Earning miles on United flights

MileagePlus miles

Every time you purchase an eligible fare and travel on flights operated by United or United Express®, you earn miles that are deposited into your MileagePlus account. How you earn miles depends on the type of ticket purchased, ticketing airline and operating airline.

Earning based on the fare

MileagePlus members will earn MileagePlus miles based on the fare1 and MileagePlus status for the following flights, with some exclusions as listed at the bottom of this page.

  • Flights operated by United and United Express, and
  • Flights operated by a Star Alliance™ or MileagePlus partner airline for tickets issued by United (ticket number starting with "016")

Earning based on the flight distance and purchased fare class

Members will earn miles based on the flight distance2 and the purchased fare class for the following tickets and flights, with some exclusions as listed at the bottom of this page.

How you earn miles depends on the ticket and airline
 Flights operated by
 Tickets issued by Miles based on:
United or United Express Any airline Fare1
Star Alliance partner airline or other MileagePlus partner airline
United
(ticket number starting with "016")
 Fare1
Star Alliance partner airline or other MileagePlus partner airline Airlines other than United Flight distance2 and purchased fare class

How you earn miles depends on the ticket and airline

  • Tickets issued by

    Any airline

  • Miles based on:

    Fare1

  • Tickets issued by

    United
    (ticket number starting with "016")

  • Miles based on:

    Fare1

  • Tickets issued by

    Airlines other than United

  • Miles based on:

    Flight distance2 and purchased fare class

Bonus miles based on Premier status

For eligible flights that earn miles based on the fare1, all members will receive five base miles per dollar, and Premier members will earn Premier bonus miles based on their Premier status on the date of travel as shown below:

Earning Premier bonus miles
MileagePlus status Base miles earned
(based on fare1)		 Premier bonus miles
(based on fare1)		 Total miles earned3
(based on fare1)
Member 5 x fare -Not Applicable 5 x fare
Premier Silver 5 x fare 2 x fare 7 x fare
Premier Gold 5 x fare 3 x fare 8 x fare
Premier Platinum 5 x fare 4 x fare 9 x fare
Premier 1K® 5 x fare 6 x fare 11 x fare

Earning Premier bonus miles

  • Base miles earned
    (based on fare1)

    5 x fare

  • Premier bonus miles
    (based on fare1)

    -Not Applicable

  • Total miles earned3
    (based on fare1)

    5 x fare

  • Base miles earned
    (based on fare1)

    5 x fare

  • Premier bonus miles
    (based on fare1)

    2 x fare

  • Total miles earned3
    (based on fare1)

    7 x fare

  • Base miles earned
    (based on fare1)

    5 x fare

  • Premier bonus miles
    (based on fare1)

    3 x fare

  • Total miles earned3
    (based on fare1)

    8 x fare

  • Base miles earned
    (based on fare1)

    5 x fare

  • Premier bonus miles
    (based on fare1)

    4 x fare

  • Total miles earned3
    (based on fare1)

    9 x fare

  • Base miles earned
    (based on fare1)

    5 x fare

  • Premier bonus miles
    (based on fare1)

    6 x fare

  • Total miles earned3
    (based on fare1)

    11 x fare

Specialty tickets

Certain specialty tickets (including but not limited to unpublished, consolidator/bulk, group, tour and opaque tickets where the fare you paid is not provided to United) will earn miles based on the flight distance2 and the purchased fare class using the chart below:

For flights departing before January 1, 2020

MileagePlus earnings on specialty tickets For flights departing before January 1, 2020
Eligible fare classes on specialty tickets for flights operated by United or United Express Base miles4 earned
(based on flight distance2)		 Fare class bonus
(calculated from base miles4)
J, C, D, Z, P 100% 50%
Y, B, M, O, A, R 100% 0%
E, U, H, Q, V, W 75% 0%
S, T, L, K, G 50% 0%

MileagePlus earnings on specialty tickets For flights departing before January 1, 2020

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    100%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    50%

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    100%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    0%

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    75%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    0%

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    50%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    0%

For flights departing on or after January 1, 2020

MileagePlus earnings on specialty tickets For flights departing on or after January 1, 2020
Eligible fare classes on specialty tickets for flights operated by United or United Express Base miles4 earned
(based on flight distance2)		 Fare class bonus
(calculated from base miles4)
J, C, D, Z, P 100% 50%
Y, B, M, O, A, R 100% 0%
E, U, H, Q, V, W 75% 0%
S, T 50% 0%
L, K, G 25% 0%

MileagePlus earnings on specialty tickets For flights departing on or after January 1, 2020

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    100%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    50%

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    100%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    0%

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    75%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    0%

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    50%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    0%

  • Base miles4 earned
    (based on flight distance2)

    25%

  • Fare class bonus
    (calculated from base miles4)

    0%

Premier members are eligible to earn Premier bonus miles on specialty tickets, in addition to the miles shown in the table above, based upon the member's Premier status on the date of travel and the base miles4 earned.

Members are also eligible to earn Premier qualifying points (PQP) on bulk tickets. For flights operated by United, please visit the Premier qualification page. For flights operated by a Star Alliance partner, your Premier qualifying points will be determined by a formula that varies depending on whether you’re flying a MileagePlus preferred partner or a MileagePlus partner. Visit the partner page for the airline you’re flying to learn more.

Money + Miles

Members can earn redeemable miles on the cash portion of the base fare paid, excluding any taxes and fees. Redeemable miles are only earned on flown tickets. Earning redeemable miles on other airline loyalty programs is not available. Accrual details:

  • Premier qualifying points (PQP) are based on the cash portion of the base fare paid.
  • Premier qualifying flights (PQF) are based on the segments flown; 1 per segment flown.
  • Minimum qualifying segments are based on the segments flown; 1 per segment flown.
  • Lifetime miles apply to the entire flown itinerary.

Additional information

  • To earn miles for your flight, provide your MileagePlus number when you make your reservation and make sure that it appears on your boarding pass at check-in. The miles you earn for flights operated by United and United Express should credit to your account 48 hours after your travel is completed.
  • Save your boarding pass until your flight miles have been credited to your account. Learn more about Requesting Credit to Your MileagePlus Account for United and partner airlines.
  • Members can earn up to 75,000 miles per ticket, excluding purchases or bonuses from applicable promotions.
  • Please see the exclusions below for additional details.

View frequently asked questions about earning miles

Premier qualifying credits

Until January 1, 2020, MileagePlus members flying on United and United Express will earn Premier qualifying credits toward Premier status based on the flight distance2 and purchased fare class, with bonuses for paid United First®, United Polaris℠ business class, United Business® or full-fare United Economy® tickets5. Premier members are also eligible to earn a minimum of 500 Premier qualifying miles on United and United Express flights. Effective January 1, 2020, land-based transportation services carrying a United flight number are not eligible for this bonus.

For travel on or after January 1, 2020, Premier qualifying credits will be awarded based on spend and flights taken. There will be no fare class multipliers in the new program.

For flights departing before January 1, 2020

premier qualifying credits table for United and United Express flights departing on or after January 1, 2020
Eligible purchased fare classes Premier qualifying miles (PQM) Premier qualifying segments (PQS)
J 300% 1.5
C, D, Z 200% 1.5
P, O, A, R, Y, B 150% 1.5
M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K, G 100% 1
Basic Economy5 50% 0.5

premier qualifying credits table for United and United Express flights departing on or after January 1, 2020

  • Premier qualifying miles (PQM)

    300%

  • Premier qualifying segments (PQS)

    1.5

  • Premier qualifying miles (PQM)

    200%

  • Premier qualifying segments (PQS)

    1.5

  • Premier qualifying miles (PQM)

    150%

  • Premier qualifying segments (PQS)

    1.5

  • Premier qualifying miles (PQM)

    100%

  • Premier qualifying segments (PQS)

    1

  • Premier qualifying miles (PQM)

    50%

  • Premier qualifying segments (PQS)

    0.5

For flights departing on or after January 1, 2020

There will be no fare class multipliers for qualification in 2020. Please visit the Premier Qualification page for more information on how to qualify for status beyond January 1, 2020.

United Premium Plus℠: United Premium Plus fare classes earn 150% PQM and 1.5 PQS. Learn more about United Premium Plus.

Members earn Premier qualifying dollars (PQD) for the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges on eligible flights operated by United and United Express. Certain specialty tickets, including but not limited to unpublished, consolidator/bulk, group, tour and opaque fares, do not earn PQD. Members may earn PQD for Economy Plus® purchases.

The price displayed when purchasing a ticket on united.com includes up to a 7.5% U.S. Federal Transportation Tax on the base amount of the fare on itineraries wholly within the United States. This tax also applies to certain itineraries between the United States and Canada or Mexico. You will not earn PQD or miles for the full amount of the displayed price for these itineraries because the U.S. Federal Transportation tax is not eligible to earn PQD or miles.

Visit the Premier Status Qualification page for more information on the requirements for Premier status.

Exclusions on earning miles and Premier qualifying credits

MileagePlus miles and 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 Rules
  • All free travel and all MileagePlus
  • 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

    • Certain premium cabin flight segments may earn different miles and Premier qualifying credits than those defined for your ticketed fare class in the chart above (your fare class for each flight segment is displayed during booking and when viewing a ticketed itinerary on united.com). In these cases, earning is based on the first letter of the fare basis code, which may correspond to an economy cabin fare class including Y, B, M, H, Q, U, V, W, S, T, L, K, G, or N. You can determine your fare basis code when booking a reservation on united.com by selecting the Fare Rules and Restrictions link on the itinerary review page prior to purchase.
    • 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 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 miles, then it is also not eligible to earn Premier qualifying credit. Please see the Airline Partners and Global Alliances page for partner-specific information and exclusions.

United Airlines reserves the right to exclude certain flights, fares, tickets, routes, products and/or programs from earning MileagePlus miles and/or Premier qualifying credits.

Footnotes

  • The fare is the base fare of the ticket plus carrier-imposed surcharges, excluding any government-imposed taxes and surcharges. For tickets purchased in a currency other than U.S. dollars, we will convert the purchase to U.S. dollars using an industry standard exchange rate and then calculate the number of miles you will earn. Please note that the price displayed when purchasing a ticket on united.com includes up to a 7.5% U.S. Federal Transportation Tax on the base amount of the fare on itineraries wholly within the United States. This tax also applies to certain itineraries between the United States and Canada or Mexico. You will not earn PQD or miles for the full amount of the displayed price for these itineraries because the U.S. Federal Transportation tax is not eligible to earn PQD or miles.
  • Flight distance is defined as the miles scheduled for a specific flight, as determined solely by United.
  • Members can earn up to a maximum of 75,000 miles per ticket, excluding purchases or bonuses from applicable promotions.
  • Base miles are defined as miles that MileagePlus members earn for travel on flights operated by United, United Express, Star Alliance member airlines or MileagePlus partner airlines, excluding any fare class bonus miles, Premier bonus miles or any other miles earned from promotions or offers.
  • Effective for travel on or after December 11, 2018: All Basic Economy tickets will earn 50% Premier qualifying miles and 0.5 Premier qualifying segments. Basic Economy tickets may be booked in various fare classes.

MileagePlus rules

The accrual of miles and Premier® qualifying credits, redemption of and provision of benefits through the United MileagePlus program, including the Premier Program, are subject to change and are subject to the rules of the MileagePlus program.

See the complete rules and details of the MileagePlus program