United Airlines is by far the most global of the “big three” US carriers, and understandably, a lot of people may want to accrue miles with the MileagePlus program, to jet off on adventures. In this post, I’d like to take a look at MileagePlus miles, and the best uses of them.
When it comes to the value of redeeming miles, I tend to think that United MileagePlus is somewhere between American AAdvantage and Delta SkyMiles.
I’d argue that MileagePlus miles have actually become more valuable in recent times, not because redemption rates have improved, but instead, because United has changed how it goes about releasing award space. I don’t want to bury the lede — if you want to redeem miles for long haul Polaris business class, you need to book through MileagePlus, rather than through a partner program.
Let’s talk about some of the logistics of redeeming MileagePlus miles, plus what I’d consider the best uses to be.
In this post:
Award pricing for United flights is all over the place and constantly fluctuating. However, there is some consistency to partner award pricing, so while the prices aren’t published, we have a general sense of how much a partner award will cost. Note that the lowest level award costs often get marginally more expensive as the departure date approaches.
United MileagePlus offers more award space to some
The real key to maximizing MileagePlus miles is to either have Premier elite status in the program, or to have a co-branded credit card with an annual fee. That’s because those members get access to more award space and better award pricing, in particular for long haul Polaris business class awards.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
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