Summary

  • Earning miles from flying United Airlines is now based on the fare paid, not distance.
  • Earn miles from partner airlines based on the ticket price, with some classes not eligible for miles.
  • You can earn miles through credit card spending, hotels, car hire, retail spending, and other methods.

MileagePlus is the mileage and status program from United Airlines. It is obviously important for regular United Airlines flyers. It is also popular with less frequent United travelers and others who fly and collect miles from different Star Alliance airlines.

With changes to earnings in recent years and the switch to a revenue-based earning system, it is harder to get good value from flying. In particular, earning miles from flying is less attractive for lower-priced tickets. This highlights the importance of other earning methods – including alliance partner airlines, credit cards, and other travel and retail sources.

Earning on United Airlines flights

A lot has changed in the past few years with MileagePlus – as is the case with most other main US airline loyalty programs. Earning and spending miles have switched to a revenue-based system instead of a distance-based one. Most US airline programs (including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines) all now follow a revenue-based earning method for their own flights.

A United Airlines Boeing 767-322(ER) just after taking off.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

When flying on United Airlines flights (and ticketed by United Airlines), miles are earned simply based on the fare paid. You earn a fixed number of miles per dollar spent, depending on your MileagePlus elite status. Miles are earned as follows:

  • No status: 5 miles per dollar
  • Premier Silver status: 7 miles per dollar
  • Premier Gold status: 8 miles per dollar
  • Premier Platinum status: 9 miles per dollar
  • Premier 1K status: 11 miles per dollar

Note the following about mileage earning:

  • Miles are earned on the base fare and carrier charges only, not any government taxes or charges.
  • All standard revenue fares earn miles (including the lowest Basic Economy fares). This excludes mileage redemption tickets, free tickets, and some industry discount fares.
A United Airlines Boeing 777-200 just after take off.
Photo: Anatoliy Lukich | Shutterstock

Love learning about points and miles? Read more of our loyalty news and guides here.

Earning miles from partner airlines

United Airlines has a long list of partner airlines where you can earn (and redeem) miles in the MileagePlus program. This includes all the Star Alliance airlines, plus several others. There are some excellent opportunities here to earn decent mileage for longer flights.

A Screenshot of the logos of every Star Alliance member.
Image: United Airlines

Other partner airlines are Aer Lingus, Aeromar, Air Dolomiti, Azul Airlines, Boutique Air, Cape Air, Edelweiss, Eurowings, Hawaiian Airlines, Olympic Air, Silver Airways, and Vistara.

A United Airlines aircraft in Star Alliance livery.
Photo: viper-zero | Shutterstock

The issuing airline is very important here. Any ticket issued by United Airlines for flights with any of these airlines will earn mileage based on the ticket price. This will include flights bought directly from United and potentially with travel agents. If your ticket is issued by United Airlines, the ticket number will start with 016.

A passneger using a United Airlines Check-In Kiosk.
Photo: United Airlines

If the ticket is issued by any other airline (so it has a ticket number starting with anything other than 016), miles will be earned based on the flight distance and the fare booking class (this is the single letter booking code, usually attached to the fare basis for the ticket). This method of earning is common to all the US revenue-based systems, where they must still award miles for partner airline flights credited to their mileage program but cannot usually access the underlying ticket price.

A Lufthansa Boeing 747-430 flying in the sky.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

Mileage earning rates vary for each partner. There are multiples published for each airline and each booking class, which are applied to the flight length to determine the total miles earned. Tables for each partner airline can be found on the MileagePlus website.

These earning rates generally range from 25% for the lowest discount economy booking codes up to 200% for full-fare business or first class. The example below is for Lufthansa earning with MileagePlus:

A screenshot of mile earnings when flying with Lufthansa.
Image: United Airlines

Note that some of the lowest booking classes (for example, I, O, R, and X classes with Lufthansa) do not earn any miles. These are clearly shown in the charts.

There are also bonus miles for elite status members with some partner airlines. All flights earning under the fare-based method earn elite status bonus miles (shown in the tiered earning levels). Certain Star Alliance partner airlines earn bonuses under the distance-based method. This currently includes Air Canada, ANA, Austrian, Azul, Brussels, Lufthansa, and SWISS. With these airlines, elite members earn a percentage bonus as follows:

  • Premier Silver status: 25%
  • Premier Gold status: 50%
  • Premier Platinum status: 75%
  • Premier 1K status: 100%
A Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 in Star Alliance livery flying in the sky.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

Earning miles through credit card spending

With the shift to revenue-based earning for many flights, earning miles from other sources has become more important for many people. Earning through credit cards is a popular way to build up miles, and switching spending to your preferred airline can boost miles.

United Airlines offers several credit cards - all in partnership with Chase. There is a range of cards that earn different amounts and have different annual fees and other benefits. Earning rates are at least one mile per dollar. But there are bonuses for United Airlines purchases (earning between two and four miles per dollar) on other categories, including dining, hotels, and other travel spending.

A Screenshot of the different United Airlines Chase co-branded credit cards.
Photo: United Airlines

Most cards also offer a sign-up bonus when you first take out the card and meet a minimum spend requirement. This can be very lucrative (up to 100,000 miles possibly), but you can only earn this once. Notice that premium credit cards also include 1,000 PQPs, a key metric in deciding your elite status with MileagePlus. However, cards also include some key bonuses for travelers.

The Quest and Infinite cards allow one and two checked bags respectively on all tickets, saving hundreds in bag fees annually. The $525 Infinite even throws in United Club membership for the year (usually $650) and credits for 4x miles for spending with United, while the Quest card will add in $125 in credit for spending with the airline.

Passengers entering the United Club at Newark airport.
Photo: United Airlines

MileagePlus also offers co-branded credit cards in several other countries (notably more than most other airline loyalty programs). This currently includes Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, and Uruguay in Latin America. And in Asia, it includes Japan, Guam, and Hong Kong.

Earning miles through hotels and car hire

As with most US airline loyalty programs, many major hotel chains allow you to earn MileagePlus miles. With many chains, you earn miles based on total spend (such as up to two miles per dollar at IHG hotel, Marriott, and Wyndham hotels) or per stay (such as 500 miles per stay at Shangri-La and Hyatt hotels).

With others, you don’t earn miles directly but can transfer points from the hotel loyalty program into MileagePlus (including Hilton and Radisson). There is also a hotel booking platform from United Hotels which awards two miles per dollar spent - this is useful for non-chain hotels.

A screenshot of the United Hotels website.
Photo: United Airlines

For car hire, MileagePlus has mileage-earning partnerships with Avis and Budget (it used to partner with Hertz, but this has ended). You earn a fixed number of miles per rental based on your MileagePlus elite status:

  • No status: 500 miles per rental
  • Premier Silver status: 750 miles per rental
  • Premier Gold status: 1000 miles per rental
  • Premier Platinum status: 1250 miles per rental
  • Premier 1K status: 1250 miles per rental

Earning miles through retail spending

MileagePlus has an associated shopping portal known as MileagePlus Shopping. By following links from this portal to online retailers, you can earn miles when shopping. Rates vary (often from one to five miles per dollar spent), and there are regular promotions and bonus offers.

A screenshot of the United Airlines MileagePlus Shopping website.
Photo: United Airlines

The program also has a dining portal called MileagePlus Dining. This allows mileage earning when dining at restaurants across the US. You simply register a credit card, and you will then earn miles for spending.

MileagePlus offers an unusual additional retail earning method as well. With the MileagePlus X app, you earn miles when you buy gift cards for several retailers (including Amazon, Walmart, and Staples). These gift cards can be for any amount and are instantly available through the app. Miles earned usually post very quickly to the MileagePlus account, too, making this a great way to earn on daily shopping.

A screenshot of a MileagePlus X advertisement.
Photo: United Airlines

There are several more niche ways to earn as well, such as taking out your mortgage with partner Rocket Mortgage and earning up to 25,000 miles. Cruise lines, antivirus software, and everything in between can earn miles, too, so keep an eye out when making big purchases on how you can earn miles from them.

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This has been an overview of the earning methods with United MileagePlus. Do you regularly use the program? Feel free to discuss the ways you earn miles further in the comments.

  • MileagePlus Tall
    MileagePlus
    Participating Airlines:
    United Airlines
    Owner:
    United Airlines
    Region:
    North America
    Countries:
    United States
    Established Date:
    1981-05-00
  • N14106 United Airlines (Her Art Here-California Livery) Boeing 757-224 (1)
    United Airlines
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    UA/UAL
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport, Guam International Airport, Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1931
    Alliance:
    Star Alliance
    CEO:
    Scott Kirby
    Country:
    United States