How To Use United Airlines Miles

MileagePlus miles are the award currency of United Airlines’ frequent flyer program. United Airlines offers several ways to redeem your MileagePlus miles, including award flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, gift cards and more. You will get the most value out of redeeming your MileagePlus miles on award flights.

In November 2019, United Airlines eliminated its award charts and moved to a dynamic pricing model for award flights. This means the rate to redeem MileagePlus miles for an award flight can vary depending on the demand and availability.

It also means that award availability isn’t limited to award inventory on United and United Express flights. You can use your MileagePlus miles for the last seat available on a United or United Express flight. The redemption rate will most likely be high, but you can rest assured you will have the option to use your miles if a seat is available.

Even with dynamic pricing, United Airlines usually has a baseline for booking award flights. This can be labeled as a “saver award” in the search results. For United flights, those saver awards are also available for booking with other partners’ loyalty programs. However, United doesn’t always show the saver award label in standard award searches.

Having a United Airlines co-branded credit card or United Airlines Premier status can open up special award rates when searching for award flights that aren’t available to regular members. These rates will have either a “saver award” label or “exclusively available to you as a MileagePlus Chase Cardmember.”

United Airlines also publishes a list of award deals on its featured awards page.

Redeeming MileagePlus miles on United Airlines flights is simple. You can book United Airlines award flights on the United Airlines website, app or over the phone. Phone bookings will incur a $25 charge unless you have Premier Platinum or higher elite status.

To begin your award search online for United Airlines or its partners, it’s best to log in to your MileagePlus account. If you are a United Chase cardmember or have elite status, logging into your account could provide additional award flights or better redemption rates.

You will search for award flights the same way you search for paid flights on United Airlines— You just need to check the box “redeem with miles” or toggle the “search award travel” on the United Airlines app.

First, you will need to select if you are searching for a round-trip or one-way flight. If your dates are flexible, select “flexible dates” to generate a calendar with award availability and the current redemption rates.

For a multi-city search, you will need to click on “advanced search” on the United Airlines website or select “multiple” on the United Airlines app. You will not be able to use the “flexible dates” for a multi-city search, so it’s better to start with one-way searches to get a sense of what’s available if you have flexible dates.

You will need to use the multi-city search if you are looking to take advantage of United’s Excursionist Perk which offers a free one-way award within select multi-city itineraries. To take advantage of the Excursionist Perk, you will need three or more one-way award flights, and the free one-way needs to be outside of a MileagePlus region from where your flight originates.

Once you’ve set up your award search, you will need to input your destinations in the “From” and “To” fields and select if you also want to search nearby airports or nonstop-only flights. Searching nearby airports could help expand your redemption options, while nonstop-only flights may limit your redemption options.

Finally, to start the search, you will need to specify the number of passengers you are searching for and if you want to search for an economy, premium economy, business or first-class seat. If you are not searching for flexible dates, all options available for the class of service will be shown. If you are using flexible dates, the class of service you selected will be reflected in the calendar.

Once the search is complete, you can view the award flights available, the number of miles needed to redeem and any applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees.

United Airlines will default the order of award flights available to “best match.” Still, you can sort the available award flights to the lowest price in economy class, lowest price in first class, travel time and a few other filters to organize your search selection.

Then, you will select your preferred itinerary, confirm the award redemption rate, verify the passenger details, add any add-ons offered by United and select your seats.

Lastly, you will need to pay for your trip. If you still need time to decide on your award redemption, United Airlines does offer a FareLock that will lock in the rate for a small fee for select itineraries. However, keep in mind there are no cancellation fees for an award ticket, so if you have the miles, just book it and cancel later.

Mission accomplished. Your award redemption with United Airlines MileagePlus miles is complete, your miles will be deducted and the award itinerary will be on its way to your inbox. If you are booked on a partner airline, United Airlines will also send you the other airline’s confirmation information (sometimes referred to as a PNR) in your itinerary confirmation.

United Airlines is a founding member of the world’s largest airline alliance, Star Alliance, with over two dozen members, plus it has direct partnerships with over a dozen other airlines. With these partnerships, MileagePlus miles can be redeemed virtually anywhere, with the most award destinations available.

You can redeem MileagePlus miles on virtually all partner flights online. Star Alliance airlines include:

• Aegean (A3)
• Air Canada (AC)
• Air China (CA)
• Air India (AI)
• Air New Zealand (NZ)
• ANA (NH)
• Asiana Airlines (OZ)
• Austrian Airlines (OS)
• Avianca (AV)
• Brussels Airlines (SN)
• Copa Airlines (CM)
• Croatia Airlines (OU)
• EGYPTAIR (MS)
• Ethiopian Airlines (ET)
• EVA Air (BR)
• LOT Polish Airlines (LO)
• Lufthansa (LH)
• SAS (SK)
• Shenzhen Airlines (ZH)
• Singapore Airlines (SQ)
• South African Airways (SA)
• Swiss Air Lines (LX)
• TAP Air Portugal (TP)
• Thai Airways (TG)
• Turkish Airlines (TK)

United Airlines also partners with the following airlines outside of the Star Alliance:

• Aer Lingus (EI)
• Air Dolomiti (EN)
• Airlink (4Z)
• Azul (AD)
• Boutique Air (4B)
• Cape Air (9K)
• Discover Airlines (4Y)
• Edelweiss (WK)
• Emirates (EK)
• Eurowings (EW)
• Flydubai (FZ)
• Hawaiian Airlines (HA)
• JSX (XE)**
• Olympic Air (OA)
• Silver Airways (3M)
• Virgin Australia (VA)
• Vistara (UK)

**Only able to earn MileagePlus miles on JSX flights.

You can also redeem United Airlines MileagePlus miles for other travel needs through the travel portal, whether it be hotels, car rentals, cruises or upgrades.

You can redeem MileagePlus miles on partner flights the same way you redeem miles on United Airlines flights. United Airlines uses dynamic pricing for its partner flights, so there is no award chart and the award rates will vary for partner flights.

Virtually all United Airlines partner flights can be booked online and with the vast number of partners United Airlines has, you should be able to generate plenty of award flight redemption options.

The United Airlines award search engine will automatically mix and match partner award fights between other partners and United Airlines flights. When an award flight option is listed as a “saver award” it is often bookable with another partner’s loyalty program and is most often the lowest redemption you will find for that specific route.

There are several other ways to redeem your MileagePlus miles on other non-flying experiences. However, it’s important to remember you will almost always get a better value using your miles to redeem for award flights.

You can use your MileagePlus miles to upgrade your paid flights on United Airlines and Star Alliance partners. The number of miles and any co-pay fees required will vary by the fare class of your purchased flight. United Airlines has a useful upgrade awards tool that will show you the upgrade redemption options depending on the regions, fare class, and partner flights.

If you are looking to use your MileagePlus miles for other travel experiences, booking a car rental with Avis or Budget can be done easily online using the MileagePlus car search tool.

United Airlines also allows you to search for hotels, which is powered by Hotels.com, and redeem your miles for hotel stays all over the world. Certain Chase United cardmembers and United Premier members will get Hotels.com VIP Access to select properties.

Booking cruises with United MileagePlus miles is also possible, and United Premier members can enjoy exclusive onboard extras on select cruise lines. From short weekend Caribbean cruises to family-friendly Disney cruises, use the United cruise search to use your miles to spend time in the water instead of the air.

MileagePlus also allows you to bid and redeem your miles for some unique and exclusive experiences. You can search for these experiences that range from special inaugural flights to some of the biggest sporting events on MileagePlus Exclusives. Chase cardmembers and United Premier members also offer once-in-a-lifetime memories to bid on like an opportunity to fly in a United flight simulator.

If for some reason traveling is not an option, don’t worry, MileagePlus miles can be used for non-travel-related redemptions.

The MileagePlus awards search tool allows you to search for select merchandise, including Apple products that can be purchased with your miles. You can also redeem your miles for e-gift cards at select retailers using United MileagePlus X. Signing into your account before the search could generate special pricing.

Are you looking for a way to make the world a better place using your MileagePlus miles? UnitedPlus Miles on a Mission has several charities and campaigns to use your miles for a good cause.

While redeeming MileagePlus miles for flights will most likely give you the best value, you do have other options for using your miles for other experiences.

United Airlines MileagePlus miles can be redeemed for flights on United Airlines, Star Alliance airlines and over a dozen other partner airlines. You have so many great ways to redeem your MileagePlus miles. Most flights can be booked directly online, with few exceptions and the award search is like booking a paid flight. You can also redeem MileagePlus miles for other travel-related experiences or you can redeem your miles for gift cards.