Elite members earn more, depending upon their status level, as follows:

Premier-qualifying points are limited when flying with partner airlinesīase members earn 5 miles per dollar on United marketed flights.

Elite status benefits are generally weaker in comparison to Delta.

Close-in booking penalty: Partner flights booked close to departure cost additional miles, which can be especially irksome for those partners (like Lufthansa) that do not release premium cabin space to partners until close to departure.

No award charts: this makes it hard to plan for future award travel.

Premier Platinum and Premier 1K members earn PlusPoints that offer some flexibility in how a member chooses to distribute confirmed upgrades (for example, a Premier Platinum member could their 40 PlusPoints to upgrade a round trip short-haul flight within the US from economy to business class or choose to upgrade a one-way international flight from economy to business class).

Miles are easy to amass thanks to plenty of credit card options, particularly those which earn Ultimate Rewards points (which can be transferred 1:1 to United MileagePlus).

United Airlines MileagePlus Pros and Cons Pros In terms of elite status and benefits, United’s program offers less choice than Delta SkyMiles but offers what some would consider greater flexibility for confirmed upgrades for top-tier elites. Furthermore, their 2-month award availability calendar makes it easy to see which days have premium cabin availability, which can make award searches a relatively easy process. United does not pass on fuel surcharges, which makes it easy to choose the most convenient partner for an award flight. The key strength of United miles is the simplicity of redeeming miles for partner flights. The United MileagePlus program has changed pretty significantly in recent years, from the introduction of the valuable excursionist perk to the abolition of award charts (which had its pluses and its minuses) and the launch of some refreshed credit cards.

Other partners including hotels, cruises, etc.

Transfer from other points programs to United MileagePlus.

United Airlines MileagePlus Pros and Cons.

Cost of united airline app