How Much Are United Miles Worth?

Based on MoneyGeek’s study, the average value of United MileagePlus miles is between 1.2 and 1.6 cents. That said, how much United miles are worth may change based on how you choose to redeem them.

There are plenty of opportunities to earn and maximize United MileagePlus miles, including flying with United Airlines and its airline partners, using a co-branded credit card, shopping online via the MileagePlus Shopping portal and purchasing miles.

After racking up United MileagePlus miles, you can redeem them for award flights, flight upgrades, hotel accommodations, car rentals, cruises, United Club membership and more.

On This Page:

• How Much Are United Miles Worth?
• How to Earn and Maximize Miles From United Airlines
• How to Redeem United Miles
• How to Get the United Miles Premiere Status
• Other Questions You May Have About United Miles

The average value of United Miles falls between 1.2 and 1.6 cents. This can be used as a baseline to determine whether you are getting a good value for your redemption.

Recently, United stopped publishing an award chart, so there’s no set amount of miles needed for a given flight anymore. United now uses the dynamic pricing model, meaning seat prices change based on demand.

Check out how United Miles stacks up against other major U.S. airlines by browsing through the table below.

There are various ways to earn United MileagePlus miles, from flying with United or its partner airlines to using the right credit card or booking rooms at certain hotels. United Mileage Plus miles never expire, so you can focus on earning miles without having to worry about when you should redeem them.

United MileagePlus is the frequent flyer program of United Airlines. It’s known for its top-notch economy award availability, wide range of award destinations and multiple ways to earn and use miles. United MileagePlus is free to join; you only need to sign up for a MileagePlus frequent flyer account to start earning miles.

Joining United MileagePlus can help you earn miles for every dollar you spend in certain categories. Additionally, you get to enjoy various benefits, including:

• Award availability: When booking an award flight, you don’t have to worry about blackout dates.
• Extensive flight network: You can use your United MileagePlus miles to book online with United Airlines’ 25 Star Alliance partners and fly to approximately 1,300 destinations.
• Miles expiration: United MileagePlus miles don’t expire, meaning you can take your time planning when to use your hard-earned miles.

Getting a United Airlines co-branded credit card may be one of the best ways to earn United MileagePlus miles. MoneyGeek found that United Club℠ Infinite Card rewards cardholders with the most miles per dollar spent (1–4X miles on eligible purchases), which they can maximize by earning the 100,000 miles welcome bonus after spending $5,000 within the first three months.

Chase’s United Gateway Card is a solid entry-level travel credit card that comes with no annual and foreign transaction fees. You earn 2X miles on gas stations, transit and United Airlines purchases and 1X miles on all other purchases.

Additionally, you can earn 30,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000 within the first three months of opening your account.

Business owners who frequently travel with United Airlines may benefit from the United℠ Business Card. This credit card awards 2X miles per dollar spent on United Airlines, restaurants, gas stations and office supply stores. All other eligible purchases give cardholders 1X miles per dollar.

Cardholders can maximize their miles by earning the 75,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on eligible purchases during the first three months of card ownership.

The United Club℠ Infinite Card comes with generous bonuses and exclusive travel perks to offset its hefty $525 annual fee. With this card, you can get 4X miles on United Airlines purchases, 2X miles on travel and dining purchases and 1X miles on everything else.

In addition, the United Club℠ Infinite Card offers a 100,000 miles welcome bonus if you spend $5,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months.

United Explorer Card has a $95 annual fee waived the first year and travel perks like priority boarding and a free first-checked bag. Cardholders get 2X miles on United Airlines purchases, delivery services, restaurant payments, directly purchased hotel accommodations and 1X miles for other eligible purchases.

Furthermore, they stand to earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months of owning the card.

Although it has a $250 annual fee, the United Quest℠ Card offers various benefits including up to two 5,000-mile award flight credits per account anniversary. It earns 3X miles on United Airlines purchases, 2X miles on travel, dining and eligible streaming services and 1X miles on other purchases.

New cardholders can also earn 80,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in the first three months.

An easy way to earn United MileagePlus miles is by flying with United Airlines or its airline partners. United Airlines has 39 partner airlines, 25 of which are part of Star Alliance. These include but are not limited to:

• Air Canada
• All Nippon Airways (ANA)
• Asiana Airlines
• Brussels Airlines
• Croatia Airlines
• EVA Air
• Lufthansa Airlines
• Shenzhen Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• Swiss Airlines
• Thai Airways

While flying with United Airlines or its airline partners and using co-branded credit cards are the primary methods to rack up United MileagePlus miles, there are other ways to earn miles through United’s non-flight-related partners. For instance, you can earn United miles by booking a stay at one of United’s hotel partners.

Although you can get miles by purchasing them on the MileagePlus website, it is generally not a good idea as they are quite expensive. In most cases, buying miles only makes sense if you need to top up your MileagePlus account to book an award flight.

United MileagePlus miles can be used to book free or discounted flights with United Airlines and its 39 airline partners. To redeem your United miles, you need to visit United’s website and choose your origin, destination and flight dates to see how much an award ticket will cost in miles.

Because United discontinued its published award chart, there’s no longer a set amount of miles needed for each flight. It’s advisable to compare the cost of a flight in cash and in miles before booking.

Alternatively, your United MileagePlus miles are redeemable for other purposes. These include hotel stays, car rentals, flight upgrades, gift cards and more.

If you want to enjoy an enhanced travel experience and take advantage of more travel benefits, you’ll need to qualify for United MileagePlus Premier.

You can achieve Premier status through a number of Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) and Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) or a higher amount of PQP.

• Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF): These are accrued based on the number of flight segments flown. Note that basic economy and award tickets don’t earn PQFs.
• Premier Qualifying Points (PQP): You earn PQPs for the base fare, carrier-imposed surcharge of flight purchases, seating purchases, paid upgrades and flights ticketed and operated by Star Alliance partners.

Depending on your Premier status, you can access mileage bonuses, priority check-in, seat upgrades, complimentary checked baggage, free access to Economy Plus seating and more.

MoneyGeek determined the value of United MileagePlus miles by collecting and analyzing data on various flights. Then, we divided the cost of each booking by its cost in rewards to determine the cash value of a mile for a given flight. That said, these valuations may change or fluctuate based on United Airlines’ policies.

We have answered some common questions about United MileagePlus miles to help you understand how to earn and use them.