MileagePlus Upgrade Awards

*Flights between Houston (IAH) and Lima (LIM) will be ineligible for Premier member co-pay exemption for MUA requests made on or after February 6, 2013.

How to book, request or sponsor a MileagePlus Upgrade Award

There are two ways to book a MileagePlus Upgrade Award:

Method 1: While booking your flight

On United.com sign into the MileagePlus account you want to use to request the MileagePlus Upgrade Award. While searching for flights, you can specify if you want upgrade availability displayed in the results by following these steps:

1. On the main United.com page under the flight search pane, click on the “Advanced Search” link.
2. After entering your flight search criteria on the advanced flight search page, select “MileagePlus Upgrade Award” and select “Price” under the “Search By” option found in the “How would you like your flight results displayed?” section. Click search.
3. Select the direction you want to upgrade and continue.

If a MileagePlus Upgrade Award is available, you can proceed with booking the upgrade at the time of booking your flight. If a flight does not have availability, you can continue to book that flight and later request the upgrade through Method 2. You will be placed on a waitlist that will be cleared as and when upgrades become available.

Method 2: After booking your flight

There are three ways in which you can request your MileagePlus Upgrade Award after you have booked your flight.

Option 1: Request using the MileagePlus account you entered at the time of booking your flight.

1. Log into your MileagePlus account (associated with your booking) on United.com.
2. Select the “Change/View Existing Reservations” option under the “Reservations” tab. Look for your reservation and select “View”. Click the “Redeem Upgrade” option under your reservation.
3. Then click the “Redeem Awards to Upgrade” tab, select the flight you want to upgrade, and choose your preferred upgrade. Click the “Upgrade” button and continue to complete your upgrade request.

Option 2: If you did not enter a MileagePlus account at the time of booking, want to get sponsored by another MileagePlus member or want to sponsor another traveler

1. Select the “Change/View Existing Reservations” option under the “Reservations” tab on united.com. Enter the Confirmation Number and last name associated with the flight and click “Find”.
2. Click the “Redeem Upgrade” option under the reservation.
3. Then click the “Redeem Awards to Upgrade” tab and select the flights you would like to upgrade. Click the “Upgrade” button after the flight selection.
4. You will then be prompted to enter the MileagePlus account information for the account you want to use to make the upgrade request. After entering this information please continue to complete your request.

Option 3: If you want to make a MileagePlus Upgrade Award request by phone after you have booked a flight.

If you are not a Premier member, call 1 800-UNITED1 to make the request. Premier members can call their status specific phone numbers to make the request. For an existing booking, there is no fee to make the upgrade request by phone.

MileagePlus Upgrade Award rules

• Upgrades may be requested until 24 hours prior to departure. Your MileagePlus account number and PIN/Password are required to complete the transaction.
• MileagePlus Upgrade Awards can be requested when flying on any fare class and apply for most fare types*. For most discounted fares, an upgrade co-pay fee will apply. MileagePlus Upgrade Awards cannot be used when flying on award tickets or deeply discounted promotional tickets.
• Upgrade Awards have limited availability and are subject to capacity controls.
• Miles are deducted from your account at time of reservation or when placed on the waitlist.
• Waitlisting is permitted. Waitlists are processed based on Premier status and time of addition to waitlist. All waitlists expire 24 hours before trip departure.
• Standby is permitted. Waitlisted customers will automatically be added to the standby list upon check-in.
• Upgrade is confirmed at time of reservation if a seat is available. Waitlisted customers are confirmed automatically once a seat becomes available.
• Upgrade Awards may be requested at united.com or over the phone with United Reservations. Mileage deduction and applicable co-pays for all MileagePlus Upgrade Awards will be assessed at the time of request.
• Open-jaw trips are permitted only in accordance with the rules of the fare purchased.
• Stopovers are permitted only in accordance with the rules of the fare purchased.
• Circle trips are permitted only in accordance with the rules of the fare purchased.
• Mileage accrual for MileagePlus and other participating loyalty programs will be based on the original fare class purchased.
• Flight changes are permitted in accordance with the rules of the fare purchased.
• MileagePlus Upgrade Awards have no cash value except for applicable taxes, fees and surcharges. Any associated upgrade co-pays will be refunded upon award redeposit and applicable fees may apply. Request for refund of taxes should be sent to refund accounting.
• If you cancel your MileagePlus Upgrade Award miles and co-pay may be refunded for the applicable redeposit fee.
• Voluntary changes to your flight may require a new upgrade request.
• If you request an upgrade using a MileagePlus Upgrade Award, and none of your travel segments are upgraded, then your miles and co-pay will be fully redeposited. In most instances, a MileagePlus Upgrade Award will be considered used if any segment of your travel is upgraded. However, if your travel includes requested upgrades to United BusinessFirst and/or United Global First, and none of the United BusinessFirst or United Global First segments are upgraded, then your MileagePlus Upgrade Award will not be considered used, even if you are upgraded to United First or United Business on another segment. In these instances, your miles and co-pay will be fully redeposited. When applicable, these refunds will occur automatically seven to 10 days after the trip.
• Co-pay will be assessed at the time of upgrade request.
• The government may collect additional taxes for travel in the front cabin.
• Co-pay may not be applied to future travel and are subject to change without notice.

  *Some restrictions apply. Contact United Reservations for complete details.