The United MileagePlus program has been around since 1981. It has an impressive number of partners ranging from airlines to hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, retail, and financial services.
United MileagePlus miles can be redeemed not only for United flights but also for flights on United’s partners. Miles can also be redeemed for non-airline partners, including everything from hotel stays to cruises, although many non-airline partners may not offer the best value for your miles.
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United Airlines partner airlines
United partners with fellow members of the Star Alliance, of which it is a founding member. United also has a number of partners who are not Star members, allowing members to book flights in markets United doesn’t serve.
United’s Star Alliance partners
- Aegean Airlines
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways (ANA)
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian
- Avianca
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- Egyptair
- Ethiopian Airlines
- EVA Airways
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- SAS Scandinavian Airlines
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- Swiss International Air Lines
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
Other United airline partners
- Aer Lingus
- Air Dolomiti
- Airlink
- Azul
- Boutique Air
- Cape Air
- Discover Airlines
- Edelweiss
- Emirates*
- Eurowings
- Flydubai*
- Hawaiian Airlines
- JSX
- Juneyao Air
- Lufthansa City Airlines
- Olympic Air
- Silver Airways
- Virgin Australia
- Vistara
*Miles may only be redeemed for Emirates and Flydubai flights from Dubai when redeemed in conjunction with a United flight from the US to Dubai.
Other United Airlines travel partners
United is closely related to the Marriotts Bonvoy program, and MileagePlus Premier members receive reciprocal benefits with Bonvoy once they reach certain tiers. On the car rental side, United has exclusive offers with Avis, including reciprocal elite status with their program. In addition, members can earn miles with several hotel chains and car rental companies.
On the redemption side, United MileagePlus members can redeem miles for car rentals, hotel stays, and cruises in addition to flights. Retail products are also on the table, alongside newspaper and magazine subscriptions, but the redemption rates for these aren’t the greatest value.
How many MileagePlus points you need for a flight
On United
United uses dynamic pricing, so there is no set price or formal award chart for flight redemptions. United flights start at around 6,000 miles each way for short-haul economy flights in North America. Roundtrips to Hawaii start around 35,000 miles, and roundtrips to Europe start around 55,000 miles. To Asia, we found roundtrips starting at 121,000 miles and roundtrips to Africa from 145,000 miles roundtrip.
For premium cabins, you can find United First on domestic short-haul flights from around 30,000 miles each way. You can even get across the country in some limited circumstances for that amount if you find some wacky routings (like San Francisco to Newark via Indianapolis or New Orleans). Across the Atlantic, United’s Polaris business class can be found for as little as 135,000 each way. We found Transpacific travel to Japan from 170,000 miles each way. To Africa, Polaris flights seemed to start around 325,000 miles each way.
Mileage Plus elite members and United credit cardholders may be eligible for additional award inventory and discounts on award redemptions.
Read more about how much United miles are worth
On partner airlines
United also uses dynamic pricing for many partner airlines, but some partner airlines have an all-or-nothing redemption: if the inventory is available, there’s just one redemption rate, but award inventory may be tight.
Partner awards can sometimes be the same amount as a United award, but in some markets, they can be lower. For example, we found United awards from San Francisco to Tokyo Haneda in Economy for 70,000 miles for a nonstop, but we also found awards on EVA Air via Taipei from 61,000 miles. We found awards on Ethiopian Airlines to several African cities in business class from 88,000 miles each way. A sweet spot for partner redemptions is First Class on Lufthansa, which can sometimes be cheaper than Polaris on United. It’s available on a limited number of routes, and availability typically only pops up within two weeks of travel, but when it’s there, it’s just 140,000 miles each way for an extraordinary flight experience.
Partner airlines are included in United’s “Excursionist Perk,” which allows passengers to take a flight between two cities in the same region without additional miles if their first and third flights aren’t within the same region. For example, a passenger flying from Newark to London, then onward to Paris, then returning from Paris won’t pay an additional redemption for the flight from London to Paris.
How to earn MileagePlus miles
United MileagePlus miles can be earned by flying with United, Star Alliance partners, or other United partners. Members can also earn points with hotels, car rentals, financial partners like banks and energy companies, or by carrying a Mileage Plus credit card.
On United-operated flights or partner flights with a United-issued (016) ticket, members earn miles based on the price of the ticket. The multiplier is determined by the member’s Mileage Plus status.
Members can also transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, and Bilt Rewards to United MileagePlus.
Benefits of MileagePlus status
The Mileage Plus program has four Premier elite status tiers: Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum, and Premier 1K. Premier members receive free checked bags, complimentary upgrades on domestic flights, free economy plus seating, priority boarding, and other perks.
Upgrades on domestic flights are cleared in order of premier status, with Premier 1K members getting upgrades cleared up to 96 hours before departure, while Premier Silver members get upgrades cleared on the day of departure. On international flights and certain long-haul domestic flights (e.g., Hawaii to points east of California), complimentary upgrades don’t apply, but Premier Platinum and Premier 1K members are given a bank of Plus Points to use for upgrade requests on these flights.
Premier Silver translates to Star Alliance Star Silver status, which confers limited benefits such as priority waitlist and priority standby. Premier Gold and higher translates to Star Alliance carriers as Star Gold status, which includes business class check-in and boarding and lounge access on most international flights.
The best United Airlines partners to redeem MileagePlus points on
With so many partners to redeem MileagePlus miles on, it can be dizzying to find the best values for redemptions. There are a few partners, however, that are particularly good options for low-point redemptions.
Airline
All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Some of the cheapest redemptions in the Mileage Plus universe are on ANA for domestic flights in Japan. Economy seats can be booked on some domestic short-haul flights within Japan for just 5,000 miles each way.
Ethiopian Airlines
Heading to Africa? Ethiopian has nonstop flights from the United States to its hub at Addis Ababa. Often, economy redemptions to African destinations will be similar between United and its Star Alliance partners, but Ethiopian often has good business class availability.
For example, business class award flights on United and some Star Alliance partners can be 200,000 miles each way, but on Ethiopian, they’re often available for 88,000 miles each way–a significant savings.
Aer Lingus
Like Ethiopian, Aer Lingus will sometimes have better, cheaper award availability in premium cabins. This includes 88,000 miles each way for many European destinations via Dublin. It may be helpful to sort search results by the lowest redemption amounts rather than scrolling through a long page of flight options. Aer Lingus flights from Ireland to the U.S. are also pre-cleared, meaning passengers undergo U.S. Customs formalities before boarding the aircraft, speeding any connection on arrival at a U.S. gateway.
Lufthansa
Lufthansa first class is offered on select flights from Frankfurt and Munich. From the U.S. to Europe, one-way flights can be booked from 110,000 each way. There’s a catch, though: award availability is limited and generally only opens up two weeks before departure, according to several mileage blogs (neither Lufthansa nor United publicize this restriction). When traveling via Frankfurt, passengers get access to the airline’s dedicated First Class terminal.
How to redeem MileagePlus points on partner airlines
United has a pretty seamless system for MileagePlus redemptions. Virtually all MileagePlus awards on partner carriers can be booked directly on United’s website. It’s rare to need to speak to an agent solely to book award travel unless the website is unable to complete the processing of a transaction. Simply search for flight availability on united.com, sign in to your MileagePlus account, and complete your booking.
Summary
MileagePlus is one of the largest programs in the world, with a significant number of airline, hotel, car rental, and financial partners for both earning and redeeming miles. Members benefit not only from United’s large partner network but also from the ease of booking the vast majority of their redemptions online. There are also some partner redemptions that offer better value than booking United flights.
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