How to qualify for MileagePlus Premier status

More information about earning PQP

Members earn PQP on the following flights and purchases:

• Flights operated by United^® and United Express^®
• Flights operated by our Star Alliance™ and connecting partners
• Flights operated by Air Dolomiti, Azul, Edelweiss, Eurowings, Discover Airlines, Virgin Australia and Olympic Air
• Economy Plus^® seat purchases or Economy Plus subscriptions
• Preferred seat purchases
• Paid upgrades on flights operated by United^® and United Express^®
• MileagePlus Upgrade Awards
• Award flights operated by United^® and United Express^®
• Eligible co-branded credit cards

PQF and PQP are credited to the account of the member who travels, not the member who purchases the ticket. This includes purchases such as MileagePlus Upgrade Awards and Economy Plus subscriptions gifted to other members. Learn more about earning PQP.

• For each U.S. dollar you spend on United flights or flight tickets issued by United (base fare + carrier-imposed surcharges), you’ll earn one PQP
• Government-imposed taxes, fees and charges do not count toward PQP
• As of March 11, 2021, all bus service included in the purchase of air tickets will accrue PQP and redeemable miles. Bus transportation will not accrue Premier qualifying flights, minimum segments or lifetime miles toward Million Miler status.

Earning PQP on Award flights

An exciting change we are making in 2023 is that when you use MileagePlus miles for award flights operated by United or United Express, you are now eligible to earn Premier qualifying credits. Eligible award flights will help you achieve status with 1 PQP earned per 100 miles redeemed, as well as 1 PQF earned per United or United Express flight. PQP and PQF from qualifying award flights will count toward earning all status levels, whether through both PQF and PQP or PQP only thresholds. PQP from award flights will also count towards earning incremental PlusPoints for eligible members.

• PQP and PQF for award travel may only be earned on flight segments operated by United or United Express
• Only award tickets issued as a result of redeeming MileagePlus miles from a MileagePlus account are eligible to earn PQP and PQF
• Award tickets may be redeemed out of any MileagePlus account, but only the member who completes travel on the award ticket will earn the corresponding PQP and PQF
• Award tickets that include both United and non-United operated flights, will receive a prorated amount of PQP based on the United flights
• Only award travel flown on or after January 1, 2023, is eligible to earn PQP and PQF.
• Starting January 1, 2023, PQP may be earned on the miles portion of MileagePlus Upgrade Awards (MUA) at a rate of 1 PQP for every 100 miles redeemed. This is in addition to the PQP earned based on the cash portion of the MUA co-pay fee.

Learn more.

Earning PQP on seat purchases

MileagePlus members can earn PQP on Economy Plus or preferred seating one-time purchases upon completion of travel. PQP from one-time purchases will be credited to the member who travels in the purchased seat.

MileagePlus members with an Economy Plus subscription can earn PQP for the cost of the subscription. If the subscription is gifted to someone else, the recipient is given PQP credit for the cost of the subscription once the subscription is activated.

Members will earn PQP at a rate of 1 PQP for each U.S. dollar spent (excluding taxes and fees) or 1 PQP for every 100 MileagePlus miles redeemed for the Economy Plus or preferred seat purchase.

Learn more.

PQP deposit

We’re giving Premier members a head start on their status goals to make retaining or upgrading status easier. In early 2023, we will automatically deposit PQP into MileagePlus accounts based on the 2023 Premier status you reached at the end of 2022. All members with Premier status as of February 1, 2023, except for those that hold Trial status, will receive PQP deposits applied to their 2023 balances, according to their status level. Eligible members will enjoy this head start toward status in 2024 as well.

Earning PQF and PQP when you fly with United and our partners

Earning Premier qualifying credit on United and partner airlines

Flights operated by	Tickets issued by	PQP	PQF
United, United Express®	Any airline	Available	Available
Star Alliance™ partner airlines and connecting partners	Any airline	Available	Available
Air Dolomiti, Azul Brazilian Airlines, Edelweiss, Eurowings, and Olympic Air	Any airline	Available	Available
Other MileagePlus partner airlines	Any airline	Not available	Not available

Earning PQP on flights ticketed and operated by a Star Alliance Partner

Members can also earn Premier qualifying points on tickets issued and operated by Star Alliance partners and select MileagePlus partner airlines. Your PQP will be equal to award miles earned divided by 5 if you’re flying on a preferred partner; for other MileagePlus partner airlines, it will be award miles earned divided by 6.

Please note award miles is your base award miles earning plus your fare class bonus award miles earning, if eligible. Premier bonus miles earned are not included within this calculation and are ineligible for Premier qualifying points accrual.

For Star Alliance airlines, connecting partners, or Air Dolomiti, Azul, Edelweiss, Eurowings, Eurowings Discover, Virgin Australia, and Olympic Air:

• Preferred partner PQP: Award miles divided by 5
• MileagePlus partner PQP: Award miles divided by 6

Is my flight on a preferred partner or a MileagePlus partner? For more information on PQP accrual for a specific airline, visit our airline partner pages.

For example, if you earned 360 award miles for your flight, you’ll receive 72 PQP if you flew with a preferred partner, and 60 PQP if you flew with a MileagePlus partner.

The maximum Premier qualifying points that can be earned per flight on tickets issued and operated by Star Alliance partners and select MileagePlus partner airlines are as follows:

Please see more on how to earn Premier qualifying credit with our partners.

Earning PQP on bulk tickets

Members will earn PQP on bulk tickets for flights operated by United according to the specialty ticket award mile earn and fare class bonuses. Premier qualifying points will be equal to specialty ticket award miles earned divided by 5. When calculating PQP, specialty ticket award miles should not include any Premier bonus miles earned from specialty tickets.

For example, if you flew one way from New York/Newark (EWR) to London Heathrow (LHR) on a bulk ticket in P fare class:

Base miles: 3,465

Base miles earn: 100%

Fare class bonus: 50%

Award mile earn: 5,198

PQP earn: 1,040 (Award miles earned divided by 5)

You’d earn 5,198 award miles (3,465 miles x (100% base mile earn + 50% fare class bonus)) and 1,040 PQP (5,198 award miles divided by 5). Learn more about specialty tickets

For bulk tickets on flights operated by a Star Alliance partner:

Bulk tickets operated by Star Alliance partners will follow the same partner PQP formula that is used for flights not operated or ticketed by United. Your PQP earn can vary depending on whether you’re flying a MileagePlus preferred partner or a MileagePlus partner. For more information on earning PQP with a certain airline, visit one of our partner pages.

Exclusions to earning award miles, PQF and PQP

Award 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 or the MileagePlus Program Rules.
• All free travel
• 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

Additional conditions

If you make a ticket purchase through United for flight 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 award miles, then it is also not eligible to earn Premier qualifying flights or points.

For program year 2023, MileagePlus members who are also the primary account holder of a First Hawaiian Bank United® Card are eligible to earn PQP based on their annual credit card spend.

• Earn up to 1,000 PQP: First Hawaiian United Credit Card earns 500 PQP for every $12,000 in card spend, up to 1,000 PQP in a calendar year.
• Maximum of 5,000 PQP: The maximum number of PQP that can be earned on eligible card spend in a calendar year is 5,000 PQP per MileagePlus account.
• All eligible Cardmembers must take a minimum of 4 flights on United or United Express to be eligible for Premier status.
• All PQP earned on eligible card spend can be applied up to Platinum. For program year 2023, the card-earned PQP can be applied to 1K status if the Cardmember meets the PQF requirement for 1K.

First Hawaiian Bank is not responsible for the provision of, or failure to provide, the 2023 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.

Flex PQP with the United℠ Presidential Plus℠ Card

United Presidential Plus Cardmembers can use their Card to accelerate their progress toward Premier status. Cardmembers can convert their Flexible Premier qualifying points (Flex PQP) into Premier qualifying points that count toward Premier status. Flex PQP can only be used toward qualification for levels through Premier Platinum. Flex PQP cannot be combined with Premier qualifying flights (PQF) to earn additional Premier upgrades or to obtain Premier 1K status. You must fly 54 PQF and earn 18,000 PQP or earn 24,000 PQP, exclusive of Flex PQP in order to qualify for Premier 1K status. The United Presidential Plus Card is no longer available to new applicants.

United Airlines reserves the right to exclude certain flights, fares, tickets, routes, products and/or programs from earning MileagePlus award miles and/or Premier qualifying credits. Please see United MileagePlus Chase terms and conditions for more information.