How to earn Premier status
Unlock an elevated travel experience with United MileagePlus® Premier® status.
Premier levels
For every Premier level, you need to earn a combination of Premier qualifying flights (PQF) and Premier qualifying points (PQP), or a higher level of PQP only. You also need to take at least 4 United or United Express flights. You have a full calendar year (January 1 – December 31) to earn enough PQP and PQF for Premier status. Your status is valid from the day you qualify to the end of the next program year.
Premier status
Premier Silver
12 PQF and 4,000 PQP or 5,000 PQP
Premier Gold
24 PQF and 8,000 PQP or 10,000 PQP
Lifetime Gold status after 1 million miles
Premier Platinum
36 PQF and 12,000 PQP or 15,000 PQP
Lifetime Platinum status after 2 million miles
Premier 1K®
54 PQF and 18,000 PQP or 24,000 PQP
Lifetime 1K status after 3 million miles
If you reach Premier in 2024, your status will not expire until January 31, 2026. After you have flown 1 million miles with us, you’ll get Premier status for life to thank you for your loyalty.
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You're missing out on the chance to earn Premier status.
NOT A MILEAGEPLUS MEMBER?
You're missing out on the chance to earn Premier status.
Earn Premier qualifying points
You can earn PQP when you fly on United®, United Express® or one of our Star Alliance™ partners. You can also earn PQP when you book select award flights or use one of our co-branded credit cards.
Flights
For all flights, PQP will be given to the traveler, not the person who buys the ticket. You will only earn PQP on the base fare and any carrier-imposed surcharges. You must take at least 4 United or United Express flights to earn Premier status.
Earn PQP on these types of flights
Earn one PQP for every U.S. dollar. You can earn on base airfare and carrier-imposed surcharges. You can also earn when you book connecting bus routes. Taxes and other fees do not earn PQP.
Bulk tickets on flights operated by United will earn one PQP for every five specialty award miles. Bulk tickets on flights operated by preferred or MileagePlus partners will earn miles at the standard partner rates.
Upgrades
Upgrades
Earn 1 PQP for every dollar spent on Economy Plus® and preferred seating on United flights, excluding taxes and fees. We will award the points after the trip is complete. PQP will go to the member who travels, not the person who purchases the seat.
Earn 1 PQP for every dollar spent on Economy Plus subscriptions, excluding taxes and fees. We will award the points after the subscription is activated. PQP will go to the member who receives the subscription, not the person who buys it.
Awards
Earn 1 PQP for every 100 MileagePlus miles redeemed on United and United Express flights and seat upgrades. PQP will go to the member who travels, not the member who redeemed miles. Members can use PQP from award flights to earn Premier status or additional PlusPoints.
Award itineraries with United and non-United operated flights will only earn PQP on the United flights.
MileagePlus Upgrade Awards (MUA) earn 1 PQP for every 100 miles redeemed. MUA will also earn PQP on the cash portion of the co-pay fee.
Awards
Earn 1 PQP for every 100 MileagePlus miles redeemed on United and United Express flights and seat upgrades. PQP will go to the member who travels, not the member who redeemed miles. Members can use PQP from award flights to earn Premier status or additional PlusPoints.
Award itineraries with United and non-United operated flights will only earn PQP on the United flights.
MileagePlus Upgrade Awards (MUA) earn 1 PQP for every 100 miles redeemed. MUA will also earn PQP on the cash portion of the co-pay fee.
2024 PQP deposit
This year, we gave Premier members a little help with reaching their status goals. Everyone who earned Premier status as of February 1, 2024, except for Trial status holders, received extra PQP. Each Premier level got a different number of points:
Premier Silver
250 PQP
Premier Silver
250 PQP
Premier Gold
500 PQP
Premier Gold
500 PQP
Premier Platinum
750 PQP
Premier Platinum
750 PQP
Premier 1K
1,250 PQP
Premier 1K
1,250 PQP
United MileagePlus cardmembers
MileagePlus members who are also primary United Chase Cardmembers will earn PQP on every purchase made with their eligible United credit card. Each card has a different PQP limit for the calendar year. PQP earned from an eligible United Card can be applied toward Premier status tiers, up to and including Premier 1K. Card PQP can also be used to meet the PQP-only requirement for Premier 1K status. Members must fly at least four segments on United- or United Express-operated flights to qualify for Premier status.
Primary cardmembers will earn 25 PQP for every $500 spent on these cards
Personal cards
Personal cards
First Hawaiian Bank United® primary cardholders* can earn 25 PQP for every $500 spent. Earn up to 1,000 PQP every calendar year
Business cards
Business cards
First Hawaiian Bank United® World Elite Business primary cardholders* can earn 25 PQP for every $500 spent. Earn up to 1,000 PQP every calendar year.
The following cards are not available to new applicants. Current cardholders can still earn PQP for card spend:
The following cards are not available to new applicants. Current cardholders can still earn PQP for card spend:
United MileagePlus® Awards:
Earn up to 1,000 PQP
United MileagePlus® Business:
Earn up to 1,000 PQP
UnitedSM Explorer Business:
Earn up to 1,000 PQP
United MileagePlus® Select:
Earn up to 3,000 PQP
UnitedSM Presidential PlusSM:
Earn up to 10,000 PQP
UnitedSM Presidential PlusSM Business:
Earn up to 10,000 PQP
Premier Accelerator
You can also buy PQP to get to Premier status faster. Premier Accelerator lets you buy extra PQP anytime you book a United flight.
Earn Premier qualifying flights
You will earn 1 PQF for every flight on United, United Express, and our partner airlines. You cannot earn PQF on Basic Economy tickets. All flights to Venezuela, and flights to Cuba that are not operated by United are not eligible for PQF.
MileagePlus members who are also the primary account holder of a First Hawaiian Bank United Credit Card or United World Elite Business Credit Card can earn PQP based on their annual credit card spend.
- Eligible cardmembers must take a minimum of 4 flights on United or United Express to qualify for Premier status.
- PQP earned from card spend can be applied toward the combined PQP and PQF or PQP-only requirements for 1K status.
*First Hawaiian Bank is not responsible for the provision of, or failure to provide, the MileagePlus program year stated benefits and services. PQP earned on eligible credit card spend will be awarded within 6 weeks of meeting the spend qualifications.
Preferred partners MileagePlus partners - Air Canada
- Air China
- Air Dolomiti
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways (ANA)
- Austrian Airlines
- Avianca Air
- Azul Brazillian Airlines
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Discover Airlines
- Edelweiss
- Eurowings
- Lufthansa
- Lufthansa City Airlines
- SWISS International Airlines
- Virgin Australia
- Aegean Airlines
- Air India
- Asiana Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Air
- Juneyao Air
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Olympic Air
- SAS
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airlines
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways International
- Turkish Airlines
Members must fly at least four paid flight segments operated by United or United Express® during a calendar year to qualify for any Premier status.
MileagePlus membership and benefits, including the United MileagePlus Program and/or Premier Program, are offered at the discretion of United Airlines and its affiliates, and United has the right to terminate the Program and/or the Premier Program or to change the Program Rules, regulations, benefits, conditions of participation or mileage levels, in whole or in part, at any time, with or without notice, even though changes may affect the value of the mileage or certificates already accumulated.
Bonus award miles, award miles and any other miles earned through non-flight activity do not count toward or qualify for Premier status unless expressly stated otherwise. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the member. All calculations made in connection with the United MileagePlus Program and/or the Premier Program, including without limitation the accumulation of mileage and the satisfaction of the qualification requirements of the Premier Program, and/or the revisions of calculations (including any estimates), will be made by United Airlines and MileagePlus in their discretion and such calculations will be considered final. United and MileagePlus are registered service marks.
The following exclusions on earning award miles and Premier qualifying credits, including PQP, apply:
- Codeshare and partner flights: If you purchase a ticket for a flight that is marketed by United but operated by another airline (known as a codeshare flight), the operating airline determines how many miles you earn. The fare class that appears on your ticket may differ from the fare class that the operating airline uses to determine flight miles earned. If a partner flight is not eligible to earn award miles, then it is also not eligible to earn Premier qualifying flights or Premier qualifying points.
- MileagePlus Premier qualifying credits may not be earned on certain United and MileagePlus partner airline tickets. These include, but are not limited to:
- United tickets purchased and used in violation of United’s Contract of Carriage, fare tariffs and the MileagePlus Program
- All free travel
- Unpublished charter flights
- Industry free or industry reduced-rate tickets
- Promotional certificates
- Unpublished or opaque fares, including but not limited to those booked through priceline.com and Hotwire
- Tickets, products or services purchased and used in violation of the terms and conditions applicable to United’s MileagePlus partners
- All Basic Economy tickets earn PQP, but will not earn PQF
- Certain specialty tickets beyond those outlined above (including but not limited to unpublished, consolidator, group, tour and opaque tickets) are not eligible for earning toward Premier qualifying points (PQP).
United and MileagePlus reserve the right to modify the United MileagePlus Program and/or the Premier Program, including the PQP requirement, at any time, with or without prior notice. All MileagePlus program rules apply and are expressly incorporated herein.
All Chase documents, services, web pages, online tools, mobile applications, and/or correspondence are available only in English. Chase is not responsible for the provision of, or failure to provide, the 2024 MileagePlus program year stated benefits and services. PQP earned on eligible credit card spend will be awarded within 6 weeks of meeting the spend qualifications.