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United Airlines’ loyalty program, MileagePlus, allows members to redeem United miles on award flights with both United and its partner airlines. Although there is no longer a United award chart, MileagePlus still offers some great ways to redeem miles for United award travel. Below, we dive into what you need to know for booking United award travel.
Does United have an award chart?
United ditched its award chart in November 2019, making it harder to predict how many miles you’ll need to book an award flight with the airline. According to United, award pricing can “fluctuate based on a variety of factors, including demand.”
» Learn more: The best airline credit cards right now
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How many miles do I need to book United award travel?
Because United eliminated its award chart, you’ll need to search for a specific flight on United.com or through the United MileagePlus X app to determine how many miles are required for a given flight.
On United.com, make sure the “Book with award miles” option is selected before running your search.
Using a flight from Chicago-O’Hare to Munich as an example, you’ll get results that will show you a range of prices. These are often affected by the class of service and whether the flight is with United or a partner airline.
On the date selected, from Chicago to Munich, an economy seat ranges from 30,000 to 33,000 miles, while premium economy is 108,300 miles and business class is 175,000 miles.
» Learn more: Best benefits of United Airlines credit cards
How can I find the lowest-priced United award flights?
If you want to find the lowest-priced award flights on United and are flexible with travel dates, it would be wise to take advantage of the “View 30 day calendar” feature.
Searching for premium economy award tickets using the 30-day United award calendar shows that we can save thousands of points by adjusting travel dates by a few days.
Flexibility is your friend if you want to book the lowest-priced award ticket. For example, if you were set on flying on April 29th, you’d need to use 108,300 miles to fly. However, if you move your travel ahead or back by just a day or two, you would instead only need 45,000 miles.
» Learn more: All the ways to earn United MileagePlus miles
Combining money and miles to book United flights
If you’re running low on miles, United offers MileagePlus members a way to combine miles and money to book flights. This can easily be done on United’s website by following these steps:
- First, search for your desired flight using money on United.com or the United app.
- Choose your flight and select the “Money + Miles” option.
- Select the flight portions you want to pay in money and miles.
- Continue to check out.
The Money + Miles option on United can be helpful when you have a pile of United miles but not enough to fully cover the cost of your award ticket. When you pay for flights using Money + Miles, your United miles are valued at 1 cent per mile — just below our baseline value for United miles at 1.2 cents each (here's how we came to that number).
For example, you’d be able to save $24 off your flight by using 2,400 United miles. If you're trying to get out-sized value for your United miles, paying for your flight this way is not the strategy. You'd likely be better off saving those miles for a future business cabin booking.
» Learn more: The NerdWallet guide to the United MileagePlus Program
Using the United Excursionist Perk to save more miles
United offers an Excursionist Perk feature that can save you miles on your United award travel booking. The Excursionist Perk can get you a one-way award ticket for award bookings on certain multi-city itineraries.
Here's an example of how it works: Let's say you want to fly economy class on a United award ticket from Chicago to London, then later fly from London to Paris before flying back home to Chicago from Paris. Your flight between London and Paris could be free with the Excursionist Perk.
According to United’s website, there are a few caveats to qualify for the Excursionist Perk:
- The Excursionist Perk cannot be in the MileagePlus defined region where your travel originates (for example, if your journey begins in North America, you will only receive the Excursionist Perk if travel is within a region outside of North America).
- Travel must end in the same MileagePlus defined region where travel originates.
- The origin and destination of the Excursionist Perk must be within a single MileagePlus defined region.
- The cabin of service and award inventory of the free one-way award is the same or lower than the one-way award preceding it.
- Only the first occurrence will be free if two or more one-way awards qualify for this benefit.
The Excursionist Perk can be a great way to save miles on your United award travel booking if you can make it work.
» Learn more: Which United credit card should you get?
Earn United miles quickly
Before you start using United miles, you have to earn them. Beyond flying, another way to amass a large number of United MileagePlus miles is to earn a sign-up bonus for United credit card.
United credit cards
Annual Fee
$0 intro for the first year, then $150
$350
$695
$0
Earning Rate
• 5 miles per $1 on prepaid hotels booked through United.
• 2 miles per $1 on United purchases.
• 2 miles per $1 at restaurants and hotels (when booked directly with hotel).
• 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.
• 5 miles per $1 on hotel stays through Renowned Hotels and Resorts.
• 3 miles per $1 on United purchases.
• 2 miles per $1 at restaurants, select streaming services and all other travel.
• 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.
• 5 miles per $1 on hotel stays through Renowned Hotels and Resorts.
• 4 miles per $1 on United purchases.
• 2 miles per $1 at restaurants and all other travel purchases.
• 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.
• 2 miles per $1 on United purchases, gas stations and local transit and commuting.
• 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases.
United benefits
• First checked bag free for you and one companion on your reservation.
• 2 United Club one-time passes each year.
• $100 United Travelbank credits after spending $10,000 in a calendar year.
• 10,000-mile discount after spending $20,000 in a calendar year.
• Credit every four years for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS.
• Priority boarding.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• First and second checked bag free for you and one companion on your reservation.
• $200 yearly United TravelBank credit.
• Yearly 10,000-mile discount.
• Another 10,000-mile discount after spending $20,000 in purchases per calendar year.
• 2 global Economy Plus seat upgrades after spending $40,000 in a calendar year.
• Annual 1,000 Card Bonus Premier Qualifying Points deposit.
• Credit every four years for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS.
• Priority boarding.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• First and second checked bag free for you and one companion on your reservation.
• Access to United Club airport lounges.
• A 10,000-mile discount after spending $20,000 in purchases per calendar year (up to two times per year).
• Annual 1,500 Card Bonus Premier Qualifying Points deposit.
• Credit every four years for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS.
• Priority boarding.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• 2 free checked bags after you spend $10,000 in a calendar year.
Bonus offer
Earn 70,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
Earn 80,000 bonus miles and 3,000 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Earn 30,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
Still not sure?
If you seek more flexibility in redeeming miles for award flights, consider applying for a more general travel credit card instead. A more general travel credit card differs from an airline card in that you can book flights with multiple carriers, rather than reaping the benefits of staying loyal to a single brand.
The more high-end the travel credit card, the more benefits you can enjoy, including airport lounge access or automatic elite status in certain programs. That said, a brand-specific airline card can net you benefits like waived baggage fees, which can have meaningful dollar value.
Final thoughts on United MileagePlus Awards
Although United no longer offers an award chart and it’s harder to predict United award travel pricing, United’s MileagePlus program still provides a lot of value to its members (especially those who can be flexible with their travel dates).
United also allows MileagePlus members to pay for certain flights using a mixture of miles and money, which is a nice perk for casual and serious miles collectors alike. If you’re looking to save on a multi-city itinerary, you should try to see if your travel qualifies for the United Excursionist Perk to save even more miles.
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2026:
- Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph® Card
- Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Luxury perks: American Express Platinum Card®
- Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
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