delta, United has comparatively flexible routing rules. For example, American Airlines makes it pretty clear that when traveling between two regions, there are only a few exceptions when you can transit via a third region<\/a>. United, however, is a bit more relaxed in that regard.<\/p>\n

Take this itinerary from Chicago to Bangkok, for example. With United MileagePlus, it's possible to fly from the U.S. to Asia via a trans-Pacific route OR<\/strong> via Europe. In this case, a one-stop itinerary could have a layover in Stockholm, Frankfurt, or Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\"Screen-Shot-2020-08-29-at-6.12.54-PM-300x171\"<\/p>\n

The United Excursionist Perk<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Excursionist Perk is one of the more interesting by-products of United's long string of devaluations. In a nutshell, the Excursionist Perk is a free segment in the middle of a round-trip, open-jaw, or multi-city award itinerary.<\/p>\n

However, there are several limitations:<\/p>\n