can you upgrade award travel on united

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Travel Codex

Your Resource for Better Travel

The Ultimate Guide to United Airlines Upgrade Rules

• Ultimate Guide to Alaska Airlines Upgrade Rules
• Ultimate Guide to United Airlines Upgrade Rules
• Ultimate Guide to American Airlines Upgrade Rules
• Ultimate Guide to Delta Air Lines Upgrade Rules

Searching for Upgrade Inventory

It’s no longer possible to search for upgrade space through third party tools like ExpertFlyer. However, you can still search on United’s own site to some degree. You can specify certain fare classes to use an upgrade instrument (separate more than one fare class with commas) and tell United if you want to include the cost of a co-pay when you upgrade with miles.

The results page will show not only the cheapest available fare but also the cost when booking an upgradeable fare and the miles necessary, if any. You can also view the “details” under each itinerary to look at the inventory in specific fare classes. Upgrade inventory is filed in the R fare class. (Some of these features may require turning on United’s Expert Mode if you haven’t already.

Upgrades for Full Fare Tickets

United provides an instant upgrade for travelers with any Premier status who purchase a Y or B fare in economy class. Premier 1K members also get an instant upgrade when they purchase an M fare. These upgrades must be requested after ticketing; if upgrade inventory is not immediately available you can go back and request the upgrade again at any time.

Upgrades with PlusPoints

Some members with Premier Platinum or Premier 1K status receive upgrade instruments that they can use to avoid relying on miles or the gamble of a complimentary upgrade. In the past these instruments were called Regional Premier Upgrades and Global Premier Upgrades, but a new system will take effect in December 2019 called PlusPoints .

PlusPoints can be used to upgrade flights operated by United Airlines, United Express, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Lufthansa, and Copa Airlines. All flights operated by partner airlines will cost 40 PlusPoints while the cost of upgrades on United-operated flights will vary from 10 to 80 PlusPoints.

Earning PlusPoints

As you can see from the table below, Premier Platinum members earn 40 PlusPoints as soon as they qualify for status (you don’t need to wait until the start of the next year). Premier 1K members earn an additional 280 PlusPoints, which brings the total to 320 including the 40 PlusPoints they received from qualifying for Platinum status.

Fly a lot? Premier 1K members can earn an additional 20 PlusPoints every time they earn 3,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) beyond the original 18,000 PQP they need to earn to qualify for 1K status. Learn more about PQP and other changes to United MileagePlus status coming in 2020.

Redeeming PlusPoints for Short-Haul Flights

You can redeem as few as few as 10 PlusPoints on United-operated flights within North America as well as parts of Central and South America and the Pacific.

The exact number of PlusPoints required will depend on the original cabin of service you booked and the new cabin of service you want to upgrade to. For example, booking a ticket in Premium Plus, United’s version of premium economy, will reduce the number of PlusPoints you need to reach first or business class.

• Upgrade from Economy to First or Business: 20 PlusPoints
• Upgrade from Economy to Premium Plus: 20 PlusPoints
• Upgrade from Premium Plus to Business: 10 PlusPoints

To quote United Airlines: “Short-haul flights are flights without United Polaris business and include flights within the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii and premium transcontinental service; flights between the U.S. and Canada; Bogota, Colombia; Central America; Caribbean; Mexico and Quito, Ecuador; flights between Guam and Honolulu, including island hopper service; and intra-Asia flights.”

Redeeming PlusPoints for Long-Haul Flights

You can redeem 20 to 80 PlusPoints for upgrades to anywhere else in the world, including flights operated by partner airlines.

• Upgrade from Discounted Economy to Polaris (business): 80 PlusPoints
• Upgrade from Economy to Polaris: 40 PlusPoints
• Upgrade from Premium Plus to Polaris: 30 PlusPoints

Discounted economy fares are those booked in S, T, L, K, or G fare classes. Basic economy fares are not eligible for upgrades using PlusPoints.

Requesting an Upgrade

To apply an upgrade using PlusPoints or to upgrade with miles, you’ll want to access your reservation online and then select the “Redeem Upgrade” button at the bottom of the itinerary.

On that page you’ll have two tabs. The first tab lets you actually buy up to first class, which will re-fare your ticket. The second table lets you use miles or PlusPoints to confirm an upgrade. I don’t have any PlusPoints, so the only option visible here is to use miles.

You can see that it’s just one price to upgrade each direction even though there are multiple segments on this mileage run to Aguadilla. If a flight doesn’t have upgrade space immediately available (green check mark) then you’ll be placed on the waitlist (yellow triangle) and given priority ahead of any complimentary elite upgrades.

In this case I’m logged into my account to view my own itinerary. However, you can use your miles or upgrade instruments to upgrade someone else’s flight. Log into your MileagePlus account and click on the grey box to view your upcoming itineraries. Rather than choose one of your own flights, enter the confirmation number and last name of the person who will be traveling. This can be a useful strategy to avoid co-pays on some mileage upgrade awards.

Upgrades with Miles

Upgrading with miles is a great idea for some travelers and a horrible idea for others. If you don’t want to use your miles to fly more than you already have to, or if you need to book paid fares to re-qualify for elite status, then upgrading with miles usually makes sense. If you are buying discounted fares and think this is your easy path to business or first class, it’s possible that booking an award ticket would be just as easy and a better value. United’s webpage on  upgrade awards  is among its most detailed and covers pricing, rules, and more. What I have here is the summary.

To upgrade a flight operated by United Airlines, United Express, or Copa Airlines, you will need to redeem miles and provide a co-pay that vary depending on your destination, route, and the fare class purchased. United is no longer publishing a formal price chart for award travel and upgrades after November 15, 2019, but the prices below are the most recent available.

Pricing for mileage upgrade awards can be found on pages 5-7 of this PDF or by using United’s interactive search tool .

For example, upgrading a one-way domestic flight within the Continental U.S. will cost between 7,500 (Y fare) and 20,000 miles (S, T, K, L, G, and N fares) with different levels in-between. The co-pay ranges from $0 to $75 but can be as high as $250 if you’re upgrading on one of United’s p.s. transcontinental routes. On international routes, a typical upgrade between the U.S. and Europe costs 20,000 miles and $550.

As you can see, the co-pay increases much faster than the miles required. You should determine if purchasing a more expensive fare, either one that books into business class to begin with or one that allows you to reduce the co-pay, is a more sensible approach. Remember that United will allow you to specify a fare class during the search process, so you do not need to call in and pay an agent ticketing fee.

Co-pays are waived entirely on the following routes if you have Premier status (or if you’re a general member and the miles come from the account of a Premier member):

• Travel within Canada and the continental U.S. (excluding p.s. routes)
• Travel from Canada or the continental U.S. to Hawaii (excluding service between Honolulu and Newark, Washington-IAD, or Houston)
• Travel from Canada or the U.S. (excluding Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico) to Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean.
• Travel within Oceania (excluding Honolulu and Guam)

If you want to upgrade on any other Star Alliance member, then you must book a full price Y or B fare. These can be very expensive for international travel, and a discounted business class fare may be cheaper. Upgrades from full price J, C, or D business class fares are also possible and might be a better deal given the high price of first class. Fortunately there is no co-pay for Star Alliance upgrade awards.

Complimentary Elite Upgrades

United will automatically request a complimentary elite upgrade for eligible routes, and your position on the upgrade waitlist does not interfere with your ability to request other types of upgrades. Upgrade priority is organized first by elite status, then fare class, and then the time of the request (i.e., the time of booking). In addition to most paid fares, upgrades are also possible on award tickets if you have one of several United-branded credit cards.

• United MileagePlus Explorer Card
• United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card
• United MileagePlus Club Card
• United MileagePlus Club Business Card
• United MileagePlus Presidential Plus Card
• United MileagePlus Presidential Plus Business Card

Award tickets are assigned the lowest fare class. For example, a Premier Platinum with a qualifying credit card will be upgraded on an award ticket after all other Premier Platinum members but before a Premier Gold member.

Companion upgrades are prioritized at the same level as the primary traveler. Assuming both tickets were booked in the same reservation, they’ll already have the same fare class and the companion upgrade can clear in advance. If they are separate reservations, then the upgrade must be requested at the airport. Companions on award tickets are not eligible for an upgrade.

One catch with companion upgrades that are part of the same reservation is that the computer system must process both travelers together — it’s all-or-none. This means that if only one upgrade becomes available the computer may skip over you to the next single traveler. You can avoid this problem by splitting your reservation, but some travelers prefer not to fly in separate cabins.

Upgrades at Check-In

United has been criticized at times for offering “tens of dollars” (TOD) upgrades to passengers without elite status. Some customers argue that this allows United to gain some revenue from its customers but shortchanges elite members of any chance at an upgrade, especially since they don’t always receive the same offer. However, if you get such an offer they tend to be an inexpensive way to confirm an upgrade immediately during the check-in process.

You might also be offered an instant upgrade at the time of booking. If you take advantage of this upgrade you are really taking advantage of an up-sell to a higher fare and will be confirmed immediately. You will earn miles according to this new fare type.

Finally, you might have the option of upgrading your ticket after you book when you return to your online itinerary at a later date (but before departure). This upgrade type will confirm immediately but will not re-fare your ticket; you will still earn miles according to the fare you first booked.

Priority for Each Upgrade Type

Assuming your upgrade does not clear in advance, United will process upgrades in the following order :

• Full fare tickets, ranked by elite status .
• Upgrades using miles or systemwide/regional upgrade instruments, ranked by elite status (of the traveler), then fare class, and then time of request.
• Global Services members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Global Services members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• Premier 1K members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Premier 1K members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• Premier Platinum members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Premier Platinum members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• Premier Gold members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Premier Gold members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• Premier Silver members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Premier Silver members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• “Tens of dollars” upgrades should be offered last, but if you’re offered one at check-in there are always scattered reports popping up that these clear before complimentary elite upgrades.

Remember that people may jump the queue at any time if they change flights or buy up to first class. Yesterday when I discussed Alaska Airlines I mentioned that the time of request was probably the most important factor. With United, it’s your status and fare class. Track how full other flights are and take advantage of same day changes to position yourself for better odds. You might even buy a slightly more expensive fare. If everyone else is booking a W fare (the cheapest option to use a Global Premier Upgrade) then consider buying a V fare — sometimes just $20 more.

You should be able to view the upgrade waitlist after you check-in and see not only how many seats are still available for upgrades but also if seats are still for sale. Honestly, if you’re not within the top 10 (some would say top 5) I don’t think it’s likely that your upgrade will clear, but there’s always the chance you’ll get lucky.

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About Scott Mackenzie

Scott is a former scientist and business student who created Travel Codex to unravel the complexity of travel loyalty programs. After 11 years in Seattle, he now lives in Austin with his wife and flies over 100,000 miles every year.

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Table of Contents

Redeem miles for flights on United Airlines

Use miles for flights on star alliance and other partner airlines, redeem miles for united upgrades, spend miles on flight and airport benefits, other ways to use united miles, final thoughts on redeeming united miles.

United Airlines offers many opportunities to redeem MileagePlus miles, but some redemption options are better than others. Learn what the options are so you can choose the redemption that works best for you and provides good value.

In this article, we’ll look at the different ways to redeem your United miles, from the good (e.g., business class award tickets) to the not-so-good (e.g., buying an iPhone).

Keep in mind that NerdWallet values United miles at 1.2 cents each. Ideally, you want to aim for redemptions that exceed that valuation. Generally, you'll find that award tickets booked in first and business class cabins will result in better redemption values in terms of cents per mile.

» Learn more: How much are travel points and miles worth this year?

One of the best ways to use United miles is to redeem them for award tickets on United. As one of the largest U.S.-based airlines (with over 330 destinations worldwide and more than 4,500 daily departures), United's extensive reach provides several opportunities for award tickets.

With a user-friendly website, United has done a good job of designing its award search interface.

To search for an award flight, input your origin, destination and date, then select the "Show price in miles" option and click "Find flights" to see options for award tickets. Below is an example for an award flight search from Chicago-O’Hare to Los Angeles in November 2024.

Awards are provided for each fare class as long as seats are available on the flight. United now advertises a “last seat availability benefit,” which stipulates that any available seat can be booked with miles. That said, just because a seat can be booked with miles doesn’t mean it’s always a good redemption option.

If you’re looking to make good use of your miles, look for Saver Awards, which are the lowest award price on a particular flight. These are capacity-controlled, which means that during popular travel days, they may be difficult to find. Saver Awards can be booked on Star Alliance partners , too. In the example above, the economy award for 15,000 miles is a Saver Award.

MileagePlus Premier members, especially Platinum and 1K elites, have expanded access to Saver Awards, while holders of some of United’s co-branded credit cards can get discounts on them.

» Learn more: How to Book United flights with miles

on Chase's website

$0 intro for the first year, then $95 .

• 2 miles per $1 on United purchases, gas stations and local transit and commuting.

• 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.

• 2 miles per $1 on United purchases.

• 2 miles per $1 at restaurants and hotels (when booked directly with hotel).

• 3 miles per $1 on United purchases.

• 2 miles per $1 at restaurants, select streaming services and all other travel.

• 4 miles per $1 on United purchases.

• 2 miles per $1 at restaurants and all other travel purchases.

• No foreign transaction fees.

• First checked bag free for you and one companion on your reservation.

• 2 United Club one-time passes each year.

• Credit of up to $100 every four years for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS.

• Priority boarding.

• First and second checked bag free for you and one companion on your reservation.

• $125 United purchase credit per year (good on airfare).

• Two 5,000-mile award flight credits per anniversary year.

• Access to United Club airport lounges.

Earn 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Plus, 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases. Learn more.

Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

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.

Earn 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Searching and redeeming with dynamic award pricing

United no longer publishes a region-based award chart. It now follows a dynamic pricing model, meaning the price of the award seat may fluctuate based on demand.

A search for nonstop award seats from Newark to London-Heathrow in November 2024 reveals the following award seats on United:

There are seven applicable Saver Awards seats at 32,900 miles in economy and six award seats at 135,500 miles in business class. If you’re flexible on your travel dates, you could also pull up the 30-day calendar to look for the price of awards on other days.

A scan of the calendar for the same route illustrates that some days are pricier to travel than others. Note the calendar is filtered by nonstop flights only. If you’re open to having a connecting flight, you’d have more options for lower-priced economy and business class awards.

You’ll generally get the best value when you redeem your miles for a business or first class ticket. Consider the following round-trip Saver Award in business class from Newark to London-Heathrow for 530,500 miles + $333.20 in taxes. The high taxes on the return leg aren’t United’s fault, as the U.K. is notorious for adding high taxes to departing flights.

If you were to book that same business class flight in cash, you would pay $10,564.90 including taxes and fees. Note that the taxes are slightly higher on the flight paid in cash versus the flight paid in miles.

By using miles, you would extract a higher value in points than our valuation of 1.2 cents . Although not everyone is willing to spend over $10,000 on a round-trip business class flight to London, this example illustrates the potential value of redeeming miles for premium cabin awards.

Redeeming for United award deals

United publishes flight award deals to various destinations for as low as 8,300 miles one-way at the time of writing. These are separate from Saver Awards and may be worth it depending on your flexibility.

Select the flight you’re interested in, and on the following results page, choose the 30-day calendar to see if other dates are also priced at the low mileage level.

For example, tickets from San Francisco to Lisbon were listed for as low as 43,900 miles and $44 for travel on April 10, 2024.

When you hover over the flight and click on it, you will see a seven-day calendar across the top, along with tickets priced at the advertised level of 43,900 miles.

You can also choose the "View 30 day calendar" to see other dates.

The calendar shows awards for 43,900 miles available throughout the month as well as some dates for fewer miles — as little as 30,000.

So if you’re seeing an award that isn't on the date you want, it might be worth digging in a little deeper and checking alternative dates for that same, or lower, route pricing.

Buy a United flight with Money + Miles

United's Money + Miles payment method allows travelers to pay for just a portion of any fare with miles, covering the remainder of the fare with cash.

Using this tool at checkout means you can choose the number of miles you'd like to put toward your flight while earning miles on the portion of the fare paid in cash, excluding taxes and fees.

» Learn more: The best airline credit cards right now

United is a founding member of Star Alliance , which boasts 26 member airlines. Due to United’s participation in Star Alliance and its partnerships with 18 additional airlines, United has access to a comprehensive international route network you can earn and redeem United MileagePlus miles with.

Award tickets on all partners can be booked on United.com (just like United award tickets), which makes booking travel convenient.

Here’s a list of all airlines with award tickets that can be booked using United miles:

Aegean Airlines (Star Alliance).

Air Canada (Star Alliance).

Air China (Star Alliance).

Air India (Star Alliance).

Air New Zealand (Star Alliance).

ANA (Star Alliance).

Asiana Airlines (Star Alliance).

Austrian (Star Alliance).

Avianca (Star Alliance).

Brussels Airlines (Star Alliance).

Copa Airlines (Star Alliance).

Croatia Airlines (Star Alliance).

EgyptAir (Star Alliance).

Ethiopian Airlines (Star Alliance).

EVA Air (Star Alliance).

LOT Polish Airlines (Star Alliance).

Lufthansa (Star Alliance).

SAS (Star Alliance).

Shenzhen Airlines (Star Alliance).

Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance).

South African Airways (Star Alliance).

SWISS (Star Alliance).

TAP Air Portugal (Star Alliance).

THAI (Star Alliance).

Turkish Airlines (Star Alliance).

Aer Lingus (Partner).

Aeromar (Partner).

Air Dolomiti (Partner).

Airlink (Partner).

Azul (Partner).

Boutique Air (Partner).

Cape Air (Partner).

Discover Airlines (Partner).

Edelweiss (Partner).

Emirates (Partner).

Eurowings (Partner).

Flydubai (Partner).

Hawaiian Airlines (Partner).

JSX (Partner).

Olympic Air (Partner).

Silver Airways (Partner).

Virgin Australia (Partner).

Vistara (Partner).

» Learn more: Sweet spots to get the most value from your United miles

United offers four types of upgrade awards. Complimentary Premier and PlusPoints upgrades are free and don't require MileagePlus miles, so we’ll look specifically at the two forms of upgrades you can use your miles on.

» Learn more: How do I use PlusPoints on United?

MileagePlus Upgrade Awards

These upgrade awards are available on paid tickets on United and United Express flights. Depending on your fare class and cabin, the upgrade cost can be a combination of miles and cash.

If you haven’t purchased your ticket, you can find out how many miles you’ll need to upgrade during the search process. After you input your flight search details, you’ll have the option to select an “Upgrade type.” In the example below, we’ve selected “MileagePlus Upgrade Awards.”

After clicking “Find flights,” you’ll see the results page. In the example below, the price for a one-way flight from Chicago-O’Hare to Paris-Charles de Gaulle is $549 in economy. To upgrade to premium economy, you’ll need 20,000 MileagePlus miles. If you want to upgrade to business class, you’ll need to pay a service fee in addition to 20,000 miles.

If you didn’t request an upgrade during booking, you can do so after you’ve booked your flight by calling United Reservations at 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331).

Star Alliance Upgrade Awards

Similar to MileagePlus Upgrade Awards, you could also use your miles to upgrade paid tickets on Star Alliance and partner airlines. Fare classes C and D (business class) and Y and B (economy class) are eligible for upgrades. Additional fare classes may be permitted depending on the airline.

To find out if there’s upgrade availability on your flight, you can complete this form after booking. If there is availability, you’ll be able to request and confirm the upgrade.

Aegean Airlines.

Air Canada.

Air China. 

Air New Zealand. 

Asiana Airlines. 

Brussels Airlines. 

Copa Airlines. 

Croatia Airlines. 

Ethiopian Airlines. 

EVA Airways. 

LOT Polish Airlines. 

Lufthansa. 

Shenzhen Airlines. 

Singapore Airlines. 

South African Airways. 

TAP Air Portugal. 

Turkish Airlines. 

» Learn more: Valuable benefits of United Airlines credit cards

You could also use your miles on a variety of flight and airport benefits.

United Club membership

There are more than 45 United Club locations in airports globally. A United Club membership could be a great choice if you fly frequently. An annual membership to United’s Club lounges costs $650 or 85,000 miles, resulting in a value of just under 0.8 cent per mile.

In-flight Wi-Fi subscription

You could also purchase a package for in-flight Wi-Fi, starting at $49 or 7,500 miles a month, resulting in a little less than a 0.7 cent per mile value.

TSA PreCheck

TSA PreCheck expedites your time at the airport and gives you access to a designated line for security screening. Additionally, when you go through security, you don’t need to remove your shoes, laptop, liquids, belt or light jacket. A TSA PreCheck membership is valid for five years.

If you already have Global Entry, you don't need to purchase TSA PreCheck as the benefits overlap. Many premium travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express offer a statement credit when you use the card to pay for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck enrollment.

If you don’t already have reimbursement through a credit card and are considering TSA PreCheck subscription, you could use 11,000 United miles to pay for the $78 application fee.

Airport dining

You can use United miles to pay your bill at select restaurants at Newark and Houston-Intercontinental airports. You’ll need to scan your boarding pass to start your order; when you’re ready to check out, you’ll be able to select miles or cash to pay for your total bill.

Based on screen shots from the United website , the value is just under 0.7 cents per mile.

In addition to flying and upgrading, there are numerous other ways to use your United miles. Although you'll generally get the most value out of redeeming your miles on premium cabin award tickets on long-haul flights, it's good to know that other methods of redeeming miles exist.

Newspaper and magazine subscriptions

You could use your United miles to pay for a magazine or newspaper subscription. A glance at current subscriptions shows the following options for the Financial Times:

A 24-week subscription to the eEdition of the Financial Times costs $49 or 1,960 miles, reflecting a redemption value of 2.5 cents per mile. This is actually a pretty good value considering that NerdWallet values United miles at 1.2 cents each.

Car rentals

Your miles could be used to book a car rental. To illustrate, a two-day weekend economy rental in November 2024 costs 16,900 miles.

The car wasn’t bookable with cash on the United site, so we went to Avis to compare. If you pay in advance, it would cost you $123.98 to rent the car, resulting in a value of 0.7 cent per mile, which is far below the 1.2 cents per mile valuation.

Use United miles for hotels

You could also redeem your MileagePlus miles for hotel stays. For example, a one-night stay in Scottsdale in December 2024 will cost 42,100 United miles (with a cash cost of $284). If you used miles for this stay, you’d get just over a 0.6 cent per mile redemption, which is subpar.

Shopping and gift cards

United also allows you to use your miles to pay for online purchases, including Apple products. Although you likely won’t extract good value if you use your miles to pay for these, if you don’t expect to use them for travel, it's nice to have other options.

Whether it’s through Apple, the MileagePlus X app or United’s gift card portal, you’re looking at a value of only 0.3 cent per mile.

The rest of the rest

Experiences: Bid on unique experiences or purchase tickets to events. Value varies based on the cash price of the ticket or auctioned experience.

Make a donation: Browse through United’s donation search site for a list of current campaigns.

Transfer United miles to someone else: This is usually a terrible value. Not only will you have to pay a fee for the cost of the miles, but you will also have to pay a processing charge. For example, a transfer of 10,000 miles would end up costing you $180.

Credit card statements: United credit card holders can use miles for airfare statement credits or to offset the cost of United tickets purchased at united.com. Generally, these uses result in poor value.

Cruises: You could spend your miles to pay for a cruise. United frequently runs promotions through its cruise website for discounted options.

The simplest way to redeem United miles is to use them for award flights on United and its partner airlines. You will need to log in to your United MileagePlus account to search for available flights. Other ways to use United miles include: flight upgrades, hotel bookings, shopping and gift cards.

United has removed its award chart in favor of dynamic pricing, so the price of an award ticket fluctuates based on the date of travel and the airline. To see a list of the lowest award fares, check out United’s flight award deals to various destinations for as low as 8,300 miles.

United miles do not expire, so you don’t have to worry about losing your hard-earned miles.

You can use your United MileagePlus miles to book an award flight for anyone. The booking process is the same as if you were purchasing the award for yourself, but you will need to know the traveler’s details (i.e., first and last name, date of birth and other relevant details depending on the origin/destination).

NerdWallet values United miles at 1.2 cents each, which means that 10,000 United miles are worth $120.

Yes, United miles can be transferred to others, however not only will you pay to do the transfer, but you’ll have to pay a processing fee as well. United charges $7.50 per 500 miles transferred plus a $30 processing fee. So, if you wanted to transfer 50,000 miles, you would have to pay $780.

United has removed its award chart in favor of dynamic pricing, so the price of an award ticket fluctuates based on the date of travel and the airline. To see a list of the lowest award fares, check out United’s

flight award deals

to various destinations for as low as 8,300 miles.

NerdWallet values United miles at

each, which means that 10,000 United miles are worth $120.

United offers plenty of opportunities to use your miles. Although the airline now focuses on dynamic pricing, you can still extract some decent value from your miles, especially if you redeem them for premium cabin awards.

If you’d prefer to use your miles on non-flying-related activities, United also offers plenty of redemption options through various partnerships. Surprisingly, using miles for newspaper subscriptions results in a decent redemption.

On the other hand, shopping credits, gift card purchases and hotel awards reflected some of the weakest uses of United miles.

Regardless of which option you choose, there is no such thing as the perfect redemption. Miles are meant to be used and not hoarded, so pick whichever redemption option best suits your needs.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card

Earn 5 free nights at an IHG property after $4k in spend (each night valued at up to 60k points).

How to request an elite upgrade with United PlusPoints

Editor's Note

If you want to upgrade your next United Airlines flight, the best way to do it (aside from paying cash) is with PlusPoints .

United debuted PlusPoints in 2019 as a replacement for Regional Premier Upgrades and Global Premier Upgrades. As opposed to the previous certificate-based system, PlusPoints are flexible in that you can redeem different amounts for different upgrades, whether you're looking to sit in Polaris business class, Premium Plus or domestic first class.

Here's how to earn and use United PlusPoints.

Earning United PlusPoints

Premier Platinum, Premier 1K and Global Services members earn PlusPoints at the following rates:

• 40 upon reaching Premier Platinum
• 280 upon reaching Premier 1K or Global Services
• 20 for every 3,000 Premier qualifying points earned beyond 18,000 (1K and Global Services only)

United MileagePlus members who meet the requirements for Premier Platinum status and subsequently qualify for Premier 1K will earn a total of 320 PlusPoints.

Related: What is United Airlines elite status worth?

Searching for upgrade availability

You can look for PlusPoints-eligible upgrade availability on United's website as long as you know where to look.

After logging into a United MileagePlus account with a current PlusPoints balance, click the "Upgrades, certificates, and promotion codes" option and select "PlusPoints upgrades" from the "Upgrade type" drop-down menu. Complete these steps before beginning a flight search.

From there, flight and upgrade pricing is immediately visible, along with an indicator noting whether you'll score an instant upgrade or end up on the waitlist. You'll also see the fare class breakdown after enabling "expert mode."

You can filter flights by departure time, stops, connecting airports and, most importantly, whether or not an upgrade is confirmable at booking.

Redeeming PlusPoints for domestic flights

United requires 20 PlusPoints for all domestic and regional upgrades, with one exception: Customers purchasing Premium Plus on a domestic premium flight (such as Newark to Los Angeles or San Francisco) only need to redeem 10 PlusPoints to move up to business class.

Unfortunately, domestic confirmed upgrade space remains especially difficult to come by, especially on transcontinental flights. Note that when upgrades are waitlisted, the points won't be deducted from your account until the request clears.

Related: The best credit cards to reach elite status

Redeeming PlusPoints for international flights

While domestic upgrades are fairly straightforward — you'll need 20 points to move up from economy or 10 points to upgrade from Premium Plus — deciphering international upgrades feels a bit like eating a bowl of alphabet soup.

• Economy to Premium Plus: 20 PlusPoints
• Premium Plus to Polaris: 30 PlusPoints
• Economy to Polaris (Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V and W): 40 PlusPoints
• Economy to Polaris (S, T, L, K and G): 80 PlusPoints
• Economy to All Nippon Airways business (G, E, Y, B, M and U): 40 PlusPoints
• Business to ANA first (J, C and D): 40 PlusPoints
• Economy to Copa Airlines business (A, B, E, H, K, L, M, O, Q, S, T, U, V, W and Y): 40 PlusPoints
• Economy to Lufthansa business (G, E, Y, B, M, U, H and Q): 40 PlusPoints
• Business to Lufthansa first (J, C and D): 40 PlusPoints

My friend has an upcoming flight from West Palm Beach, Florida, to London via Newark, so I pulled that itinerary up as an example. Because the international leg was booked in the K discounted fare class, the long-haul upgrade to Polaris requires 80 PlusPoints. Additionally, since PlusPoints will be deducted if only the domestic flight clears, you can now choose whether or not to waitlist segments individually.

Be sure to read the upgrade options carefully — you can't change your request later, though you can cancel it if the upgrade has not yet cleared.

Notably, the domestic segments did not add to the PlusPoints total, which came to 80 points for the one-way flight:

If the domestic waitlists clear and the international segments do not, however, you will be charged the appropriate number of PlusPoints for a domestic upgrade. In some cases, you might want to monitor your upgrades closely; it would be a shame to waste 20 PlusPoints on short domestic connecting flights, such as from Boston to Newark or from Dallas to Houston.

Canceling a request

Upgrades waitlisted from your own account — for you or another traveler — appear on a tab on your "My trips" page.

From there, you can simply click "Cancel upgrade" to remove a flight from the waitlist.

Skipping the upgrade waitlist

As the name states, United's "Skip Waitlist" option lets you skip the upgrade waitlist in exchange for more PlusPoints. Skip Waitlists are priced dynamically, so there's no telling which flights will have availability for this feature. You need to search route by route and date by date to figure out if Skip Waitlist is available.

There are a few things to note about the Skip Waitlist feature. It's only available for select international flights more than 30 days from departure, and it's nonrefundable. This means you won't get your PlusPoints back if you voluntarily change or cancel your ticket. Furthermore, Skip Waitlists can only be applied to reservations with Premier 1K or Global Services members (along with their travel companions).

Skip Waitlist pricing has historically started at 70 PlusPoints for Premium Plus and 110 PlusPoints for Polaris — a significant premium over standard elite upgrades.

Upgrading a partner flight

The process for upgrading a non-United flight is a bit more complex. You'll need to visit a dedicated website to confirm the request, but be sure to read all the terms and conditions before processing a partner upgrade.

For one, you can only redeem PlusPoints on Lufthansa, ANA and Copa. Additionally, only a subset of fares on these airlines qualify. The full details are available here .

Bottom line

PlusPoints are easily the most versatile upgrade currency in the industry. They can be applied with fewer fare restrictions than United's former Global Premier Upgrades, offer the ability to redeem points for upgrades on select partners and can be used to confirm upgrades even when they aren't otherwise available via the Skip Waitlist option.

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How To Use United PlusPoints To Upgrade Your Next Flight [2024]

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Table of Contents

What are pluspoints, how many pluspoints do you need, how to use your pluspoints, finding upgrade availability, when to use your pluspoints, final thoughts.

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So you’ve done the work — whether you’ve legged it a few thousand miles in economy class or splurged for just a couple of expensive business class flights, you’ve finally earned yourself some United PlusPoints. Congrats! Now how do you use them?

Let’s take a look at what PlusPoints are, how to earn them, and the step-by-step method of applying them to your United flights.

Airlines award their frequent customers with incentives that can range from increased bonus points earnings to lounge access to complimentary seat upgrades. United is no different, and while it will give its MileagePlus members free upgrades on domestic (and some international) flights, you’ll need PlusPoints in order to upgrade overseas. You can always use PlusPoints for domestic upgrades, as well, if you’re really jonesing for some free drinks, but long-haul flights with lie-flat seats provide superior value.

PlusPoints ( formerly known as Regional Premier Upgrades (RPUs) and Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs)) are awarded to you once you reach Premier Platinum elite status, and you’ll earn additional PlusPoints as you fly more. Status is earned based on Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) earned each year.

Premier Platinum elite members receive 40 PlusPoints upon earning status.

Premier 1K elite members receive a total of 320 PlusPoints (40 from achieving Platinum and 280 from achieving 1K), with the ability to earn 20 more PlusPoints for every 2,000 PQPs they fly.

PlusPoints last for a little over a year after you’ve earned them. For flights taken in 2023 that earn elite status for 2024, this means that your points will expire on January 31, 2025.

The number of PlusPoints that will be required for your flight will vary based on the fare type you book and where you’re flying. You’ll pay different rates, for example, to upgrade a deeply discounted economy ticket to business class than if you had booked standard economy.

PlusPoints can be used for long-haul international United flights as shown below:

As you can see above, you don’t have to upgrade to business class when using your PlusPoints — you can pay half as much to fly Premium Plus — though you’ll be missing the free pajamas and hot fudge sundaes.

Here are the rates for short-haul flights, which include the U.S., Canada, Bogotá, Central America, Caribbean, Mexico, and Quito. It also includes flights between Guam and Honolulu and intra-Asia flights:

Be aware that these rates and these flights specifically exclude United Polaris business class cabins.

Bottom Line: PlusPoints are a benefit given to Premier Platinum and Premier 1K elite members. They grant complimentary upgrades on United (and some partner-operated) flights. 

So once you’ve earned those PlusPoints, how do you go about using them?

As we mentioned, these can be used for both domestic and international upgrades on United flights, much the same as those offered by both Delta and American . United even has a few partners — Copa, Lufthansa, and ANA — where you can apply your PlusPoints, which we’ve covered in a separate guide .

There are 2 main ways to use your PlusPoints: before and after booking. The best way to guarantee an upgrade is by finding available space before you book your flight . Fortunately for us, United has a robust search feature that’ll show upgrade space when searching, though on many occasions you may find yourself waitlisted.

Using Your PlusPoints When Booking Your Flight: Waitlisting

Understanding how and when to apply your PlusPoints is important when looking for upgrades. First, you’ll want to head to the United home page and log into your United MileagePlus account. From there, you’ll want to hit Advanced search .

Once on the Advanced search page, you’ll want to enter all your information, including destination and dates of travel. From there, you’ll scroll down to the section marked Upgrades, certificates, and promotion codes .

Expand the selection and then hit PlusPoints upgrades.

With this selected, you can go ahead and hit the search button. United will then bring up your search results while showing you availability for upgrades. You can toggle whether you’d like to see flights with immediate availability, waitlist options, or both.

Selecting both will give you results that’ll show waitlisted upgrades as well as any available ones.

In the screenshot above, you can see that the nonstop flight can be had for $258 round-trip. There isn’t any immediate upgrade availability, though you can choose to put yourself on the waitlist. Once you’ve made your selections for both your outgoing and returning flights, you’ll be taken to the checkout page:

If you’re choosing to put yourself on the waitlist, the cash for your flight will be due when you checkout. The PlusPoints, however, will only be withdrawn when the upgrade actually clears .

You don’t have to apply your PlusPoints to both legs on a round-trip flight; these can be picked individually. This can be especially helpful when you only have enough points for a one-way upgrade.

Using Your PlusPoints When Booking Your Flight: Immediate Upgrades

The procedure to apply your PlusPoints for an immediate upgrade is pretty much the same as we outlined for waitlisted upgrades. The only difference is that you’ll pick a flight with availability, as shown below:

Once you hit the checkout screen, the PlusPoints will be automatically deducted from your account (note: you won’t be able to get the upgrades if you don’t currently have enough PlusPoints in your account).

You will then be immediately confirmed into the cabin you’ve booked!

Bottom Line: Using United’s search engine to find flights where you can use your PlusPoints is simple. The best way to guarantee an upgrade, however, is by finding upgrade availability before booking your tickets. 

Upgrading After Booking

It’s still possible to upgrade your flight with PlusPoints after booking. Why would you want to do this? Perhaps you’d requested an upgrade elsewhere and it fell through. Maybe you’ve earned additional PlusPoints since booking that you want to use. Regardless of the reason, there are a couple of ways to do this: online and by phone .

By phone, you can call your dedicated line and have the customer service representative apply your PlusPoints.

You can also opt to upgrade using your PlusPoints online. It’s easy to do; first, you’ll need to log in to your account. You’ll then want to select My trips.

You’ll then be presented with information on your existing trips. You’ll want to select Manage trip  in the bottom right:

You’ll be taken to your trip page, where you can select seats, pay for bags, and upgrade your cabin. Select Upgrade cabin.

From there, you’ll be presented with the different options available for upgrading your trip, including money, miles, and PlusPoints :

Once you select PlusPoints , you’ll be taken to the upgrade availability for each leg of your flight:

You’ll then be able to select which flights you’d like to upgrade. As you can see in the above example, there is no current upgrade availability for these flights, but we’re still able to put ourselves on the waitlist.

Once you’ve selected your upgrade preferences for each leg of your flight, you’ll scroll down and hit Continue  to proceed to the checkout page:

Once you’ve cleared the checkout page, you’ll either be confirmed immediately or be put on the waitlist for your flight. That’s it!

Bottom Line: It’s possible to upgrade your flight with PlusPoints after booking, though there’s no guarantee that upgrade space will be available; you may instead be placed on the waitlist. 

United’s advanced search engine does a pretty good job when looking for PlusPoints eligible flights. Sometimes, however, you may want to find out if there’s upgrade availability outside the parameters that United gives you. A good example of this is when you’ve got an existing flight without any upgrade space . If you can find a different flight on the same day that has space available, it may make sense to change your flight in order to apply your PlusPoints and get that upgrade.

Hot Tip: United has eliminated change fees , which means that changing your flight won’t incur a fee. Be aware, however, that there may be differences in fare costs that you’ll need to accommodate. 

Unlocking United’s Expert Mode

Fortunately, there’s another way to determine whether or not there are seats available on the flight you want. This will take some work, but it’s worth it. First, you’ll need to enable United’s expert mode, which unlocks a suite of additional features during your search.

In order to do so, you’ll need to log into your account and navigate to your account’s home page. From there, select the Profile & Preferences drop-down, and then Preferences & settings :

Scroll down to Special preferences & accommodations  and expand the box:

Here you’ll see all types of settings you can alter, including your meal preferences, home airport, and more. You’ll want to scroll all the way down to the bottom to the little box marked Enable expert mode :

Make sure you check that box, then hit Save .

Using United’s Expert Mode To Find Upgrade Availability

So, what, exactly, does United’s expert mode do? Basically, it allows you to view all the available fare classes and types available for any flight that you search. Here’s what a search without expert mode will look like:

And here’s the difference when using expert mode :

As you can see, we’ve highlighted the additional information shown when expert mode is enabled.

Seeing which fare classes are available is all well and good, but what do they mean, and how do they apply to upgrades using your PlusPoints? We’re glad you asked.

United uses 3 separate fare codes to identify upgrade availability:

• PN — Business and first class upgrades available exclusively to United’s top-tier Global Services elite members
• PZ — Business and first class upgrades available for PlusPoints upgrades from Premier Platinum and Premier 1K elite members, as well as any mileage upgrade awards (MUAs)
• RN — Premium Plus upgrades available for anyone, including both PlusPoints and MUAs

Depending on how you’d like to use your PlusPoints, you can easily determine whether upgrade space is available. You can also see how many seats are left in that fare class. In the above example, there are 9 seats available for upgrade using your PlusPoints, which means you, your spouse, and all your friends can snag business class seats.

So, let’s say that you’ve booked your flight and already placed yourself on the waitlist for an upgrade using your PlusPoints. However, this is a special vacation and you’d love to surprise your spouse with an upgrade. You can search your existing departure dates and airport to find other flights departing on that day. Although your exact flight may not have availability, others might. Expert mode will be able to display that information for you in a single search, thereby giving you the ability to change your flight to one with immediate upgrade availability.

Bottom Line: United’s expert mode allows you to view all available fare classes for a flight, including upgrade space for both business and premium economy. 

Using Award Availability To Find Upgrade Space

This last option is last for a reason. It’s not 100% perfect, but can be helpful when looking to narrow down likely upgrade availability, especially when you have flexible dates. Although United doesn’t necessarily correlate upgrade space with saver award availability, you can use award availability calendars to spot likely dates for upgrade availability . There are a few different ways to effectively check award seats with United.

Using United’s Flexible Search

United actually has a fairly robust award search system that is both intuitive and easy to use. When searching via flexible dates, United will present you with a month-by-month calendar that’ll display both economy and premium saver award space.

In order to find this, you’ll first want to log in to your United account. Then you’ll need to navigate to United’s home page. On this page, you’ll see the search box for flights. Here, you’ll want to input your information, including departure airport, destination, and dates of travel. You’ll also want to ensure that Book with miles and Flexible dates  are both selected. Finally, make sure to set your search to business class flights.

Once you hit Find flights , United will pull up its monthly calendar for you:

This search function will bring up the award availability calendar for the entire year , making this a quick and easy way to spot possible upgrade space. You can also opt to search exclusively for nonstop flights, as we’ve highlighted above. From this calendar, you can pick specific dates that feature Saver Awards for premium cabins.

Note that United doesn’t differentiate partner-operated flights versus its own metal on these results, so you’ll need to check individually to ensure the flight you want to upgrade is available.

Once you’ve found an eligible United flight with Saver Award seats available, you can then go back and search that exact date and flight for upgrade space.

As we can see in the above screenshot, there is indeed 1 seat available for immediate upgrade using your PlusPoints.

Using SeatSpy

SeatSpy is another option for those looking to search for award availability with United. Although this service isn’t free (for business class searches, though you can search economy class seats for free), it can save you some serious time and effort when it comes down to looking for flights.

Why? Because it’ll display for you the number of miles you’ll need to redeem for your award flight. United charges different amounts for its own flights versus partner-operated flights , which makes using SeatSpy an excellent way to filter out flights that are ineligible for PlusPoints.

SeatSpy will cost you $3.99 per month, but it delivers an entire year’s worth of results in 1 search. It also allows you to set up alerts in case any award seats open up.

Once you’ve logged in to your SeatSpy account, you’ll want to conduct a search for the route you need, including your departure airport, destination, and class of service. Here, you’ll want to make sure you check the BusinessFirst  cabin:

Depending on whether you’re looking at one-way or round-trip flights, SeatSpy will then generate a calendar for you:

As you can see, there are business or first class Saver Award seats available throughout October. By hovering over the dates, SeatSpy will show you how many miles each ticket costs:

United is charging 70,000 miles for this one-way ticket from Tokyo (HND) to San Francisco (SFO). This is in line with the standard Saver Award rate for United-operated flights to/from Tokyo. Clicking on SeatSpy’s link will take you to United’s website with the available flight results:

And then searching that flight in cash will give you this:

According to the search results, there are 3 seats available for an upgrade with your PlusPoints.

Hot Tip: Be aware that SeatSpy doesn’t show seats that are available exclusively to United MileagePlus Premier members.

Where SeatSpy really shines, as we mentioned above, is by showing you when flights are operated by partners and thus aren’t eligible for PlusPoints redemptions (with the exception of a few partner airlines):

Seatspy is showing us that the cost for this award seat is 88,000 United miles . This is the rate that United will typically charge for Saver Awards on partner airlines to and from Tokyo. And it’s true — this is a flight operated by ANA:

Because we can search an entire year at once and see the mileage cost by simply hovering over results, we can quickly and easily sift United-operated flights from partner-operated flights.

Bottom Line: Although searching available award space isn’t a foolproof method to finding upgrade space availability, doing so can help you narrow down possible dates when using your PlusPoints for immediate upgrades. 

Do you always want to use your PlusPoints for an upgrade? No, not really. There are plenty of good uses of PlusPoints and several terrible ones. You’ll only earn a certain amount of PlusPoints when you gain elite status, and although you can always earn more by flying, the cost to do so really adds up. Let’s take a look at some good and bad examples of using your PlusPoints.

Good Use: Long-Haul International Flights

The best use of your PlusPoints is going to be on long-haul international flights. This is because United is going to charge you 40 PlusPoints to upgrade to business whether you’re on a 7-hour journey from New York (EWR) to London (LHR), or a 14-hour trek from San Francisco (SFO) to Tel Aviv (TLV).

Good Use: New Polaris Seats

Not all business class seats are created equal, and nowhere is this more true than United’s Polaris business class . Introduced a few years ago, the new Polaris seats are configured in a 1-2-1 formation that guarantees total privacy:

United’s old seats, meanwhile, are still advertised as Polaris. You won’t be told this when you’re booking — and using your PlusPoints — so you’ll need to check the seat map for yourself. The old United seats are in a 2-2-2 configuration whose window seats don’t allow direct aisle access:

You’re going to pay the same price whether you’re in the better seats or not. Do yourself a favor and save those PlusPoints for the updated Polaris pods.

Bad Use: When You’re Already Eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades (CPUs)

Elite members are eligible for complimentary upgrades on tons of different United flights, including those throughout the continental U.S. (excluding premium transcontinental routes), between the West Coast and Hawaii, to Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, and Oceania (excluding Tahiti). Using PlusPoints on flights where you may already be upgraded — for free — isn’t a great use. The only time this makes sense is if you’re trying to guarantee an upgrade before you’re flying .

Premier 1K elite members can expect to see their CPUs clearing up to 96 hours before their flight, while Premier Platinum will begin clearing 72 hours prior to departure.

Bad Use: Skip the Waitlist

United also features the option to skip the waitlist on specific routes. Unfortunately, to do so is expensive. As we showed above, the standard cost to upgrade looks like this:

• Discount Economy to Polaris : 80 PlusPoints
• Economy to Polaris : 40 PlusPoints
• Economy to Premium Plus : 20 PlusPoints

Skip the waitlist, however, looks like this:

• Economy to Polaris : 110 PlusPoints
• Economy to Premium Plus : 70 PlusPoints

In this case, you’re paying nearly 3 times the amount of PlusPoints in order to guarantee your upgrade to Polaris — and don’t even get us started on those Premium Economy upgrades.

Bad Use: Deep Discount Economy to Polaris

We showed you above that there are 2 different rates you’ll pay to upgrade to Polaris depending on which fare class you book.

• Discounted Economy : (S, T, L, K, G) 80 PlusPoints
• Economy : (Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W) 40 PlusPoints

It’s double the cost to use PlusPoints when upgrading from discounted economy versus regular economy. At first, booking the cheapest economy ticket available may be appealing, but if you’re looking to use your PlusPoints to upgrade, consider spending the extra couple hundred dollars on a more expensive economy fare and saving yourself those PlusPoints. It’s the difference between scoring 1 long-haul international business class upgrade or 2 .

United’s PlusPoints program is fairly easy to use, though there are plenty of ways to scour the system for the best chances of upgrades. Whether you’re looking to guarantee an upgrade before your flight or want to change your tickets to apply your PlusPoints, take advantage of these techniques so that you can enjoy that Champagne and those sweet, sweet pajamas.

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The Basics of Booking an Award Flight with United

Reviewed by Tyler Glatt

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 .

The United Airlines MileagePlus program is one of the most popular and easy-to-use frequent flyer programs. There are many ways to earn miles, and finding and booking award flights is pretty straightforward.

Today, we'll go over the basics of how the United award chart works. Then, we'll show you the step-by-step process for finding and booking award flights with United miles. Finally, we will show you how to earn MileagePlus miles.

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United uses a dynamic pricing model , meaning the prices can change from day to day. Take a look at the picture below, and you'll see that a flight from San Francisco to New York costs 15k one day, 19.4k another day, and 27.7k a different 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.

MileagePlus Premier members and qualified MileagePlus Chase Cardmembers are eligible for exclusive award travel availability. So, those with a United credit card or United elite status get access to extra award seats that aren't available to everyone else .

When it comes to booking an award flight on a partner airline, prices can be all over the place. It depends on dates, times, connections, which partner airline, and more. To provide some clarity, we have compiled an unofficial United award chart .

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. We generally do not recommend speculatively transferring points as you can't transfer them back if there's an award devaluation.

To book an award flight, log on to your MileagePlus account. Then, click “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, we suggest clicking either the seven-day or 30-day calendar to show the surrounding dates and prices. This is very helpful if you're able to adjust your dates to save some miles. Next, 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. And when you pay the award taxes and fees, don't forget to use a card offering travel insurance benefits .

How to Earn United MileagePlus Miles

Before you can book United award flights, you need to earn United miles. To do that, 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 United account for new miles you earn, bookings you make, and more.

When it comes to earning miles, you have many options. Let's review each one.

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 jumpstart (or boost) your stash of United miles, putting you on your way to booking an award flight.

Related: Which United Credit Card Is Right for You?

• Earn 20,000 bonus miles
• No annual fee
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on United ® purchases, at gas stations and on local transit and commuting
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on United ® purchases
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent at gas stations, on local transit and commuting
• Earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
• 25% back as a statement credit on purchases of food, beverages and Wi-Fi on board United-operated flights and on Club premium drinks when you pay with your Gateway Card
• Member FDIC
• 2 miles per $1 spent on United ® purchases
• 2 miles per $1 spent at gas stations
• 2 miles per $1 spent on local transit and commuting
• 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases

The entry-level United Gateway℠ Card earns 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Plus, 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases. Here's how you'll earn United miles when using this $0-annual fee card:

• Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
• $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95.
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on dining, hotel stays, and United ® purchases
• Up to $100 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck ® or NEXUS fee credit
• 25% back as a statement credit on purchases of food, beverages and Wi-Fi on board United-operated flights and on Club premium drinks when you pay with your Explorer Card
• Free first checked bag - a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip. Terms Apply.
• Enjoy priority boarding privileges and visit the United Club℠ with 2 one-time passes each year for your anniversary
• 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

The United℠ Explorer Card is by far the most popular United card — for good reason! You earn 50,000 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 annual fee for the first year, then $95) and the benefits far outweigh the nominal annual fee.

• First checked bag free 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 :

• Earn 60,000 bonus miles and 500 PQP after qualifying purchases
• Earn 3 miles per $1 spent on United ® purchases
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on all other travel, dining and select streaming services
• Free first and second checked bags - a savings of up to $360 per roundtrip (terms apply) - and priority boarding
• Up to a $125 United ® purchase credit and up to 10,000 miles in award flight credits each year (terms apply)
• Earn up to 6,000 Premier qualifying points per calendar year (25 PQP for every $500 you spend on purchases)
• 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

The mid-tier United Quest℠ Card will earn you many miles and more perks — with an annual fee that reflects it. 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
• Earn up to 6,000 Premier Qualifying Points through spending

Plus, earn miles on purchases at the following rates:

• Earn 80,000 bonus miles after qualifying purchases
• Earn 4 miles per $1 spent on United ® purchases
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on all other travel and dining
• Free first and second checked bags - a savings of up to $360 per roundtrip (terms apply) - and Premier Access ® travel services
• 10% United Economy Saver Award discount within the continental U.S. and Canada
• Earn up to 10,000 Premier qualifying points per calendar year (25 PQP for every $500 you spend on purchases)
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on all other travel
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on dining

The United Club℠ Infinite 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:

• Premier Access travel services such as priority check-in, security screening, plus priority boarding and baggage handling
• Earn up to 10,000 Premier Qualifying Points through spending
• Automatic IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite status

Earn United miles on purchases at the following rates:

In addition to the four personal cards above, United also has two business cards.

• Earn 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
• $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99.
• Receive a 5,000-mile "better together" bonus each anniversary when you have both the United℠ Business Card and a personal Chase United ® credit card.
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on United ® purchases, dining including eligible delivery services, at gas stations, office supply stores, and on local transit and commuting.
• Earn 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases. Plus, employee cards at no additional cost - miles earned from their purchases accrue in your account so you can earn rewards faster.
• Enjoy a free first checked bag - a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip (terms apply), 2 United Club℠ one-time passes per year, and priority boarding privileges.
• $100 United ® travel credit after 7 United flight purchases of $100 or more each anniversary year.
• 2x on United ® purchases
• 2x on local transit and commuting — including train tickets, taxicabs, mass transit, tolls and ride share services
• 2x at gas stations, restaurants and office supply stores
• 1x on all other purchases

The United℠ Business Card offers the following benefits:

• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99
• First checked bag free
• 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! Benefits include:

• Annual membership to United Club
• 50,000 bonus miles + 1,000 Premier qualifying points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
• Premier Access travel services

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.

The first is Chase Ultimate Rewards . Because United is one of Chase's transfer partners , you can transfer points from Chase to United at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 (1,000 Ultimate Rewards equals 1,000 United miles). Several credit cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points . However, you'll need one of three cards to access Chase's transfer partners — Chase Sapphire Preferred ® Card , Chase Sapphire Reserve ® , or Ink Business Preferred ® Credit Card . Transfers are typically immediate .

• Earn 120k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,200 cash back or $1,500 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠
• Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
• Round-the-clock monitoring for unusual credit card purchases
• With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
• Redeem points for cash back, gift cards, travel and more - your points don't expire as long as your account is open
• Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Travel℠
• Purchase Protection covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
• 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
• 1X point per $1 on all other purchases

Related: How To Transfer Chase Points to United MileagePlus

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 ( Rates & Fees ) and can be used to pay rent with no transaction fees, plus you'll earn 3x on dining and 2x on travel. Just be sure to use the card five times each statement period to be eligible to earn points.

• 3x points on dining
• 2x points on travel
• 1x points on rent payments without the transaction fee (up to 100,000 points each calendar year)
• 1x points on other purchases

You can also 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, plus you'll get 10,000 bonus miles for transferring 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 .

• Earn 155,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
• Earn 6X Marriott Bonvoy® points for each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy.
• Earn 4X points at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on up to $15,000 in combined purchases at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets per calendar year, then 2X points).
• Earn 2X points on all other eligible purchases.
• Marriott Bonvoy 1K Bonus Points Per Stay: Earn 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points per paid eligible stay booked directly with Marriott for properties participating in Marriott Bonvoy.
• With complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elites status, earn up to 2.5X points from Marriott Bonvoy® on eligible hotel purchases with the 25% Bonus Points on stays benefit, available for Qualifying Rates.
• Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Free Night Award: Earn 1 Free Night Award after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases on your Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ Card in a calendar year. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at a hotel participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees.
• 15 Elite Night Credits: Each calendar year with your Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express Card® you can receive 15 Elite Night Credits toward the next level of Marriott Bonvoy® Elite status. Limitations apply per Marriott Bonvoy member account. Benefit is not exclusive to Cards offered by American Express. Terms apply.
• Plan It® is a payment option that lets you split up purchases of $100 or more into equal monthly installments with a fixed fee. Plus, you'll still earn rewards the way you usually do.
• $250 Annual Fee.
• Terms Apply.
• Rates & Fees
• 6X points on purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy
• 4X points on up to $15,000 in combined purchases per year at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets
• 2X points on all other eligible purchases

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 status with United , your earning rate goes up. Here are the current earning rates:

Additionally, when you fly on a Star Alliance partner, you can enter your United MileagePlus number to earn United miles.

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't earn miles.

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. 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 like United's are an easy way to earn miles for shopping that you would already be doing.

Related: Beginner's Guide to Shopping Portals

You can download the MileagePlus X app to use for in-person and online shopping. In the app, you'll essentially buy a gift card to the store you're shopping at, pay with that, and then earn five miles per $1 spent. If you have a United credit card, you'll earn 25% more.

One final option for earning United miles is to buy them . Occasional United buy miles promotions may let you snag miles at a low rate, but be sure to consider your other options before pulling out your credit card to buy miles.

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.

What's your favorite award flight you've booked with United miles? Let us know in the comments.

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Bilt Mastercard ® ( Rates & Fees ), and Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express ® Card ( Rates & Fees )

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.

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30,000 united miles is nearly worthless with the major inflation United just introduced.

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How to Upgrade Your Flight with United MileagePlus Miles

Many travelers who earn frequent flyer miles aren’t always interested in booking an award ticket. Instead, they want to use their miles to upgrade a ticket they’ve already bought with cash. Upgrades and award travel have a lot in common, but the rules are unique for every loyalty program. This post discusses how to upgrade a ticket purchased with United Airlines.

There are two important rules for booking upgrades on United. It’s very important to understand these before you book a ticket as any mistakes could require expensive change and cancellation fees. Please ask your questions here or contact a United representative for clarification.

First, you must use miles in your United MileagePlus account to upgrade your United-operated flight; any miles earned with another loyalty program will probably not be helpful. Second, upgrade inventory is limited. Just because there are business class seats for sale does not mean that you can upgrade your economy class ticket. Like award flights there are only so many available (because the airline would rather get cash instead of miles), and this changes often. However, if a business class award is available then it is likely that an upgrade is also available.

Because award availability is often limited, upgrades make it easier to secure travel on the flights you need when the destination and dates aren’t very flexible. You may need to fly even if your upgrade doesn’t clear. You’ll be stuck in economy, but will get to your destination anyway.

There are also some people who don’t want to travel any more than they already do, or they need to continue booking paid tickets in order to earn the miles they need for elite status. Booking more award travel doesn’t appeal to everyone. Knowing how to use your miles for an upgrade is still a better option than redeeming them for merchandise or gift cards, which deliver very poor value.

Searching for Upgrade Inventory

United’s program is more complex than most other airlines’ but has the advantage that many more flights are eligible for an upgrade and much of the process can be performed online.

You can use United’s website to search for available upgrades before or after you book your flight, enabling you to compare options if you have some flexibility in your schedule. You can also specify certain fare classes when searching for airfare, since the fare class is a big factor in determining your rank in the upgrade hierarchy and the amount of the cash co-pay, if any, that you must provide in addition to the miles.

For example, on the United homepage you should click on the link for “All search options” to visit the advanced search page . Near the bottom of that page is a section for fare preferences. Select “MileagePlus Upgrade Awards” from the menu and which kind of ticket you want to pay for (not the ticket you’ll have after the upgrade). You can enter one or more fare classes if you wish to take advantage of special upgrade rules for those fares.

The results page will show not only the cheapest available fare (without an upgrade), but also the cost when booking an upgradeable fare that includes the necessary miles and the co-pay. You can also view the details under each itinerary — without jumping through all these hoops — to look at the inventory in specific fare classes. United classifies its upgrade inventory in the R fare class. (Some of these features may require that you activate United’s Expert Mode ).

Calculating the Necessary Miles

To upgrade a flight operated by United Airlines, United Express, or Copa Airlines, you will need to redeem miles and provide a co-pay that vary depending on your destination, route, and the fare class purchased. Pricing for mileage upgrade awards can be found on  pages 5-7 of this PDF  or by using United’s interactive search tool . A small portion is copied below.

For example, upgrading a one-way domestic flight within the Continental U.S. will cost 7,500 miles for a Y fare or 20,000 miles for a S, T, K, L, G, or N fare. There are other levels in between. These upgrades also require a co-pay that ranges from $0 to $250. On international routes between the U.S. and Europe, a typical upgrade to business class costs 20,000 miles and $550.

The co-pay can be the biggest inhibition against redeeming miles for an upgrade. You should determine if purchasing a more expensive fare that allows you to reduce the co-pay is more sensible. Or it may be worth paying for a discounted business class ticket .

Co-pays are waived entirely on the following routes if you have elite status (or if you’re a general member and the miles come from the account of a elite member):

• Travel within Canada and the continental U.S. (excluding p.s. routes)
• Travel from Canada or the continental U.S. to Hawaii (excluding service between Honolulu and Newark, Washington-IAD, or Houston)
• Travel from Canada or the U.S. (excluding Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico) to Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean)
• Travel within Oceania (excluding Honolulu and Guam)

Upgrading Flights on Other Airlines

If you want to upgrade a flight on any other Star Alliance member, then you must book a full price Y or B fare. These can be very expensive for international travel , and a discounted business class fare may be cheaper. It is also possible to upgrade from business class to first class, but there are still restrictions that require you to purchase a J, C or D business class fare. Fortunately there is no co-pay for Star Alliance upgrades.

Not every Star Alliance member participates in upgrades, but most do. A typical price is 25,000 miles each way for travel between the U.S. and Europe. You can learn more about the special requirements of Star Alliance upgrades on United’s website.

Upgrades for Full Fare Tickets

You don’t have to upgrade at the same time you buy. There is an online tool that checks availability inventory and provides an option to upgrade at any time before check-in. The same system is also used to apply other sorts of upgrades for full fare tickets or systemwide upgrade instruments.

Travelers with elite status who purchase Y or B fares can receive complimentary upgrades on domestic routes and select international flights that travel shorter distances. Premier 1K members also get an instant upgrade when they purchase an M fare. These upgrades must be requested after ticketing; if upgrade inventory is not immediately available you can go back and request the upgrade again at any time.

To request these upgrades after ticketing, or to upgrade with miles, go back to United’s website to access your reservation online and then select the “Redeem Upgrade” button at the bottom of the itinerary. The next page presents two tabs: the first lets you buy up to first class and will re-fare your ticket (not a real upgrade), and the second will let you use miles to confirm an upgrade. The cash co-pay will also be displayed.

If a flight doesn’t have upgrade space immediately available (green check mark) then you’ll be placed on the waitlist (yellow triangle) and given priority ahead of any complimentary elite upgrades.

You can even use your miles to upgrade someone else’s flight. Log into your United MileagePlus account and then access your friend’s reservation using his or her last name and confirmation number. Following the same steps as above you’ll be presented with some options to upgrade. However, your miles will be deducted if you choose to proceed with the upgrade.

Priority for Each Upgrade Type

Assuming your upgrade does not clear in advance, United will process upgrades in the following order:

1.Full fare tickets, which may be eligible for an instant upgrade, are processed first. These are ranked by fare class (Y > B > M). Within each fare class they are ranked by the passenger’s elite status.

2.Upgrades using miles or systemwide upgrade instruments are processed next. Neither one is prioritized above the other. These are ranked by the passenger’s elite status first, then fare class, and then the time of request (typically when the flight was booked).

3.Complimentary elite upgrades for passengers and their companions are processed last.

Because of the importance of fare class in the upgrade hierarchy, you might find that it is helpful to buy a slightly more expensive fare to improve your odds. For example, K and L fares require the same co-pay and miles to upgrade a flight to Hawaii, but the K fare will be upgraded first. If the difference in price is $10, that may be worth paying to move up the list. You can search for specific fare classes on United’s website.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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Can You Book a Coach Award Flight and Upgrade Using Cash or Miles?

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Million Mile Secrets reader, Matt , commented :

Is there a way to get a coach flight with miles and then use cash or miles to upgrade to Economy Plus?

Great question, Matt!

Each airline has different rules for upgrading your seat on an award flight.

In many cases, you can pay cash to upgrade at the time you book your flight.  Or you’ll have the option to upgrade when you check-in.

And some airlines allow you to use miles or points   to upgrade to a more comfortable extra legroom seat on a coach award flight.

I’ll explain the upgrade policy on coach award tickets for Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, and United Airlines .

Upgrade Award Flight

Recently, I shared a  step-by-step guide that explains how to purchase a seat upgrade from coach to Economy Plus on  paid flights.

But what if you use miles instead of cash to book a coach award flight?

Unless you have elite status with an airline, you’ll usually only have the option to select a regular coach seat.  To upgrade to Economy Plus, you’ll have to pay cash or use more miles .

1.   Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines introduced Economy Plus seats in January 2017 .  They call it Premium Class.  In these seats, you’ll get:

• 4 inches of extra legroom
• Complimentary drinks (including alcohol) and snacks
• Early boarding

You’ll be able to pay cash to upgrade your award seat to Premium Class.  The cost depends on the length of the flight, but will range from $15 to $79.

There’s no option to use Alaska Airlines miles to upgrade to Premium Class.  But the program is just starting out, so there’s hope for the future!

2.   American Airlines

When you book the cheapest American Airlines award flights (“MileSAAver” rate), you will NOT be able to upgrade to Economy Plus seats, even if you’re willing to pay cash.

This is unfortunate, because most other airlines give you the option to at least pay for an upgrade.  Although I understand it’s a way to save extra legroom seats for folks with American Airlines elite status.

One suggestion for an Economy Plus seat is to befriend the gate agent on the day of your flight.  You never know what can happen if you ask nicely!

Delta gives folks the option to  use miles to get an Economy Plus seat.

At the time of booking an award flight, you’ll have the option to choose between a seat in coach (“Main Cabin”) or Economy Plus (“Delta Comfort+”).

For example, I searched a one-way flight from Seattle to Los Angeles.  To get an Economy Plus seat, you’ll pay an extra 4,000 Delta miles on this flight.

You can NOT pay cash to upgrade to Economy Plus on an award flight!

4.   JetBlue

When you book a JetBlue award flight, you can pay cash or use points to upgrade to an Economy Plus seat (aka “Even More”).

The amount you pay will depend on the flight.

For example, I searched a one-way award flight from New York (JFK) to Orlando.  The award flight costs 18,000 JetBlue points.

When selecting a seat, there’s an option to pay $40 or use 500 JetBlue points to upgrade to an Economy Plus seat.

Using 500 JetBlue points to get even more legroom is a terrific deal!

5.   United Airlines

You can only upgrade an United Airlines coach award flight to Economy Plus by paying cash .  The cost of the upgrade varies on each flight.

United Airlines even charges different amounts for certain Economy Plus seats.  For example, Economy Plus seats in the front rows might be more expensive than later rows.

Here’s a sample award flight that was previously booked.  To upgrade to Economy Plus on this flight, you can pay $39+.

Instead of paying for an upgrade on each flight, remember you can also purchase an Economy Plus subscription .

Of course, do the math to see if you’ll save money with a subscription.

Get Free Upgrades When You Pay With Certain Credit Cards

These credit cards offer statement credits for travel and airline incidentals  that can cover your seat upgrade cost

• Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard
• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Citi Prestige® Card
• Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card
• The Platinum Card® from American Express

With the  Barclaycard Arrival Plus card, you can use Barclaycard Arrival miles to offset the cost of a seat upgrade.  Just pay for the upgrade.  Then redeem your points online!

The  Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers a credit of $300 for travel purchases each card member year.  So you’ll see an automatic statement credit after paying for an upgrade with this card.

The Citi Prestige  card offers folks a  $250 statement credit for flight related expenses (including upgrades!) each calendar year.  The credit is  automatically applied  to your statement after you make eligible purchases.

Or you can use the $300 annual travel credit  with the   Chase Ritz-Carlton card  to cover the cost of your seat upgrade.

But remember the credit is NOT automatic.  You’ll have to  contact Chase at the number on the back of your Ritz-Carlton card to request a statement credit.  And the request MUST be made within 4 billing cycles of the purchase date.

It’s also possible to apply the  AMEX Platinum  $200 airline fee credit for a seat upgrade.  Technically, upgrades are excluded from earning the credit.  But many folks report getting reimbursed for upgrades in the past.

Bottom Line

Each airline has a different policy for upgrading your seat on a coach award flight to Economy Plus:

• Alaska Airlines and United Airlines allow you to pay cash to upgrade
• Delta lets folks use miles to book an Economy Plus seat
• With JetBlue, you can pay cash or use points to get an extra legroom seat
• And American Airlines does NOT  allow folks to pay cash or use miles to upgrade to Economy Plus

When paying cash for an upgrade, consider using cards like the  Chase Sapphire Reserve  or  Citi Prestige .  Because these cards offer  automatic statement credits for seat upgrade purchases.

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How to Get on the United Upgrade Waitlist

February 3, 2022

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Cushy seats, hot towels and mimosas… Don’t we all want to be pampered on a flight? The reality is we can’t all afford it, and that’s why economy class exists in the first place. However, getting an upgrade isn’t just a figment of your imagination. It’s attainable for more people than you think.

If you’re looking to get upgraded on a United Airlines flight, learn the types of upgrades available and pick the best option that gives you a better chance of scoring that sexy seat.

With complimentary upgrades and PointsPlus, MileagePlus Premier members have the most options of enhancing a flight experience, but any regular Joe can fly upfront using credit-card rewards. Once you learn the ins and outs of the program, you too can enjoy cushy seats and cocktails in the sky.

How Does the Upgrade List Work on United?

Upgrading a United flight can be confusing especially if you’re not familiar with the MileagePlus program. You can do so in multiple ways, as an elite flyer and as a regular member, but you have to know what’s actually possible.

You can upgrade a United flight by using the following methods:

• Complimentary Premier Upgrades
• MileagePlus Upgrade Awards
• Star Alliance Upgrade Awards (for flights operated by other Star Alliance airlines)

Of course, to incentivize participation in the loyalty program, MileagePlus offers its elites more opportunities to get upgraded on United flights, so therefore Premier members have access to more upgrade options than regular program members.

Here are the types of upgrades available to United MileagePlus flyers.

How to Get Complimentary Premier Upgrades on United Flights

Complimentary Premier Upgrades (CPUs) are free upgrades on select United and United Express flights for MileagePlus Premier members.

When you book a paid United flight as a Premier elite member, a CPU for first class is automatically requested on select flight segments.

If you’re traveling with a companion on the same reservation, then you both qualify for an upgrade based on the primary flyer’s status level. The higher your status level in the MileagePlus program, the sooner before scheduled takeoff your upgrade clears.

Here’s when you can expect a CPU to clear if you have MileagePlus Premier status.

However, some fare classes are upgraded instantly. If you book fare classes Y or B as a Premier Silver, Gold or Platinum member or fare classes Y, B or M as a Premier 1K member, then your economy ticket gets an upgrade to the premium cabin at booking.

It’s worth mentioning that not every ticket you purchase is eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades. When you fly on the following routes and to some regions serviced by United, don’t be surprised if you didn’t get upgraded.

• Premium transcontinental routes, such as New York (JFK/EWR) to Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)
• Long-haul flights to Hawaii from Chicago (ORD), Denver (DEN), Houston (IAH), Newark (EWR) or Washington (IAD)
• Honolulu (HNL) to Guam (GUM)
• Asia, Japan
• Australia, New Zealand
• Europe, Middle East, Africa
• South America

Keep in mind that basic-economy fares aren’t eligible for CPUs, either, so if you’re trying to save money, you have to pass on that upgrade potential.

As you probably guessed, Complimentary Premier Upgrades on United aren’t guaranteed to all elites. The number of seats in the first-class cabin is limited, and flyers with the highest elite status receive priority on the upgrade distribution list. If you’re a low-level elite, don’t heavily rely on CPUs to clear.

Finally, award flights typically aren’t CPU eligible unless you’re an elite member and hold one of the following co-branded United credit cards:

• United Club℠ Business Card

United Club℠ Infinite Card

• United Explorer℠ Business Card

United℠ Business Card

United℠ Explorer Card

• United℠ Presidential Plus℠ Business Card (not available to new applicants)
• United℠ Presidential Plus℠ Card (not available to new applicants)

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Annual Fee: $0 for your first year, then $95.

How to Apply United PlusPoints to Receive Upgrades on United Airlines Flights

PlusPoints are available to Premier Platinum and Premier 1K members to upgrade a flight anywhere United flies. These upgrades are based on availability, and you get on a waitlist once you request one online or in the mobile app.

How to Earn PlusPoints

MileagePlus Premier members receive 40 PlusPoints upon reaching Platinum status and an additional 280 PlusPoints upon earning 1K status—for a total of 320 points.

It’s possible to keep earning PlusPoints after qualifying for the highest status level with the MileagePlus program. You will receive 20 PointsPlus for every 2,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) you earn after reaching Premier 1K status.

How PlusPoints Work

PlusPoints can be used to upgrade flights on the following airlines: All Nippon Airways (ANA), Copa, Lufthansa and United.

PlusPoints necessary for short-haul upgrades:

• Premium Plus to business – 10
• Economy to Premium Plus – 20
• Economy to first class – 20

PlusPoints necessary for long-haul upgrades:

• Premium Plus to Polaris business – 30
• Economy to Polaris business – 40
• Discounted economy to Polaris business – 80

Basic-economy tickets aren’t eligible for PlusPoints upgrades.

If you’re a Premier 1K member, your 320 PlusPoints can be applied toward eight upgrades from economy to Polaris business class on transatlantic or transpacific itineraries. If your upgrade doesn’t clear, the points go back into your account.

Just so you’re aware, PlusPoints upgrades are prioritized over Complimentary Premier Upgrades for elite members. So, if there’s limited premium space, PlusPoints trump CPUs.

Also, Premier 1K members have an opportunity to redeem additional PlusPoints to skip the waitlist and receive a confirmed upgrade on select long-haul international flights even if upgrade inventory is closed. If you really need to secure a flight in the higher class of service, this is a way to do it.

PlusPoints have an expiration date, so if you have ’em, use ’em before they disappear.

It’s allowed to use PlusPoints to upgrade another person’s reservation even if you’re not traveling with them, so that’s another way to make sure those points get used before their expiration date.

How to Upgrade United Flights with MileagePlus Upgrade Awards

If you don’t have status with United, you have options to upgrade your flight using MileagePlus miles. Depending on the fare class you book, your Premier level and your flight route, you might be asked to pay a cash portion on top of the miles used.

If you booked a ticket in fare classes B, O or Y, then a co-pay isn’t required. If you booked any other class, prepare to open your wallet.

So, here’s how to request a MileagePlus Upgrade Award on your upcoming United flight.

Log in to your MileagePlus account and click on “My Trips.” Select the trip you want to enhance and click on “Upgrade cabin” from the dashboard.

You should then see two options for an upgrade: with money or with miles. Select “Miles” and check your options.

For example, I have a trip to Europe coming up, and here’s how much the website quoted me for an upgrade: 20,000 miles + a $412 co-pay for the one-way leg from Salt Lake City (SLC) to Brussels (BRU). This includes an upgrade to first class on the domestic flight segment and an upgrade to Polaris business on the transatlantic segment.

The final cost of an upgrade using United miles is calculated based on where you’re traveling, the seat type requested, the fare class of the original ticket booked and your Premier status. To check how many miles you need to upgrade a ticket with a specific fare class, click here .

There are no restrictions on MileagePlus Upgrade Awards, so it’s possible to request mileage upgrades on all United flights and all routes, including transcontinental flights and flights overseas.

Keep in mind that these types of upgrades aren’t guaranteed. You get on the waitlist and hope it clears. If not, miles and co-pay are refunded.

How to Upgrade United Flights with Cash

Similar to applying miles and a small co-pay to existing United flights booked with cash, you can upgrade revenue flights using money only, only your co-pay is going to be much higher. You can book a higher class of service upon booking or upgrade your flight afterward if you decide that flying in economy class isn’t going to be comfortable on a particular route.

Select the flight you wish to upgrade and make sure to check “Money” this time to view how much cash upgrades cost.

In this case, you’re free to upgrade each individual segment of your trip separately. For example, you can keep the domestic leg from Salt Lake City to Chicago (ORD) in economy and upgrade only the long-haul leg from Chicago to Brussels.

The price of an upgrade is going to vary based on your specific flight, so you’ll have to decide whether the price is right for you.

Use MileagePlus Miles to Book Star Alliance Upgrade Awards

United MileagePlus members are able to redeem their miles to request a one-cabin upgrade on select carriers in the Star Alliance (based on availability).

Star Alliance Upgrade Awards are valid for one nonstop flight only, so the longer the better, and the redemption rate varies based on your origin and destination regions.

For example, upgrading a Star Alliance flight from the United States to Europe will cost you 25,000 miles to move from economy class to business and 40,000 miles to move from business class to first.

For award pricing on specific routes, click here and check the “Star Alliance operated” circle.

Not all airlines participate in the upgrade program, and you have to pay attention to the fare class in which the ticket you want to upgrade is booked. Generally, full-fare economy tickets in classes Y or B (read, expensive) are eligible for Star Alliance Upgrade Awards.

For more eligible booking classes and participating airlines, visit this page .

Likewise, you can upgrade a United flight using another Star Alliance airline’s miles if you have access to other frequent-flyer programs.

Skip the Games and Book a United Award Ticket with Miles

So, as a MileagePlus Premier member you can either hope for a Complimentary Premier Upgrade on certain flight segments or apply PointsPlus if your elite tier is Platinum or higher.

As a non-elite member, you can redeem MileagePlus miles to upgrade a cash flight and hope that the upgrade clears behind all the elites vying for the same premium spots.

So what is there to do for the rest of us? Telling a check-in agent that you’re embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon journey around the world or simply dressing nice isn’t going to fly in your upgrade efforts. These are myths. Seriously, who even believes this stuff anymore?

The best way to secure a spot in the premium cabin is to pay for it. The second best is to redeem frequent-flyer miles. Actually, scratch that. When available, using miles is the preferred option because it saves you money, and that’s the ultimate goal.

United Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance in the world, which opens the door for you to use miles and fly on the following airlines:

You can use either of these loyalty programs’ rewards to book United flights or use MileagePlus miles to book flights on any of these carriers in business class, as long as award space is available. Without paying for it with cash, this method is the only one that guarantees your seat in a premium cabin.

Study the programs and run award searches in your free time to determine which of these airlines has the best frequent-flyer program that fits your travel patterns.

Should You Upgrade a United Airlines Flight?

To upgrade or not to upgrade? That is the question. And the answer is entirely up to you.

If you’re a Premier Platinum or a Premier 1K member with PlusPoints to burn before they’re gone, then yes, you should totally go for it and redeem them for an upgrade to a better cabin. Even more reason to do it if you have a long-haul international flight on the calendar.

However, paying more cash or miles for a premium seat isn’t necessarily the best way to go for all flyers. You have to weigh all the pros and cons and ask yourself whether that upgrade is going to be worth it.

Are you going on a special celebration trip? Do you rarely travel because of little paid time off? Have you collected more points and miles than you know what to do with? Or perhaps you have a lengthy journey with long layovers and can benefit from airport lounge access? These are all good reasons to redeem a boatload of credit-card rewards and ball out in the air.

However, if your schedule allows you to travel toe to toe with Carmen Sandiego and you don’t accumulate redeemable points as fast as you’d like, then think about whether you really need that upgrade. You have to decide between more trips in economy class and fewer trips in business class.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can i upgrade to first class on united for free.

When you book a paid United flight as a MileagePlus Premier elite member, a Complimentary Premier Upgrade (CPU) is automatically requested on select flight segments. CPUs are free upgrades on select United and United Express flights for MileagePlus Premier members. These upgrades are not guaranteed and are subject to availability.

When does the United Upgrade waitlist clear?

The United Upgrade waitlist clears at different times depending on your MileagePlus Premier status level. Some fare classes may be upgraded instantly at the time of booking, depending on your Premier status level and the fare class you book.

How can I get upgraded to business class on United?

If you’re a United MileagePlus Premier member, you might score a free business class upgrade via Complimentary Premier Upgrades (CPUs). Other ways to upgrade are paid via MileagePlus miles or cash.

Final Thoughts

We can all agree that arriving at your destination well-fed and well-rested after a long flight is a great start to your trip, whether it’s a vacation or a business trip. The good news is getting upgraded on United Airlines is within reach for most passengers, Premier members or not.

MileagePlus elite flyers have CPUs and PlusPoints for those with the highest status tiers. Regular members have MileagePlus Upgrade Awards and United miles to book a seat in a higher class or service.

Whichever upgrade method you choose, you’re sure to enjoy your time in the sky on your next flight.

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Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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• Travel experience

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Awards and upgrades.

You can now redeem AAdvantage ® miles for award travel in Premium Economy.

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Find Premium Economy awards

AAdvantage ® upgrades into Premium Economy aren’t available now, but will be at a later date.

For now, you can upgrade from Main Cabin or Premium Economy to First or Business using your AAdvantage ® miles or systemwide upgrades. For flights to / from Hawaii and Alaska, AAdvantage ® status members receive complimentary upgrades if seats are available.

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