PlusPoints

MileagePlus® members with Premier® Platinum status or higher can use PlusPoints to request premium cabin and seat upgrades anytime they fly. Or exchange eligible PlusPoints for additional perks like bonus miles, gifting status to other members and more .

PlusPoints benefits

PlusPoints are available for our most loyal members to help them get the most value out of their status. Here are a few of the benefits of using PlusPoints.

They’re customizable

Use PlusPoints to customize your Premier experience by requesting upgrades to any available seat or premium cabin, or exchanging them for the perks you value the most.

They’re do-it-yourself

You can request and confirm premium cabin upgrades or complete exchanges on our website or app. No need to call or wait in line.

They’re flexible

We don’t deduct PlusPoints for upgrade requests from your account until your upgrade is confirmed, letting you make as many requests as you want. And, you have the ability to exchange your PlusPoints for various perks through March 31 of the year prior to the PlusPoints expiration date.

They’re customizable

Use PlusPoints to customize your Premier experience by requesting upgrades to any available seat or premium cabin, or exchanging them for the perks you value the most.

They’re do-it-yourself

You can request and confirm premium cabin upgrades or complete exchanges on our website or app. No need to call or wait in line.

They’re flexible

We don’t deduct PlusPoints for upgrade requests from your account until your upgrade is confirmed, letting you make as many requests as you want. And, you have the ability to exchange your PlusPoints for various perks through March 31 of the year prior to the PlusPoints expiration date.

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Earning PlusPoints

Once you meet the published requirements for Premier Platinum or higher, you’ll immediately receive PlusPoints based on your status: 40 PlusPoints when you reach Premier Platinum and 280 more when you reach Premier 1K.

You can earn even more PlusPoints after you reach Premier 1K status. For every 3,000 Premier qualifying points (PQP) you get beyond 22,000, you’ll earn 20 more PlusPoints.*

*Upon reaching the published Premier 1K qualification requirements. Any PQP you got for using your United MileagePlus credit card doesn’t count toward earning more PlusPoints, unless you have the United Presidential Plus^SM card or the United Presidential Plus business card.

Using PlusPoints

Once you have PlusPoints in your account you can start using them right away.

Exchanging PlusPoints

PlusPoints earned in 2025 or later (expiring on or after January 31, 2027) can be exchanged for perks. This allows you to customize your Premier status experience and get the most out of the PlusPoints you’ve earned.

Eligible PlusPoints can be exchanged for the following perks:

TravelBank cash
Bonus miles
Premier qualifying points (PQP)
Premier qualifying flights (PQF)
Gifting Premier status

Each year you earn PlusPoints, you'll have until March 31 of the year prior to their expiration to exchange them for perks. After that date, PlusPoints can always continue to be used on upgrade requests for travel until their expiration.

You can exchange up to 600 eligible PlusPoints in total per expiration date, without exceeding the maximum exchange allowance for each perk.

For example: If you earn 280 PlusPoints in July 2025, you can exchange these PlusPoints for a combination of the perks until March 31, 2026. You may exchange 100 PlusPoints for $200 TravelBank cash and 100 PlusPoints for 15,000 bonus miles, a total of 200 PlusPoints exchanged. This exchange would be completed successfully because you did not exceed any of the perks' maximum exchange allowances. The remaining 80 PlusPoints can be used for either exchanges or upgrade requests through March 31, 2026. After that, these remaining PlusPoints can only be used for upgrade requests until their expiration on January 31, 2027.

Here is a breakdown of how many PlusPoints you’ll need to exchange for available perks:

PlusPoints	10	20	40	80	100	160	320	440	600*
Gift Premier status			Silver Max 3x*		Gold Max 2x*			Platinum Max 1x*	1K Max 1x*
TravelBank cash	$20	$40	$80	$160	$200 Max*
Bonus miles	1,500	3,000	6,000	12,000	15,000 Max*
Premier qualifying flights (PQF)						2	4 Max*
Premier qualifying points (PQP)	100	200	400	800	1,000	1,600 Max*

*Maximum allowance of PlusPoints exchanged per PlusPoints expiration date (600 total across all perks per expiration date). For example, if you have 1,000 PlusPoints that expire on January 31, 2027, you may exchange up to 600 of them. Of these PlusPoints, you can use a maximum of 100 PlusPoints for TravelBank cash, 160 PlusPoints for PQP, etc.

How to exchange PlusPoints

Review your balance

If you have PlusPoints available to exchange, you can see what perks are available to you and complete your exchange here.

Pick your perks

Make your selections and select “add to cart.”

Complete your exchange

You may need to confirm some details before completing your exchange. Once you confirm, you’ll be finished and ready to enjoy your perks.

Review your balance

If you have PlusPoints available to exchange, you can see what perks are available to you and complete your exchange here.

Pick your perks

Make your selections and select “add to cart.”

Complete your exchange

You may need to confirm some details before completing your exchange. Once you confirm, you’ll be finished and ready to enjoy your perks.

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Request upgrades

You can also use PlusPoints to request an upgrade on all flights operated by United and United Express®. Some partner airlines let you request PlusPoints upgrades as well, including ANA, Lufthansa and Copa Airlines.

PlusPoints upgrades are based on seat availability. If there is no space when you make your request, we'll add you to a waitlist.

Upgrade pricing

The amount of PlusPoints required for an upgrade request depends on where you’re flying to, your original ticket, and what seat you want to upgrade to.

Here's our pricing breakdown:

Upgrade pricing

The amount of PlusPoints required for an upgrade request depends on where you’re flying to, your original ticket, and what seat you want to upgrade to.

Here's our pricing breakdown:

10
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

United Premium Plus to United Business^® on short-haul flights

20
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

United Economy^® to United First^® or United Business on short-haul flights
or
United Economy to United Premium Plus on short-haul flights
or
United Economy to United Premium Plus on long-haul flights

30
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

United Premium Plus to United Polaris^® business class on long-haul flights

40
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

United Economy to United Polaris business class on long-haul flights

80
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

Discounted economy to United Polaris business class on long-haul flights

10
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

United Premium Plus to United Business^® on short-haul flights

20
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

United Economy^® to United First^® or United Business on short-haul flights
or
United Economy to United Premium Plus on short-haul flights
or
United Economy to United Premium Plus on long-haul flights

30
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

United Premium Plus to United Polaris^® business class on long-haul flights

40
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

United Economy to United Polaris business class on long-haul flights

80
Points

REQUEST UPGRADE FROM

Discounted economy to United Polaris business class on long-haul flights

We won’t deduct PlusPoints from your account until your upgrade is confirmed, unless your upgrade request is with a partner airline. These requests are always 40 points and will be deducted from your account immediately.

If you request multiple upgrades for your trip, you’ll only be charged for the highest-priced upgrade you receive. For example, if you request a 20-point upgrade for your first flight and a 40-point upgrade for the second, you’ll only be charged 40 PlusPoints.

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How to request an upgrade

Pick your upgrade type

When entering your trip information, select “PlusPoints” as the type of upgrade you’d like to request.

Pick your view

You can choose between viewing flights that may or may not have upgrades available and only flights that do have them.

Pick your flight

Finish shopping for flights like you normally would. You’ll be able to see both ticket price and PlusPoints upgrade pricing.

You can also request a PlusPoints upgrade on flights you’ve already booked in the My Trips section of our website or the app. Simply view the flight you’d like to request an upgrade for and select “Upgrade”. This is also where you can check on the status of your requests or cancel them.

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Skip Waitlist

Skip Waitlist is exclusively for Premier 1K members. With this perk you can use additional PlusPoints to instantly confirm your upgrade on select international flights. Have friends or family traveling on the same reservation with you? You can upgrade them too.

Things to remember about Skip Waitlist:

It’s only available more than 30 days before your flight.

It’s only available on select international flights operated by United.

It’s non-refundable and can’t be transferred to new flights if you change your travel plans.

Make a Skip Waitlist request during booking by selecting “Available only and Skip Waitlist” during the pick your view step when making a PlusPoints upgrade. You’ll see a “Skip Waitlist” label on eligible flights.

Add Skip Waitlist to a flight you’ve already booked by viewing it in My Trips and selecting “Upgrade”. If the flight is Skip Waitlist-eligible, you’ll see it as an available option.

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Managing your PlusPoints

You can view the number of PlusPoints you have available, how many you’ve requested and how many you’ve used in your MileagePlus account. You can view the breakdown of your PlusPoints that may be eligible for exchange here.

Available

This is your current PlusPoints balance. PlusPoints for unconfirmed upgrades and PlusPoints that are eligible for exchange are included in this total.

Requested

This is how many PlusPoints you will need for any requests you have made. These will only be deducted if you have enough PlusPoints to complete the transactions once the upgrades are confirmed.

Deducted

This is the total PlusPoints you’ve used to pay for confirmed upgrades and exchanges.

PlusPoints FAQs

When you’re a MileagePlus member, you earn miles every time you fly, stay at a hotel, rent a car and more. These miles can be used toward buying plane tickets, making in-flight purchases, and getting upgrades (to name a few). PlusPoints are earned when you reach Premier Platinum and Premier 1K status and can be used to request upgrades to premium cabins, when available, or to exchange for certain perks.

You’ll be charged for the highest-priced upgrade you requested as soon as one of your upgrades is confirmed. This is to make sure you can receive your highest-priced upgrade if and when it becomes available. If you don’t end up receiving your highest-priced upgrade, the difference will be credited to your account when you reach your destination.

For example, you’re flying from Chicago to New York to London for a family trip. You’ve requested a 20-point upgrade from United Economy to United First for Chicago to New York and a 40-point upgrade from United Economy to United Polaris class for New York to London.

As soon as your upgrade for your flight to New York is confirmed you’ll be charged 40 points because that’s the highest-priced upgrade you’ve requested for this trip. If you don’t end up getting upgraded for your flight to London, 20 PlusPoints will be added back to your account once you land.

If you have not received the refund within 7 days after completion of your scheduled flight, you can contact the MileagePlus Service Center for assistance.

Note, Skip Waitlist upgrades cannot be refunded or partially credited back to your account since they’re confirmed instantly when you make your request.

Eligibility for Skip Waitlist depends on fare class.

Upgrade	Eligible fare classes
From United Premium Plus to United Polaris business class	O, A, R
From United Economy to United Polaris business class	Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W
From United Economy to United Premium Plus	Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K

Once you request a Skip Waitlist upgrade on an itinerary, that upgrade is confirmed immediately and cannot be cancelled or moved to another flight. If you change flights, you will not be refunded the PlusPoints for your Skip Waitlist upgrade.

For example, you could place a Skip Waitlist request for an itinerary and later decide you’d like to change flights.
Your confirmed Skip Waitlist upgrade will not be transferred to your new flight.
If you’d like to request an upgrade on your new flight, you’ll need additional PlusPoints according to the PlusPoints price of what’s being requested.

Because Skip Waitlist allows you to reserve a premium seat when upgrades otherwise would not be available, a Skip Waitlist upgrade cannot be re-confirmed on other flights in the event you wish to change your itinerary, and PlusPoints will not be refunded if you decide to forgo a Skip Waitlist upgrade after placing it. Customers who change their travel plans involuntarily, in situations such as irregular operations, cancellations and schedule changes, are eligible for a full refund of PlusPoints if we’re not able to re-confirm your upgrade.

PlusPoints Exchange FAQs

The maximum you can exchange for any given perk is listed below. Whether or not you’ve reached the limit for a specific perk, once a total of 600 PlusPoints has been exchanged, you will be unable to exchange additional PlusPoints for further perks.

Benefit	Maximum exchange
TravelBank cash	$200 TravelBank cash
Bonus miles	15,000 miles
Premier qualifying points (PQP)	1,600 PQP
Premier qualifying flights (PQF)	4 PQF
Gifted status – Premier Silver	3 recipients
Gifted status – Premier Gold	2 recipients
Gifted status – Premier Platinum	1 recipient
Gifted status – Premier 1K	1 recipient

PlusPoints can either be used to request upgrades, when available, or exchanged for available perks
Each PlusPoints upgrade is valid for a single one-way upgrade into a premium seat.
PlusPoints are earned based on flights taken between January 1 and December 31 of the same calendar year.
Members must fly at least 4 flights on United or United Express during a calendar year in order to be eligible to earn PlusPoints.
PlusPoints will be deposited at the time when they are earned, and will be valid for upgrades on travel through the end of the following program year. For example, PlusPoints earned in June 2025 will be valid for PlusPoints upgrades for travel through January 2027.
PlusPoints will be eligible to exchange for available perks through March 31st of the year prior to PlusPoints expiration. For example, PlusPoints that expire in January 2027 will be eligible to exchange for perks through March 31, 2026.
PlusPoints in certain types of sales accounts may have different expiration policies.
PlusPoints may be redeemed at united.com, through the United mobile app, or by calling the United Customer Contact Center.
PlusPoints are valid on United- and United Express- operated flights.
Stopovers require additional PlusPoints. A stopover for a single, one-way trip within the U.S. or between the U.S. and Canada is defined as longer than 4 hours in the connecting city. A stopover for a single, one-way trip to or from all other destinations is defined as longer than 24 hours in the connecting city.
Waitlisting is permitted for PlusPoints upgrades. Travelers placed on a waitlist are prioritized according to the Premier status of the traveler. If the request includes multiple travelers, then priority is based on the highest Premier status on the reservation. Waitlisted are confirmed automatically based on the Premier status of the traveler first, followed by fare class, Chase United MileagePlus Club cardholders, United Corporate Preferred participants, and lastly by the date and time of request.
On flights equipped with United Premium Plus, waitlist requests for United Polaris business are first processed for customers who have purchased United Premium Plus fares, followed by Economy.
The earning Premier member may use PlusPoints for upgrade requests for themselves or to sponsor others with the exception of “Skip Waitlist” upgrade requests, for which the earning Premier member must be traveling. Although the earning Premier member may use PlusPoints to request upgrades for others, PlusPoints are not transferable to other members.
PlusPoints used for Skip Waitlist upgrades are not refundable or transferable to other flights in the event of itinerary changes. A PlusPoints upgrade on a changed itinerary will require additional PlusPoints.
Skip Waitlist upgrades won’t be available for corporate and agency account travelers who are using upgrades from a Corporate Upgrade Bank account.
The full PlusPoints price of an upgrade request will be deducted upon receipt of the first upgrade in the request. Upgrade requests in which the highest-priced PlusPoints upgrade is not received after completion of the last flight will be refunded the difference in PlusPoints between the amount of PlusPoints for the requested PlusPoints Upgrade and the highest-priced PlusPoints upgrade(s) received.
Because PlusPoints aren’t deducted until you receive your first PlusPoints Upgrade, members have the ability to request more waitlisted upgrades than their available PlusPoints balance can afford. If a customer’s available balance ever falls below the price of an upgrade request that has not received an upgrade, that request will be skipped until the available balance is increased to be equal or higher than the price of the skipped upgrade request price.
PlusPoints upgrades are processed on an individual flight basis as upgrades become available and are subject to waitlist rules and priority for each flight.
PlusPoints upgrade requests that are waitlisted and that have not received an upgrade may have the full PlusPoints price deducted from the available balance at any point in time if a seat becomes available on any of the requested flight segments.
In the case of a partial refund or itinerary cancellation, PlusPoints will be returned to the account from which they were redeemed. PlusPoints upgrade requests that have been upgraded on any flight within the request cannot be cancelled or changed.
Flight segments cannot be added to an upgrade request that has already been placed. A new request must be placed for any additional flight segments being requested for upgrade.
PlusPoints upgrades are subject to capacity controls, which may limit the number of seats available for upgrade.
Award tickets, flights that have already been upgraded, tickets containing Basic Economy fares or Economy (first bag charge/no changes allowed) fares, and certain fares such as industry discounts and tickets purchased on websites where you don’t know the exact flight itinerary or airline until after you’ve paid for the ticket, are not eligible for PlusPoints upgrades.
The number of MileagePlus award miles, Premier qualifying miles and Premier qualifying segments earned is based on the fare class of the ticket originally purchased, not the upgraded class.
The sale, barter or other transfer or attempted sale, barter or other transfer of any mileage, certificates, PlusPoints, awards, benefits or status, other than as authorized and/or sponsored by United, is expressly prohibited. Any mileage, certificates, PlusPoints, awards, benefits or status sold, bartered or otherwise transferred is in violation of the rules and any accounts or members involved in such sales, barters or other transfers may be subject to United’s Remedies. The acquisition, use, transfer or attempted acquisition, use or transfer of mileage, certificates, awards, benefits or status that have been acquired by purchase, barter or other transfer in violation of the rules may result in United’s exercise of United’s Remedies.
Other restrictions may apply. Terms and other information are subject to change without notice.

Eligible PlusPoints can be exchanged for various perks . The available perks and pricing will be determined by the expiration date of your available PlusPoints. Pricing and available perks may vary, as determined by United.
Only PlusPoints that expire on or after January 31, 2027 are eligible to be exchanged. PlusPoints earned prior to the 2025 qualification year are not eligible.
PlusPoints can be exchanged through March 31 of the year prior to PlusPoint expiration.
A maximum of 600 PlusPoints can be exchanged for perks out of PlusPoints that expire January 31, 2027. The annual limit is subject to change, as determined by United.
Once exchanged, PlusPoints cannot be refunded.
Expiration date and associated terms and conditions vary by perk, so please review all terms and conditions carefully.
Other restrictions may apply. Terms and other information are subject to change without notice.
All MileagePlus Program rules apply. To review full program rules, please visit MileagePlus Rules.

TravelBank Cash

TravelBank cash accrued from the exchange of PlusPoints shall expire one year from the date of deposit.
PlusPoints can be exchanged for up to $200 of TravelBank cash.
TravelBank cash is subject to the terms and conditions of the TravelBank program. You can learn more about TravelBank here.

Miles

PlusPoints can be exchanged for up to 15,000 miles.
MileagePlus miles awarded through this offer are subject to expiration according to the MileagePlus program terms and conditions.
Once selected, miles will be deposited into your MileagePlus account within 3 business days.

Gift Status

Premier status can only be gifted to recipients who then have no Premier status or have Premier status below the gifted tier. Premier Silver status can only be gifted to up to three (3) recipients, Premier Gold status to up to two (2) recipients, and Premier Platinum and Premier 1K to only one (1) recipient.
Members must have the MileagePlus number of the recipient to include at the time of selection.
Gifted Premier Status will be effective within 3 business days of selection.
Recipient Premier status is valid through the date at which the PlusPoints exchanged would have expired. For example, PlusPoints with an expiration of 1/31/27 that are exchanged for gifted Premier status would result in gifted Premier status that is valid until 1/31/27, regardless of when the exchange is made.
The recipients of gifted Premier status will not receive a PlusPoints deposit unless they meet the published criteria for Premier Platinum or Premier 1K status on their own.

PQF

PlusPoints can be exchanged for up to 4 Premier qualifying flights (PQF).
PQFs are not transferrable and cannot be gifted.
PQFs cannot be applied to the current program qualification year.
Members who exchange PlusPoints in the 2025 calendar year for 2026 PQF, will see them reflected in their account by February 1, 2026.

PQP

PlusPoints can be exchanged for up to 1,600 Premier qualifying points (PQP).
PQPs are not transferrable and cannot be gifted.
For exchanges made before 12/31/25, members may choose to apply PQP to either the 2025 or 2026 qualification year. For exchanges made between 1/1/26 – 3/31/26 PQP will be automatically applied to the 2026 qualification year.
PQP selected for the current qualification year will be deposited within 3 business days of exchange.

Sign into your account

PlusPoints

PlusPoints benefits

They’re customizable

They’re do-it-yourself

They’re flexible

They’re customizable

They’re do-it-yourself

They’re flexible

Earning PlusPoints

Using PlusPoints

Exchanging PlusPoints

How to exchange PlusPoints

Review your balance

Pick your perks

Complete your exchange

Review your balance

Pick your perks

Complete your exchange

Want to exchange eligible PlusPoints?

Request upgrades

Upgrade pricing

Upgrade pricing

How to request an upgrade

Pick your upgrade type

Pick your view

Pick your flight

Skip Waitlist

Things to remember about Skip Waitlist:

How to use Skip Waitlist

Managing your PlusPoints

Available

Requested

Deducted

PlusPoints FAQs

What’s the difference between miles and PlusPoints?

Why do you charge full price for an upgrade if only part of my itinerary is upgraded?

What if only part of my itinerary is upgraded?

What if I don’t have enough PlusPoints to pay for my upgrade request?

Can I cancel my upgrade request after it’s been confirmed?

Can I add to my upgrade request after it’s been confirmed?

How many PlusPoints upgrades can I request at once?

Do I have to use PlusPoints on every segment of my trip?

Will my PlusPoints be refunded if my flight is delayed or canceled?

Do Million Milers get PlusPoints?

When can I request a PlusPoints upgrade?

Do PlusPoints expire?

Can I sponsor upgrades for family and friends using my PlusPoints?

Can I use Skip Waitlist for a friend if I’m not traveling?

When using Skip Waitlist, why do I have to be on the reservation?

What fares are eligible for Skip Waitlist?

Am I able to make changes to an itinerary that includes a “Skip Waitlist” upgrade request?

Why doesn’t my Skip Waitlist upgrade transfer if I change my travel plans?

What if I already requested a PlusPoints upgrade but want to use Skip Waitlist instead?

Can I receive an additional upgrade once Skip Waitlist has been confirmed?

PlusPoints Exchange FAQs

When can I exchange my PlusPoints for other benefits?

How many PlusPoints can I exchange?

What perks can I receive by exchanging PlusPoints?

Where can I see how many PlusPoints I need to exchange for a certain perk?

How can I exchange my PlusPoints for a perk?

Why is the option to select a perk not available?

Can I receive a refund for the PlusPoints that I have exchanged?

If I exchange PlusPoints to gift Premier status to a friend, how long will their status be valid for?

Can I select what year I would like to apply my Premier qualifying points (PQP) toward?

If I exchange my PlusPoints for TravelBank cash, when will it expire?

If I exchange my PlusPoints for bonus miles, will they expire?

Are there limits on the perks I can receive by exchanging PlusPoints?

If I don’t exchange my PlusPoints before March 31 will I still be able to use them for upgrades?

If I have PlusPoints on hold for an upgrade, can I still exchange them for a perk?

Can I use PlusPoints earned in 2024 to exchange for a perk?

Why is my PlusPoints balance available for exchange less than my overall PlusPoints balance?

PlusPoints terms and conditions

PlusPoints exchange terms and conditions

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