There are several great ways to use United MileagePlus miles, especially in business class.
United has a great benefit called the Excursionist Perk, which can get a you a free one-way flight within a region.
Plus, United does not pass on fuel surcharges, which can save you thousands in fees when using your miles on partners such as Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian Airlines.
United Airlines Partners
United Airlines is a part of the Star Alliance, which is a partnership between 26 airlines including Air Canada, ANA, Asiana, EVA, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and Turkish Airlines.
You can use your United Miles on any of the United’s airline partners below.
| Star Alliance Airlines | |
|---|---|
| Aegean | Air Canada |
| Air China | Air India |
| Air New Zealand | ANA |
| Asiana Airlines | Austrian Airlines |
| Avianca | Brussels Airlines |
| Copa Airlines | Croatia Airlines |
| EgyptAir | Ethiopian |
| EVA Air | LOT Polish |
| Lufthansa | SAS |
| Shenzhen | Singapore Airlines |
| South African | SWISS |
| TAP Portugal | Thai Airways |
| Turkish Airlines | United Airlines |
One of the biggest advantages of using United Miles to avoid fuel surcharges on airlines such as Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Thai Airways and Turkish Airlines.
This can save you $1,000+ when booking on those airlines. For example, a business class flight on Lufthansa using United miles only costs about $160.85 in taxes and fees.
That same flight using ANA miles requires you to pay $1,457.19 in taxes and fees because of Lufthansa’s high fuel surcharges.
There is a trade-off because you use 66,000 fewer miles while paying more in fees. (But you could use ANA miles for business class on United for 88,000 miles round-trip plus $135)
Star Alliance Tips:
- Singapore Airlines rarely releases long-haul business and first class award space to partners such as United. Singapore Airlines instead prefers to release awards to their own KrisFlyer points members.
- Air New Zealand long-haul award space is very hard to find.
- Lufthansa and SWISS do not release first class award space to United until 15 days before departure.
- EVA’s business class is outstanding even on short-haul flights.
- You should avoid South African Airways (currently in bankruptcy) and Air India (awful seats and experience).
United’s Other Airline Partners
You can also book award on United’s other partner airlines. Hawaiian Airlines and Aer Lingus will likely be the most relevant partners to your travel.
| United’s Other Airline Partners | |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Aeromar |
| Air Dolomiti | Azul |
| Boutique Air | Cape Air |
| Edelweiss | Eurowings |
| Hawaiian Airlines | Olympic Air |
| Silver Airways | Vistara |
Award Charts: How Much it Will Cost
United Airlines no longer officially publishes an award chart, but we recreated their award charts below.
It costs fewer miles to fly on United Airlines than their partner airlines.
For example, a one-way flight to Europe would cost 60,000 in United’s Polaris business class or 77,000 on a partner airline.
United also classifies the world in various regions listed below. These region definitions will help you figure out what “South Asia” or “North Asia” is on the award charts below.
Region Definitions
U.S. / Canada = Continental U.S. and Canada (does not include Hawaii or Alaska).
Caribbean = Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadalupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Netherland Antilles, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Central America = Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Northern South America = Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Southern South America = Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Europe = Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
North Asia = China, Mongolia, South Korea, and Taiwan.
South Asia = Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Central Asia = Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The Middle East = Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
North Africa = Algeria, Canary Islands, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Central/Southern Africa = Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotto, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion Island, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Australia/New Zealand = Australia (include Tasmania), New Zealand, and Norfolk Islands.
Oceania = American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Western Samoa.
The region definitions are also very important for the Excursionist Perk, which is detailed below.
Flights on United Airlines
Below are the one-way award prices for flights operated by United or United Express.
| United Airlines | Region | Economy | Business |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. and Canada | 12,500 | 25,000 |
| Alaska | 17,500 | 30,000 |
| Hawaii | 22,500 | 40,000 |
| Mexico | 17,500 | 30,000 |
| Central America | 17,500 | 30,000 |
| Northern South America | 20,000 | 35,000 |
| Southern South America | 30,000 | 60,000 |
| Europe | 30,000 | 60,000 |
| Africa | 40,000 | 70,000 |
| Middle East | 42,500 | 75,000 |
| Japan | 42,500 | 70,000 |
| North Asia | 35,000 | 70,000 |
| South Asia | 40,000 | 70,000 |
| Central Asia | 42,500 | 75,000 |
| Australia/ New Zealand | 40,000 | 80,000 |
| Oceania | 35,000 | 70,000 |
There are also a few exceptions to the award chart:
- Flights within 21 days have a 2,500 to 3,000 mile surcharge.
- Flights under 700 miles or highly competitive routes may have prices starting at 5,500 miles.
- United charges a 10,000-mile surcharge for flights within the U.S. or to Canada, Hawaii, or Alaska that feature a segment in lie-flat business class, which is typically on the Newark to Los Angeles or San Francisco routes.
Flights on Partner Airlines
Below are the one-way award prices on Star Alliance and other partner airlines from the United States and Canada.
You can check the prices between other regions by doing a “Book with miles” search on United.com.
| Partners | Region | Economy | Business |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. and Canada | 14,000 | 27,500 |
| Alaska | 19,500 | 33,000 |
| Hawaii | 25,000 | 44,000 |
| Mexico | 19,500 | 33,000 |
| Central America | 19,500 | 33,000 |
| Northern South America | 22,000 | 38,500 |
| Southern South America | 33,000 | 66,000 |
| Europe | 33,000 | 77,000 |
| Africa | 44,000 | 88,000 |
| Middle East | 47,000 | 93,500 |
| Japan | 38,500 | 88,000 |
| North Asia | 38,500 | 88,000 |
| South Asia | 44,000 | 99,000 |
| Central Asia | 47,000 | 93,500 |
| Australia/New Zealand | 44,000 | 99,000 |
| Oceania | 38,500 | 88,000 |
If you are interested in first class, the pricing is:
- 121,000 miles for Europe.
- 132,000 miles for North Asia
- 143,000 miles for Africa or Australia/New Zealand
- 154,000 miles for the Middle East, Central Asia, or South Asia.
Upgrades on United
You can also use United Miles to upgrade from economy class to premium economy or business class on both United and Star Alliance flights.
For flights on United, the cost to upgrade depends on where you are going and your fare class.
You should expect to pay a large cash co-pay in addition to points if you want to upgrade from economy class to business class.
The only way to avoid the co-pay is to upgrade instead into premium economy or book a more expensive fare class typically reserved for business travelers.
You can also use United miles to upgrade on Star Alliance flights, but only the fairly expensive fare classes are eligible. These fares are typically twice the cost of the cheapest economy class tickets.
We recommend you don’t use United Miles to upgrade since you are better off redeeming points directly for an award ticket based on our calculations below.
Cash + Upgrade= 30,000 miles + $1,000 ($600 for co-pay + $400 average one-way cash flight).
Award= 70,000 miles + $5.60 in taxes and fees (departing U.S.). United has previously sold miles during a sale for 2 cents each, so the 40,000 extra miles for an award would cost you $800.
In the end, you would save about $194 by booking an award instead of a cash booking and upgrading later.
(We generally don’t recommend you buy miles, but it was the only way to an apples to apples comparison for this example. We would instead transfer Ultimate Rewards or Marriott points to United, or get a sign up bonus from a United credit card.)
Related Article: Best United Airlines Credit Cards
Excursionist Perk
The Excursionist Perk is a free one-way award within select multi-city itineraries.
It is a really nice benefit of using United miles that you should try to utilize when booking an award.
In the example below, you could add the London to Paris flight for free when booking a round-trip award.
But you can also do some very creative awards including adding a 13-hour connecting flight in Africa for free when booking a round-trip domestic flight. It even works on short flights such as Los Angeles to San Diego or San Francisco.
To book the Excursionist perk, you need to find an award through United’s multi-city award search. You will also need to follow the rules we outlined below.
The date of the free flight has to be in between the dates of your flights you are using miles for. You can book as many segments as you want, but only the first segment that is eligible for the Excursionist Perk is free.
In the example above, I planned a one-way flight to San Diego in September, the one-way intra-Africa flight in March, and a one-way flight to San Francisco in April.
You would then use other points or a cash booking to fill in the missing flights.
You could also book another Excursionist Perk routing to get another free flight somewhere in Africa (e.g., SAN-LAX; free flight in Africa; SFO-LAX).
You have a lot of flexibility on where you can use your Excursionist Perk as long as you follow the below rules. You can even use it for business or first class flights.
We recommend you consult the “Region Definitions” outlined above because these regions play a key role in what you can and cannot do with the Excursionist Perk.
We detail several examples on the route maps below. The red lines equal flights using United Miles and black lines equal free flights using the Excursionist Perk.
Rule 1: Start and End Must Be in Same Region.
Your first flight must start in the same region that your last flight ends.
If you start your flight in the U.S. / Canada region, the last flight must end in the U.S. / Canada region to utilize the Excursionist Perk.
Proper: Canada to Europe to the U.S.
This routing works because the U.S. and Canada are in the same region.
Proper: Domestic U.S. Flights
This routing is proper because the first flight (CLT-IAD) starts in the U.S. and the last flight (ORD-STL) ends in the U.S.
Improper: U.S. to Europe to Hawaii
This routing is improper because the final flight from London to Hawaii via Denver does not end the U.S. / Canada region. Both Hawaii and Alaska are in separate regions.
Rule 2: Free Flight Must Be in Different Region Than Origin.
Your free flight must be outside of the region where you started your journey.
For example, if you started your journey in the United States / Canada region, your free flight would have to be outside that region.
That free flight could be in Europe, South Asia, Africa, Australia, etc.
Proper: U.S. Departure and Free Flight in Europe
This routing is proper because the free flight is in Europe and the journey was started in the U.S.
Proper: U.S. Departure to Hawaii
This routing is proper because the U.S. and Hawaii are in different regions. You could add that free flight in Hawaii or any other region in the world as long as it was in between the two flights with miles.
Improper: U.S. Departure and Free Flight in Canada
This routing is improper because the U.S. and Canada are in the same region.
Rule 3: Free Flight Must be Within the Same Region.
Your free flight must be within the same region, and if there a connection, it must also be within the same region.
Some regions are quite large including:
- Europe (includes both Iceland and Russia)
- Central / Southern Africa
- U.S. and Canada
Proper: Beijing to Taipei via Seoul
This is proper because the free flight is within the North Asia region.
Improper: Beijing to Taipei via Tokyo
This routing is improper because the connection point (Tokyo) is in the Japan region and Beijing is in North Asia.
Improper: Taipei to Hong Kong
This routing is improper because Taipei is in North Asia and Hong Kong is in South Asia despite the two cities only being a two hour flight from each other.
Rule 4: Free Flight’s Cabin of Service Must the Same or Lower.
The free flight’s cabin of service (economy, business, or first) must be the same or lower than flight before it.
This means you could do: Business Class – Business Class (free flight) – Economy Class.
But you could not do: Economy Class – Business Class (free flight) – Business Class because the first flight is in a lower class than the free flight.
Award Change and Cancel Fees
United charges fees to change or cancel an award based on your elite status.
If you have no elite status, you should expect to pay $25 to book by phone (free if online booking), $75 to make a change or cancel 61+ days before departure, or $125 to make a change or cancel within 60 days of departure.
United no longer charges a $75 fee for booking awards within 21 days, but United instead added a 2,000-3,000 mile surcharge for these last minute bookings.
Best Ways to Redeem United Miles
Below are our ten favorite ways to redeem United miles. We generally like to focus on business class since that offers the best value for your miles.
The mileage prices below are for one-way travel. You can double those numbers for round-trip travel.
1. Long-Haul Flights on United
United gives a large mileage discount for booking business class awards on United rather than their partners. This makes United flights a good deal when redeeming your miles.
- Europe = 60,000 miles (United) vs. 77,000 miles (Partners)
- Japan and North Asia = 70,000 miles (United) vs. 88,000 miles (Partners)
- Australia and New Zealand = 80,000 miles (United) vs. 99,000 miles (Partners).
It is worth booking United Airlines with the mileage discount if you can book the newer Polaris seats.
If the route has United’s older business class seats, you may want to consider flying on a partner airline for a better experience. Especially if you have the option to fly EVA or ANA to Asia.
You can easily check what seats your United flight has when booking an award by clicking on the “Seats” option, which displays the seat map.
United uses the blue color above to identify their newer business class, which is typically in a 1-2-1 or 1-1-1 configuration.
United uses the orange color below to identify their older business class offerings, typically in a 2-1-2 or a 2-4-2 configuration.
2. U.S./Canada to Japan and North Asia on Partners
You can fly business class to Japan, China, Mongolia, South Korea, and Taiwan on EVA, ANA, or Asiana for 88,000 miles for business and 38,500 miles for economy class.
All three options are great, but EVA’s business class is my favorite.
3. U.S. and Canada to Africa on Ethiopian, Lufthansa, or Turkish.
You can fly from the U.S. and Canada to Africa for 88,000 miles in business class or 44,000 on partner airlines.
United also offers a seasonal flight between Newark and Capetown, South Africa for 40,000 miles for economy class and 70,000 for business class. However, award space on that flight is very hard to book.
You most likely will be flying on Ethiopian Airlines, which has a vast route network throughout Africa and good award avaliablity.
The other options are flying through Frankfurt on Lufthansa, Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, Vienna on Austrian, or Zurich on SWISS.
4. U.S. / Canada Flights to Guam and Oceania
Flights to Guam and Oceania are very expensive. Typically $1,700+ for economy class from the United States.
You can book these flights for 35,000 miles for economy class and 70,000 for business class. However, finding award space in business class is very difficult, but award space for economy class is very easy.
United only charges 33,000 miles for business class and 19,500 miles for economy class within the very large region of Central / Southern Africa.
You can also book this flight for free with the Excursionist Perk, even in business class.
You most likely would fly Ethiopian Airlines with a connection in Addis Ababa, which is the Africa’s best airline.
5. U.S. / Canada to Europe on Partners
You can fly on partner airlines to Europe for 33,000 miles in economy class and 77,000 in business class.
United does not pass on the high fuel surcharges typically imposed by Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian, which can save you $1,000+ on a business class flight.
SWISS is probably the best flight experience, especially if you can book one of their throne seats.
6. Flights Within Central / Southern Africa
United only charges 33,000 miles for business class and 19,500 miles for economy class within the very large region of Central / Southern Africa.
You can also book this flight for free with the Excursionist Perk, even in business class.
You most likely would fly Ethiopian Airlines with a connection in Addis Ababa, which is the Africa’s best airline.
7. Lufthansa and SWISS First Class to Europe
You can book Lufthansa or SWISS first class for 121,000 miles for an amazing experience to Europe.
You can only book this award within 15 days of departure since both airlines reserve first class award space for their own points programs before that date.
8. U.S. / Canada to Northern South America
You can fly on United to Northern South America for only 20,000 miles in economy class and 35,000 miles in business class.
This can be a very good deal if you live in a smaller city since round-trip cash prices can be $700+ for economy class.
9. Flights Within Japan
Flights within Japan are only 5,500 miles for economy class and typically do not have any taxes or fees. This can be a really good deal if you want to jet around Japan to the smaller cities.
10. Between Europe and Central Asia
You can fly between Europe and Central Asia for 30,000 miles in economy class and 55,000 miles in business class.
Central Asia includes the Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
You best flight option for this award is likely Turkish Airlines, who has a vast route network into this region from their hub in Istanbul.
Other Ways to Spend United Miles
There are several non-flight ways to redeem your United miles. However, most of these ways are not as valuable as redeeming miles for flights.
We reviewed and calculated the values for each option.
The only two that were above our recommended value of 1.5 cents per mile were Newspapers and Magazine subscriptions.
| Way to Use Miles | Cents Per Mile |
|---|---|
| Gift Cards | 0.3 |
| Apple Products | 0.33 |
| Merchandise | 0.2 to 0.3 |
| Rental Cars | 0.8 to 0.9 |
| Cruises | 0.6 to 0.7 |
| Hotels | 0.5 |
| United Club | 0.76 |
| United Wi-Fi Subscription | 0.65 |
| TSA PreCheck | 0.77 |
| Magazines | 3.0 to 4.0 |
| Newspapers | 2.0 to 3.0 |
| Exclusive Experiences | Auction |
The Verdict
The United MileagePlus points program is pretty good overall if you want to fly business class on United Airlines.
One of the most interesting award options is the Excursionist Perk, which gets you a free flight within a region.
Another great benefit of United miles is the lack of fuel surcharges, which can save you thousands when booking on Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian Airlines.
