How To Maximize Miles During Booking
United offers award redemptions based on a dynamic pricing system as opposed to a fixed regional award chart. This means that United doesn’t have an award chart with set prices. Miles required to book a flight are based on variables like supply and demand, competitor pricing and fuel costs.
Finding great redemptions with a dynamic system can be a little more time consuming, but there is still value buried within—you just need to know a few tips and tricks to locate better redemptions.
One of the easiest ways to save on mileage costs when booking through United is to have a Chase co-branded United credit card. Having a Chase United card gives you access to United’s XN fare bucket and discounts on select awards.
On United Flights
With all this in mind, it’s time to book a flight. To book an award flight with United MileagePlus miles, head over to United.com and log in to your MileagePlus account. Fill in the search criteria and make sure to select the box “Book with miles.”
Select the option to find flights and United will take you to the results. One of the nice things about the United search engine is the ability to search by a 30-day calendar view.
On Flights With Partners
Redeeming MileagePlus miles to fly on partners is the exact same process as booking flights on United’s own planes. The search will let you know if a partner flight is available. This flight for just 6,000 MileagePlus miles is operated by Star Alliance partner Croatia Airlines.
Fees
United does not charge carrier-imposed fees on its own flights and does not transfer carrier-imposed fees from its partners. When traveling within the U.S., you only need to pay $5.60 for government-imposed security taxes.
United permanently eliminated change fees for most economy-cabin and premium-cabin tickets when traveling within the U.S. or between the U.S. and Mexico or the Caribbean, so there won’t be any hidden fees there regardless of last-minute circumstances. International travel originating in the U.S. will also not incur any change fees.
Changes cannot be made to basic economy tickets unless the flight is upgraded to economy or a premium cabin first.
Sweet Spots
United’s dynamic pricing model makes finding sweet spots more about sheer luck than skill, but fortunately United does have a trick that can turn an okay redemption into an outstanding one—it’s called the Excursionist Perk.
The Excursionist Perk is defined by United as “a free one-way award within select multi-city trips between at least two award regions.” Using the perk can seem complicated initially, but it’s worthwhile to spend a bit of time learning about.
Aside from the Excursionist Perk, United offers a few other consistent values that can be considered sweet spots. Short-haul economy flights within the U.S. are a frequent example.
Expiration
As long as your account is in good standing and remains open, your United Mileage Plus miles will never expire.
Infant Fees
United considers children under 2 years old to be eligible for lap infant status. When flying with a lap infant, there are no fees or tickets needed when flying within the U.S. and to or from Puerto Rico. Traveling between the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands requires a ticket, but you only pay taxes or 10% of the adult fare plus any other applicable taxes. An infant ticket is required for infants without a seat traveling to international destinations, and a partial fare will be charged.
United makes it easy to book flights with a lap infant. Just make sure to select “Infants on lap” during the flight search process.
At the booking page, you can see how much the fee will cost for your lap infant. For a flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Paris (CDG), the lap infant fee is $48.00 and the government imposed taxes come out to $4.50, so you’ll pay $52.50 for your lap infant on this specific flight.
Family Pooling
Most frequent flyer programs do not allow family pooling of miles, but United is an exception. United offers MileagePlus members the ability to group miles into a pool of up to five MileagePlus members. Pools can be made with anyone, not just family, as long as they’re also a MileagePlus member. The member who made the account will manage the miles and can authorize other members to redeem miles from the pool.
It’s a great option for families and friends, particularly since many other airlines don’t offer this feature. But before you create a pool with someone, know that those miles are no longer yours. Additionally, you can only be in one pool at a time and once you depart the pool, you will lose access to the pooled miles.
You can avoid the pool by transferring MileagePlus miles to another person’s account. This method comes with hefty fees, though and is almost never worth the cost.
Another option is to directly book the flight from your own account for your family member or friend if you have the miles.
Other Ways To Earn United Miles
There are still more ways to earn MileagePlus miles. MileagePlus members can earn even more miles when using the United dining program, shopping through the MileagePlus X app and booking hotel stays.
Earn When Dining
The MileagePlus dining program rewards members with miles when eating at specific restaurants. You’ll need a MileagePlus account before you can join the dining program. If you already have an account, you can just log in by using your MileagePlus credentials.
Once you have signed in, you’ll be asked to opt in for emails. Accepting will allow you to earn miles at an elevated level. You’ll also be asked to link your credit card to your account. Make sure you add the card you plan on using for dining out.
Following set-up, the email option you chose will determine your status and earning rate. VIP members are also required to dine 11 times. The tiers are as follows:
- Basic Member: Earn 1 MileagePlus mile per $2 spent if you elect to not receive email communication.
- Select Member: Earns 3 MileagePlus miles per $1 dollar spent if you elect to receive email communication.
- VIP Member: Earn 5 MileagePlus miles per $1 dollar spent if you elect to receive email communication from MileagePlus Dining and completed 11 qualified transactions in the calendar year.
Earn With the MileagePlus X App
United’s MileagePlus X App is one of the best ways to earn MileagePlus miles when making everyday purchases, and you can do it straight from your smartphone. Even better, those who hold a United co-branded credit card receive a 25% mileage boost when shopping with the MileagePlus X App. The app offers the ability to purchase eGift Cards from a variety of different retailers, as well as access to MileagePlus Shopping and MileagePlus Dining. Just keep in mind that if you buy a gift card, you will not be able to get a refund.
Earn With Hotel Stays
Some hotels allow you to transfer their points to United, while other hotels allow you to earn MileagePlus miles each time you stay at one of their participating properties. But this isn’t a loophole to let you double-dip on loyalty points—you’ll likely lose the ability to earn loyalty points from that hotel if you choose MileagePlus instead. Be sure to verify the terms before selecting United as your preferred reward currency on hotel stays.
These chains include:
- Choice Hotels: Earn 250 MileagePlus miles per stay, with the exception of Everhome Suites and Woodspring Suites.
- Hyatt: Earn 500 MileagePlus miles per stay at the Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Centric, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara.
- IHG: Earn 2 MileagePlus miles per dollar spent when staying at most IHG hotels, excluding Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites, which earn 1 MileagePlus mile per dollar spent.
- Marriott: Earn 2 MileagePlus miles for every dollar spent at Autograph Collection, Delta Hotels by Marriott, Design Hotels, Edition, Gaylord Hotels, JW Marriott, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, Marriott Hotels, Marriott Vacation Club, MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, St. Regis, Tribute Portfolio, W Hotels, and Westin. All other properties earn 1 MileagePlus mile per dollar spent.
- Shangri-La Circle: Earn 500 award miles per stay at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Traders Hotel, JEN or Kerry Hotels.
- Wyndham: Earn up to 2 MileagePlus miles for every dollar spent on a qualifying stay.
Find the Best Travel Credit Cards for 2025
Find the best travel credit card for your travel needs.
