can you upgrade award travel on united

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The Ultimate Guide to United Airlines Upgrade Rules

• Ultimate Guide to Alaska Airlines Upgrade Rules
• Ultimate Guide to United Airlines Upgrade Rules
• Ultimate Guide to American Airlines Upgrade Rules
• Ultimate Guide to Delta Air Lines Upgrade Rules

Searching for Upgrade Inventory

It’s no longer possible to search for upgrade space through third party tools like ExpertFlyer. However, you can still search on United’s own site to some degree. You can specify certain fare classes to use an upgrade instrument (separate more than one fare class with commas) and tell United if you want to include the cost of a co-pay when you upgrade with miles.

The results page will show not only the cheapest available fare but also the cost when booking an upgradeable fare and the miles necessary, if any. You can also view the “details” under each itinerary to look at the inventory in specific fare classes. Upgrade inventory is filed in the R fare class. (Some of these features may require turning on United’s Expert Mode if you haven’t already.

Upgrades for Full Fare Tickets

United provides an instant upgrade for travelers with any Premier status who purchase a Y or B fare in economy class. Premier 1K members also get an instant upgrade when they purchase an M fare. These upgrades must be requested after ticketing; if upgrade inventory is not immediately available you can go back and request the upgrade again at any time.

Upgrades with PlusPoints

Some members with Premier Platinum or Premier 1K status receive upgrade instruments that they can use to avoid relying on miles or the gamble of a complimentary upgrade. In the past these instruments were called Regional Premier Upgrades and Global Premier Upgrades, but a new system will take effect in December 2019 called PlusPoints .

PlusPoints can be used to upgrade flights operated by United Airlines, United Express, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Lufthansa, and Copa Airlines. All flights operated by partner airlines will cost 40 PlusPoints while the cost of upgrades on United-operated flights will vary from 10 to 80 PlusPoints.

Earning PlusPoints

As you can see from the table below, Premier Platinum members earn 40 PlusPoints as soon as they qualify for status (you don’t need to wait until the start of the next year). Premier 1K members earn an additional 280 PlusPoints, which brings the total to 320 including the 40 PlusPoints they received from qualifying for Platinum status.

Fly a lot? Premier 1K members can earn an additional 20 PlusPoints every time they earn 3,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) beyond the original 18,000 PQP they need to earn to qualify for 1K status. Learn more about PQP and other changes to United MileagePlus status coming in 2020.

Redeeming PlusPoints for Short-Haul Flights

You can redeem as few as few as 10 PlusPoints on United-operated flights within North America as well as parts of Central and South America and the Pacific.

The exact number of PlusPoints required will depend on the original cabin of service you booked and the new cabin of service you want to upgrade to. For example, booking a ticket in Premium Plus, United’s version of premium economy, will reduce the number of PlusPoints you need to reach first or business class.

• Upgrade from Economy to First or Business: 20 PlusPoints
• Upgrade from Economy to Premium Plus: 20 PlusPoints
• Upgrade from Premium Plus to Business: 10 PlusPoints

To quote United Airlines: “Short-haul flights are flights without United Polaris business and include flights within the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii and premium transcontinental service; flights between the U.S. and Canada; Bogota, Colombia; Central America; Caribbean; Mexico and Quito, Ecuador; flights between Guam and Honolulu, including island hopper service; and intra-Asia flights.”

Redeeming PlusPoints for Long-Haul Flights

You can redeem 20 to 80 PlusPoints for upgrades to anywhere else in the world, including flights operated by partner airlines.

• Upgrade from Discounted Economy to Polaris (business): 80 PlusPoints
• Upgrade from Economy to Polaris: 40 PlusPoints
• Upgrade from Premium Plus to Polaris: 30 PlusPoints

Discounted economy fares are those booked in S, T, L, K, or G fare classes. Basic economy fares are not eligible for upgrades using PlusPoints.

Requesting an Upgrade

To apply an upgrade using PlusPoints or to upgrade with miles, you’ll want to access your reservation online and then select the “Redeem Upgrade” button at the bottom of the itinerary.

On that page you’ll have two tabs. The first tab lets you actually buy up to first class, which will re-fare your ticket. The second table lets you use miles or PlusPoints to confirm an upgrade. I don’t have any PlusPoints, so the only option visible here is to use miles.

You can see that it’s just one price to upgrade each direction even though there are multiple segments on this mileage run to Aguadilla. If a flight doesn’t have upgrade space immediately available (green check mark) then you’ll be placed on the waitlist (yellow triangle) and given priority ahead of any complimentary elite upgrades.

In this case I’m logged into my account to view my own itinerary. However, you can use your miles or upgrade instruments to upgrade someone else’s flight. Log into your MileagePlus account and click on the grey box to view your upcoming itineraries. Rather than choose one of your own flights, enter the confirmation number and last name of the person who will be traveling. This can be a useful strategy to avoid co-pays on some mileage upgrade awards.

Upgrades with Miles

Upgrading with miles is a great idea for some travelers and a horrible idea for others. If you don’t want to use your miles to fly more than you already have to, or if you need to book paid fares to re-qualify for elite status, then upgrading with miles usually makes sense. If you are buying discounted fares and think this is your easy path to business or first class, it’s possible that booking an award ticket would be just as easy and a better value. United’s webpage on  upgrade awards  is among its most detailed and covers pricing, rules, and more. What I have here is the summary.

To upgrade a flight operated by United Airlines, United Express, or Copa Airlines, you will need to redeem miles and provide a co-pay that vary depending on your destination, route, and the fare class purchased. United is no longer publishing a formal price chart for award travel and upgrades after November 15, 2019, but the prices below are the most recent available.

Pricing for mileage upgrade awards can be found on pages 5-7 of this PDF or by using United’s interactive search tool .

For example, upgrading a one-way domestic flight within the Continental U.S. will cost between 7,500 (Y fare) and 20,000 miles (S, T, K, L, G, and N fares) with different levels in-between. The co-pay ranges from $0 to $75 but can be as high as $250 if you’re upgrading on one of United’s p.s. transcontinental routes. On international routes, a typical upgrade between the U.S. and Europe costs 20,000 miles and $550.

As you can see, the co-pay increases much faster than the miles required. You should determine if purchasing a more expensive fare, either one that books into business class to begin with or one that allows you to reduce the co-pay, is a more sensible approach. Remember that United will allow you to specify a fare class during the search process, so you do not need to call in and pay an agent ticketing fee.

Co-pays are waived entirely on the following routes if you have Premier status (or if you’re a general member and the miles come from the account of a Premier member):

• Travel within Canada and the continental U.S. (excluding p.s. routes)
• Travel from Canada or the continental U.S. to Hawaii (excluding service between Honolulu and Newark, Washington-IAD, or Houston)
• Travel from Canada or the U.S. (excluding Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico) to Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean.
• Travel within Oceania (excluding Honolulu and Guam)

If you want to upgrade on any other Star Alliance member, then you must book a full price Y or B fare. These can be very expensive for international travel, and a discounted business class fare may be cheaper. Upgrades from full price J, C, or D business class fares are also possible and might be a better deal given the high price of first class. Fortunately there is no co-pay for Star Alliance upgrade awards.

Complimentary Elite Upgrades

United will automatically request a complimentary elite upgrade for eligible routes, and your position on the upgrade waitlist does not interfere with your ability to request other types of upgrades. Upgrade priority is organized first by elite status, then fare class, and then the time of the request (i.e., the time of booking). In addition to most paid fares, upgrades are also possible on award tickets if you have one of several United-branded credit cards.

• United MileagePlus Explorer Card
• United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card
• United MileagePlus Club Card
• United MileagePlus Club Business Card
• United MileagePlus Presidential Plus Card
• United MileagePlus Presidential Plus Business Card

Award tickets are assigned the lowest fare class. For example, a Premier Platinum with a qualifying credit card will be upgraded on an award ticket after all other Premier Platinum members but before a Premier Gold member.

Companion upgrades are prioritized at the same level as the primary traveler. Assuming both tickets were booked in the same reservation, they’ll already have the same fare class and the companion upgrade can clear in advance. If they are separate reservations, then the upgrade must be requested at the airport. Companions on award tickets are not eligible for an upgrade.

One catch with companion upgrades that are part of the same reservation is that the computer system must process both travelers together — it’s all-or-none. This means that if only one upgrade becomes available the computer may skip over you to the next single traveler. You can avoid this problem by splitting your reservation, but some travelers prefer not to fly in separate cabins.

Upgrades at Check-In

United has been criticized at times for offering “tens of dollars” (TOD) upgrades to passengers without elite status. Some customers argue that this allows United to gain some revenue from its customers but shortchanges elite members of any chance at an upgrade, especially since they don’t always receive the same offer. However, if you get such an offer they tend to be an inexpensive way to confirm an upgrade immediately during the check-in process.

You might also be offered an instant upgrade at the time of booking. If you take advantage of this upgrade you are really taking advantage of an up-sell to a higher fare and will be confirmed immediately. You will earn miles according to this new fare type.

Finally, you might have the option of upgrading your ticket after you book when you return to your online itinerary at a later date (but before departure). This upgrade type will confirm immediately but will not re-fare your ticket; you will still earn miles according to the fare you first booked.

Priority for Each Upgrade Type

Assuming your upgrade does not clear in advance, United will process upgrades in the following order :

• Full fare tickets, ranked by elite status .
• Upgrades using miles or systemwide/regional upgrade instruments, ranked by elite status (of the traveler), then fare class, and then time of request.
• Global Services members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Global Services members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• Premier 1K members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Premier 1K members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• Premier Platinum members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Premier Platinum members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• Premier Gold members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Premier Gold members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• Premier Silver members and companions, ranked by fare class and then time of request.
• Premier Silver members on award tickets with qualifying credit card.
• “Tens of dollars” upgrades should be offered last, but if you’re offered one at check-in there are always scattered reports popping up that these clear before complimentary elite upgrades.

Remember that people may jump the queue at any time if they change flights or buy up to first class. Yesterday when I discussed Alaska Airlines I mentioned that the time of request was probably the most important factor. With United, it’s your status and fare class. Track how full other flights are and take advantage of same day changes to position yourself for better odds. You might even buy a slightly more expensive fare. If everyone else is booking a W fare (the cheapest option to use a Global Premier Upgrade) then consider buying a V fare — sometimes just $20 more.

You should be able to view the upgrade waitlist after you check-in and see not only how many seats are still available for upgrades but also if seats are still for sale. Honestly, if you’re not within the top 10 (some would say top 5) I don’t think it’s likely that your upgrade will clear, but there’s always the chance you’ll get lucky.

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About Scott Mackenzie

Scott is a former scientist and business student who created Travel Codex to unravel the complexity of travel loyalty programs. After 11 years in Seattle, he now lives in Austin with his wife and flies over 100,000 miles every year.

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How To Upgrade United Airlines Flights With Miles

Reviewed by Ryan Smith

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Finding business- or first-class availability with miles can be hard. Without a high level of elite status, it might be even harder to get an economy ticket upgraded to a premium ticket on a long-haul flight. However, did you know that United Airlines lets you upgrade your economy ticket to a higher cabin with miles and cash? Even if you don't have status, you can book a ticket with United, upgrade with miles, and enjoy a better seat via a process called MileagePlus Upgrade Awards.

Here's how the United upgrade with miles process works..

Page Contents

United MileagePlus Upgrade Award Chart

New reservations, existing reservations, waitlist priority for united upgrade with miles, united upgrade with miles: is it worth it, bottom line.

United Airlines displays the cost of upgrading tickets in the “Upgrade Awards” section of the website . By putting in your departing region, arriving region, and the fare class you are in (which can be found on your United Airlines ticket), you can quickly calculate how much an upgrade should cost. For example, if you are flying from the United States to Europe and have an economy ticket with a fare class of G, it will cost you 20,000 miles to upgrade from economy to Premium Plus or 20,000 miles plus $550 to upgrade to business class (Polaris).

Searching for United MileagePlus Upgrade Availability

Searching for upgrade availability on a new reservation is easy. All you have to do is go to United's expert mode or advanced search , enter your reservation info, and scroll down to the upgrades section. From there, you can click on the “Upgrades, certificates, and promotion codes,” then select “MileagePlus Upgrade Awards (MUA)” in the “Upgrade type” dropdown.

Let's take a look at an example search from Chicago to Frankfurt.

The first flight only has waitlist upgrade availability. This means that you are not guaranteed an upgrade to business class. Rather, you will know closer to departure if your upgrade has cleared. These should be avoided if possible, as upgrades off the waitlist are unlikely if you're purchasing a discounted fare class and don't have elite status with United MileagePlus .

The second flight has upgrades available, meaning that if you purchase the upgrade with miles and cash, you will immediately be upgraded to business class. The first “Upgrade to Business” column denotes the prices for upgrading to business class from an economy ticket. The bold number ($878) is the price of the economy ticket. In addition to purchasing the economy ticket, it will also cost $550 in fees and 20,000 miles to upgrade to business class. These fees and mileage costs are the same as the rates quoted in the United upgrade award tool above.

The second “Upgrade to Business” column has similar numbers, except it costs $2,368 for a premium economy ticket on this route. If an upgrade is available right away — not via waitlist — there is little reason to book the premium economy option; the United upgrade with miles option from economy is much better.

If you have not yet purchased your flight, this is the best way to search for upgrade availability, as you can book your flight and get upgraded immediately.

United also makes the upgrade process simple if you've already booked a flight. When you pull up your reservation, you'll see the following icons before your flight information.

After clicking “Upgrade cabin,” you can view the price of upgrading your reservation with miles by pressing the “Miles” option next to “Upgrade by.” Unfortunately for my flight from Chicago to Washington, D.C., the MileagePlus Upgrade Award cost of 20k miles plus $75 will only get me onto the first class waitlist — not a confirmed upgrade.

Related: Do United MileagePlus Miles Expire?

If you use a MileagePlus Upgrade award to get onto the waitlist, how do you know when your upgrade might clear? Waitlist upgrades are approved in the following order:

• United Airlines Premier status
• Chase United MileagePlus cardholders
• United Corporate Preferred participants
• Date and time of the request

If your request does not clear, your miles and co-pay fees will be refunded.

Related: Get Access to Hidden Award Space with United Credit Cards

It depends. While some flights might be worth upgrading from an economy ticket, you might find better value booking Polaris (business class) directly with points or miles. The best way to determine if a MileagePlus Upgrade is worth it is by calculating how much upgrading an economy ticket will cost versus buying a business- or first-class ticket outright.

Let's check another example flight, this time from San Francisco to Sydney.

AwardWallet users typically redeem United miles at 1.73¢ apiece . We'll use a flat 2¢ to make the math easier.

Using 2¢ as the value of a mile, what's the cost for a business-class ticket from San Francisco to Sydney using upgrades? You'll pay $1,261 for the ticket, $550 in fees, and 30,000 miles. 30,000 miles are worth $600 in this equation (30,000 x 0.02), so your total cost is $2,411.

But what if we booked a Polaris ticket outright with miles? It would cost a whopping 200,000 miles (worth $4,000, or 200,000 x 0.02) plus $26.19 in fees. That's a total cost of $4,026.19 between the miles and fees — way more than just purchasing the economy ticket and upgrading it directly to business.

Even worse, buying this Polaris ticket with cash will set you back $6,891. While there are scenarios where you're better off buying a business class ticket with miles or cash, rather than using the upgrade process with United miles, in this case, you are significantly better off purchasing an economy ticket and upgrading to business.

Related: Sweet Spots With United Airlines MileagePlus Awards

Upgrading flights can provide excellent value if you check the math first. Just ensure your upgrade can be confirmed immediately, as waitlist upgrades are not guaranteed to clear before your flight. In addition, check the overall cost between money and miles to upgrade, compared to the cost of booking an upgraded seat outright. While upgrading an economy ticket to business class can seem like a good deal, sometimes buying a business class ticket outright might be cheaper. A United upgrade with miles won't always make sense, but it's nice to have options.

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Thank you. Always wondered about his. So helpful!

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How To Use United PlusPoints To Upgrade Your Next Flight [2023]

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What Are PlusPoints?

How many pluspoints do you need, using your pluspoints when booking your flight: waitlisting, using your pluspoints when booking your flight: immediate upgrades, upgrading after booking, unlocking united’s expert mode, using united’s expert mode to find upgrade availability, using award availability to find upgrade space, good use: long-haul international flights, good use: new polaris seats, bad use: when you’re already eligible for complimentary premier upgrades (cpus), bad use: skip the waitlist, bad use: deep discount economy to polaris, final thoughts.

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So you’ve done the work — whether you’ve legged it a few thousand miles in economy class or splurged for just a couple of expensive business class flights, you’ve finally earned yourself some United PlusPoints. Congrats! Now how do you use them?

Let’s take a look at what PlusPoints are, how to earn them, and the step-by-step method of applying them to your United flights.

Airlines award their frequent customers with incentives that can range from increased bonus points earnings to lounge access to complimentary seat upgrades. United is no different, and while it will give its MileagePlus members free upgrades on domestic (and some international) flights, you’ll need PlusPoints in order to upgrade overseas. You can always use PlusPoints for domestic upgrades, as well, if you’re really jonesing for some free drinks, but long-haul flights with lie-flat seats provide superior value.

PlusPoints ( formerly known as Regional Premier Upgrades (RPUs) and Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs)) are awarded to you once you reach Premier Platinum elite status, and you’ll earn additional PlusPoints as you fly more. Status is earned based on Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) earned each year.

Premier Platinum elite members receive 40 PlusPoints upon earning status.

Premier 1K elite members receive a total of 320 PlusPoints (40 from achieving Platinum and 280 from achieving 1K), with the ability to earn 20 more PlusPoints for every 2,000 PQPs they fly.

PlusPoints last for a little over a year after you’ve earned them. For flights taken in 2023 that earn elite status for 2024, this means that your points will expire on January 31, 2025.

The number of PlusPoints that will be required for your flight will vary based on the fare type you book and where you’re flying. You’ll pay different rates, for example, to upgrade a deeply discounted economy ticket to business class than if you had booked standard economy.

PlusPoints can be used for long-haul international United flights as shown below:

As you can see above, you don’t have to upgrade to business class when using your PlusPoints — you can pay half as much to fly Premium Plus — though you’ll be missing the free pajamas and hot fudge sundaes.

Here are the rates for short-haul flights, which include the U.S., Canada, Bogotá, Central America, Caribbean, Mexico, and Quito. It also includes flights between Guam and Honolulu and intra-Asia flights:

Be aware that these rates and these flights specifically exclude United Polaris business class cabins.

Bottom Line: PlusPoints are a benefit given to Premier Platinum and Premier 1K elite members. They grant complimentary upgrades on United (and some partner-operated) flights. 

How To Use Your PlusPoints

So once you’ve earned those PlusPoints, how do you go about using them?

As we mentioned, these can be used for both domestic and international upgrades on United flights, much the same as those offered by both Delta and American . United even has a few partners — Copa, Lufthansa, and ANA — where you can apply your PlusPoints, which we’ve covered in a separate guide .

There are 2 main ways to use your PlusPoints: before and after booking. The best way to guarantee an upgrade is by finding available space before you book your flight . Fortunately for us, United has a robust search feature that’ll show upgrade space when searching, though on many occasions you may find yourself waitlisted.

Understanding how and when to apply your PlusPoints is important when looking for upgrades. First, you’ll want to head to the United home page and log into your United MileagePlus account. From there, you’ll want to hit Advanced search .

Once on the Advanced search page, you’ll want to enter all your information, including destination and dates of travel. From there, you’ll scroll down to the section marked Upgrades, certificates, and promotion codes .

Expand the selection and then hit PlusPoints upgrades.

With this selected, you can go ahead and hit the search button. United will then bring up your search results while showing you availability for upgrades. You can toggle whether you’d like to see flights with immediate availability, waitlist options, or both.

Selecting both will give you results that’ll show waitlisted upgrades as well as any available ones.

In the screenshot above, you can see that the nonstop flight can be had for $258 round-trip. There isn’t any immediate upgrade availability, though you can choose to put yourself on the waitlist. Once you’ve made your selections for both your outgoing and returning flights, you’ll be taken to the checkout page:

If you’re choosing to put yourself on the waitlist, the cash for your flight will be due when you checkout. The PlusPoints, however, will only be withdrawn when the upgrade actually clears .

You don’t have to apply your PlusPoints to both legs on a round-trip flight; these can be picked individually. This can be especially helpful when you only have enough points for a one-way upgrade.

The procedure to apply your PlusPoints for an immediate upgrade is pretty much the same as we outlined for waitlisted upgrades. The only difference is that you’ll pick a flight with availability, as shown below:

Once you hit the checkout screen, the PlusPoints will be automatically deducted from your account (note: you won’t be able to get the upgrades if you don’t currently have enough PlusPoints in your account).

You will then be immediately confirmed into the cabin you’ve booked!

Bottom Line: Using United’s search engine to find flights where you can use your PlusPoints is simple. The best way to guarantee an upgrade, however, is by finding upgrade availability before booking your tickets. 

It’s still possible to upgrade your flight with PlusPoints after booking. Why would you want to do this? Perhaps you’d requested an upgrade elsewhere and it fell through. Maybe you’ve earned additional PlusPoints since booking that you want to use. Regardless of the reason, there are a couple of ways to do this: online and by phone .

By phone, you can call your dedicated line and have the customer service representative apply your PlusPoints.

You can also opt to upgrade using your PlusPoints online. It’s easy to do; first, you’ll need to log in to your account. You’ll then want to select My trips.

You’ll then be presented with information on your existing trips. You’ll want to select Manage trip  in the bottom right:

You’ll be taken to your trip page, where you can select seats, pay for bags, and upgrade your cabin. Select Upgrade cabin.

From there, you’ll be presented with the different options available for upgrading your trip, including money, miles, and PlusPoints :

Once you select PlusPoints , you’ll be taken to the upgrade availability for each leg of your flight:

You’ll then be able to select which flights you’d like to upgrade. As you can see in the above example, there is no current upgrade availability for these flights, but we’re still able to put ourselves on the waitlist.

Once you’ve selected your upgrade preferences for each leg of your flight, you’ll scroll down and hit Continue  to proceed to the checkout page:

Once you’ve cleared the checkout page, you’ll either be confirmed immediately or be put on the waitlist for your flight. That’s it!

Bottom Line: It’s possible to upgrade your flight with PlusPoints after booking, though there’s no guarantee that upgrade space will be available; you may instead be placed on the waitlist. 

Finding Upgrade Availability

United’s advanced search engine does a pretty good job when looking for PlusPoints eligible flights. Sometimes, however, you may want to find out if there’s upgrade availability outside the parameters that United gives you. A good example of this is when you’ve got an existing flight without any upgrade space . If you can find a different flight on the same day that has space available, it may make sense to change your flight in order to apply your PlusPoints and get that upgrade.

Hot Tip: United has eliminated change fees , which means that changing your flight won’t incur a fee. Be aware, however, that there may be differences in fare costs that you’ll need to accommodate. 

Fortunately, there’s another way to determine whether or not there are seats available on the flight you want. This will take some work, but it’s worth it. First, you’ll need to enable United’s expert mode, which unlocks a suite of additional features during your search.

In order to do so, you’ll need to log into your account and navigate to your account’s home page. From there, select the Profile & Preferences drop-down, and then Preferences & settings :

Scroll down to Special preferences & accommodations  and expand the box:

Here you’ll see all types of settings you can alter, including your meal preferences, home airport, and more. You’ll want to scroll all the way down to the bottom to the little box marked Enable expert mode :

Make sure you check that box, then hit Save .

So, what, exactly, does United’s expert mode do? Basically, it allows you to view all the available fare classes and types available for any flight that you search. Here’s what a search without expert mode will look like:

And here’s the difference when using expert mode :

As you can see, we’ve highlighted the additional information shown when expert mode is enabled.

Seeing which fare classes are available is all well and good, but what do they mean, and how do they apply to upgrades using your PlusPoints? We’re glad you asked.

United uses 3 separate fare codes to identify upgrade availability:

• PN — Business and first class upgrades available exclusively to United’s top-tier Global Services elite members
• PZ — Business and first class upgrades available for PlusPoints upgrades from Premier Platinum and Premier 1K elite members, as well as any mileage upgrade awards (MUAs)
• RN — Premium Plus upgrades available for anyone, including both PlusPoints and MUAs

Depending on how you’d like to use your PlusPoints, you can easily determine whether upgrade space is available. You can also see how many seats are left in that fare class. In the above example, there are 9 seats available for upgrade using your PlusPoints, which means you, your spouse, and all your friends can snag business class seats.

So, let’s say that you’ve booked your flight and already placed yourself on the waitlist for an upgrade using your PlusPoints. However, this is a special vacation and you’d love to surprise your spouse with an upgrade. You can search your existing departure dates and airport to find other flights departing on that day. Although your exact flight may not have availability, others might. Expert mode will be able to display that information for you in a single search, thereby giving you the ability to change your flight to one with immediate upgrade availability.

Bottom Line: United’s expert mode allows you to view all available fare classes for a flight, including upgrade space for both business and premium economy. 

This last option is last for a reason. It’s not 100% perfect, but can be helpful when looking to narrow down likely upgrade availability, especially when you have flexible dates. Although United doesn’t necessarily correlate upgrade space with saver award availability, you can use award availability calendars to spot likely dates for upgrade availability . There are a few different ways to effectively check award seats with United.

Using United’s Flexible Search

United actually has a fairly robust award search system that is both intuitive and easy to use. When searching via flexible dates, United will present you with a month-by-month calendar that’ll display both economy and premium saver award space.

In order to find this, you’ll first want to log in to your United account. Then you’ll need to navigate to United’s home page. On this page, you’ll see the search box for flights. Here, you’ll want to input your information, including departure airport, destination, and dates of travel. You’ll also want to ensure that Book with miles and Flexible dates  are both selected. Finally, make sure to set your search to business class flights.

Once you hit Find flights , United will pull up its monthly calendar for you:

This search function will bring up the award availability calendar for the entire year , making this a quick and easy way to spot possible upgrade space. You can also opt to search exclusively for nonstop flights, as we’ve highlighted above. From this calendar, you can pick specific dates that feature Saver Awards for premium cabins.

Note that United doesn’t differentiate partner-operated flights versus its own metal on these results, so you’ll need to check individually to ensure the flight you want to upgrade is available.

Once you’ve found an eligible United flight with Saver Award seats available, you can then go back and search that exact date and flight for upgrade space.

As we can see in the above screenshot, there is indeed 1 seat available for immediate upgrade using your PlusPoints.

Using SeatSpy

SeatSpy is another option for those looking to search for award availability with United. Although this service isn’t free (for business class searches, though you can search economy class seats for free), it can save you some serious time and effort when it comes down to looking for flights.

Why? Because it’ll display for you the number of miles you’ll need to redeem for your award flight. United charges different amounts for its own flights versus partner-operated flights , which makes using SeatSpy an excellent way to filter out flights that are ineligible for PlusPoints.

SeatSpy will cost you $3.99 per month, but it delivers an entire year’s worth of results in 1 search. It also allows you to set up alerts in case any award seats open up.

Once you’ve logged in to your SeatSpy account, you’ll want to conduct a search for the route you need, including your departure airport, destination, and class of service. Here, you’ll want to make sure you check the BusinessFirst  cabin:

Depending on whether you’re looking at one-way or round-trip flights, SeatSpy will then generate a calendar for you:

As you can see, there are business or first class Saver Award seats available throughout October. By hovering over the dates, SeatSpy will show you how many miles each ticket costs:

United is charging 70,000 miles for this one-way ticket from Tokyo (HND) to San Francisco (SFO). This is in line with the standard Saver Award rate for United-operated flights to/from Tokyo. Clicking on SeatSpy’s link will take you to United’s website with the available flight results:

And then searching that flight in cash will give you this:

According to the search results, there are 3 seats available for an upgrade with your PlusPoints.

Hot Tip: Be aware that SeatSpy doesn’t show seats that are available exclusively to United MileagePlus Premier members.

Where SeatSpy really shines, as we mentioned above, is by showing you when flights are operated by partners and thus aren’t eligible for PlusPoints redemptions (with the exception of a few partner airlines):

Seatspy is showing us that the cost for this award seat is 88,000 United miles . This is the rate that United will typically charge for Saver Awards on partner airlines to and from Tokyo. And it’s true — this is a flight operated by ANA:

Because we can search an entire year at once and see the mileage cost by simply hovering over results, we can quickly and easily sift United-operated flights from partner-operated flights.

Bottom Line: Although searching available award space isn’t a foolproof method to finding upgrade space availability, doing so can help you narrow down possible dates when using your PlusPoints for immediate upgrades. 

When To Use Your PlusPoints

Do you always want to use your PlusPoints for an upgrade? No, not really. There are plenty of good uses of PlusPoints and several terrible ones. You’ll only earn a certain amount of PlusPoints when you gain elite status, and although you can always earn more by flying, the cost to do so really adds up. Let’s take a look at some good and bad examples of using your PlusPoints.

The best use of your PlusPoints is going to be on long-haul international flights. This is because United is going to charge you 40 PlusPoints to upgrade to business whether you’re on a 7-hour journey from New York (EWR) to London (LHR), or a 14-hour trek from San Francisco (SFO) to Tel Aviv (TLV).

Not all business class seats are created equal, and nowhere is this more true than United’s Polaris business class . Introduced a few years ago, the new Polaris seats are configured in a 1-2-1 formation that guarantees total privacy:

United’s old seats, meanwhile, are still advertised as Polaris. You won’t be told this when you’re booking — and using your PlusPoints — so you’ll need to check the seat map for yourself. The old United seats are in a 2-2-2 configuration whose window seats don’t allow direct aisle access:

You’re going to pay the same price whether you’re in the better seats or not. Do yourself a favor and save those PlusPoints for the updated Polaris pods.

Elite members are eligible for complimentary upgrades on tons of different United flights, including those throughout the continental U.S. (excluding premium transcontinental routes), between the West Coast and Hawaii, to Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, and Oceania (excluding Tahiti). Using PlusPoints on flights where you may already be upgraded — for free — isn’t a great use. The only time this makes sense is if you’re trying to guarantee an upgrade before you’re flying .

Premier 1K elite members can expect to see their CPUs clearing up to 96 hours before their flight, while Premier Platinum will begin clearing 72 hours prior to departure.

United also features the option to skip the waitlist on specific routes. Unfortunately, to do so is expensive. As we showed above, the standard cost to upgrade looks like this:

• Discount Economy to Polaris : 80 PlusPoints
• Economy to Polaris : 40 PlusPoints
• Economy to Premium Plus : 20 PlusPoints

Skip the waitlist, however, looks like this:

• Economy to Polaris : 110 PlusPoints
• Economy to Premium Plus : 70 PlusPoints

In this case, you’re paying nearly 3 times the amount of PlusPoints in order to guarantee your upgrade to Polaris — and don’t even get us started on those Premium Economy upgrades.

We showed you above that there are 2 different rates you’ll pay to upgrade to Polaris depending on which fare class you book.

• Discounted Economy : (S, T, L, K, G) 80 PlusPoints
• Economy : (Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W) 40 PlusPoints

It’s double the cost to use PlusPoints when upgrading from discounted economy versus regular economy. At first, booking the cheapest economy ticket available may be appealing, but if you’re looking to use your PlusPoints to upgrade, consider spending the extra couple hundred dollars on a more expensive economy fare and saving yourself those PlusPoints. It’s the difference between scoring 1 long-haul international business class upgrade or 2 .

United’s PlusPoints program is fairly easy to use, though there are plenty of ways to scour the system for the best chances of upgrades. Whether you’re looking to guarantee an upgrade before your flight or want to change your tickets to apply your PlusPoints, take advantage of these techniques so that you can enjoy that Champagne and those sweet, sweet pajamas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is united pluspoints.

PlusPoints are the flexible upgrade currency United awards its top-tier elite members. They can be used to upgrade from economy or premium economy to business or first class.

How do I earn PlusPoints on United?

PlusPoints are automatically granted to elite members when they earn their status. Premier Platinum members receive 40 PlusPoints, while Premier 1K members get an additional 280 points (320 points total). You can also earn additional PlusPoints by flying more.

How can I get a free upgrade on United?

Those who have any level of elite status with United, including Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum, and Premier 1K, are eligible for complimentary upgrades. PlusPoints, however, are only given to Premier Platinum members and above.

Do United PlusPoints expire?

Yes, PlusPoints expire at the same time that your elite status expires.

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About Carissa Rawson

Carissa served in the U.S. Air Force where she developed her love for travel and new cultures. She started her own blog and eventually joined The Points Guy. Since then, she’s contributed to Business Insider, Forbes, and more.

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Can You Book a Coach Award Flight and Upgrade Using Cash or Miles?

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Million Mile Secrets reader, Matt , commented :

Is there a way to get a coach flight with miles and then use cash or miles to upgrade to Economy Plus?

Great question, Matt!

Each airline has different rules for upgrading your seat on an award flight.

In many cases, you can pay cash to upgrade at the time you book your flight.  Or you’ll have the option to upgrade when you check-in.

And some airlines allow you to use miles or points   to upgrade to a more comfortable extra legroom seat on a coach award flight.

I’ll explain the upgrade policy on coach award tickets for Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, and United Airlines .

Upgrade Award Flight

Recently, I shared a  step-by-step guide that explains how to purchase a seat upgrade from coach to Economy Plus on  paid flights.

But what if you use miles instead of cash to book a coach award flight?

Unless you have elite status with an airline, you’ll usually only have the option to select a regular coach seat.  To upgrade to Economy Plus, you’ll have to pay cash or use more miles .

1.   Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines introduced Economy Plus seats in January 2017 .  They call it Premium Class.  In these seats, you’ll get:

• 4 inches of extra legroom
• Complimentary drinks (including alcohol) and snacks
• Early boarding

You’ll be able to pay cash to upgrade your award seat to Premium Class.  The cost depends on the length of the flight, but will range from $15 to $79.

There’s no option to use Alaska Airlines miles to upgrade to Premium Class.  But the program is just starting out, so there’s hope for the future!

2.   American Airlines

When you book the cheapest American Airlines award flights (“MileSAAver” rate), you will NOT be able to upgrade to Economy Plus seats, even if you’re willing to pay cash.

This is unfortunate, because most other airlines give you the option to at least pay for an upgrade.  Although I understand it’s a way to save extra legroom seats for folks with American Airlines elite status.

One suggestion for an Economy Plus seat is to befriend the gate agent on the day of your flight.  You never know what can happen if you ask nicely!

Delta gives folks the option to  use miles to get an Economy Plus seat.

At the time of booking an award flight, you’ll have the option to choose between a seat in coach (“Main Cabin”) or Economy Plus (“Delta Comfort+”).

For example, I searched a one-way flight from Seattle to Los Angeles.  To get an Economy Plus seat, you’ll pay an extra 4,000 Delta miles on this flight.

You can NOT pay cash to upgrade to Economy Plus on an award flight!

4.   JetBlue

When you book a JetBlue award flight, you can pay cash or use points to upgrade to an Economy Plus seat (aka “Even More”).

The amount you pay will depend on the flight.

For example, I searched a one-way award flight from New York (JFK) to Orlando.  The award flight costs 18,000 JetBlue points.

When selecting a seat, there’s an option to pay $40 or use 500 JetBlue points to upgrade to an Economy Plus seat.

Using 500 JetBlue points to get even more legroom is a terrific deal!

5.   United Airlines

You can only upgrade an United Airlines coach award flight to Economy Plus by paying cash .  The cost of the upgrade varies on each flight.

United Airlines even charges different amounts for certain Economy Plus seats.  For example, Economy Plus seats in the front rows might be more expensive than later rows.

Here’s a sample award flight that was previously booked.  To upgrade to Economy Plus on this flight, you can pay $39+.

Instead of paying for an upgrade on each flight, remember you can also purchase an Economy Plus subscription .

Of course, do the math to see if you’ll save money with a subscription.

Get Free Upgrades When You Pay With Certain Credit Cards

These credit cards offer statement credits for travel and airline incidentals  that can cover your seat upgrade cost

• Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard
• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Citi Prestige® Card
• Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card
• The Platinum Card® from American Express

With the  Barclaycard Arrival Plus card, you can use Barclaycard Arrival miles to offset the cost of a seat upgrade.  Just pay for the upgrade.  Then redeem your points online!

The  Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers a credit of $300 for travel purchases each card member year.  So you’ll see an automatic statement credit after paying for an upgrade with this card.

The Citi Prestige  card offers folks a  $250 statement credit for flight related expenses (including upgrades!) each calendar year.  The credit is  automatically applied  to your statement after you make eligible purchases.

Or you can use the $300 annual travel credit  with the   Chase Ritz-Carlton card  to cover the cost of your seat upgrade.

But remember the credit is NOT automatic.  You’ll have to  contact Chase at the number on the back of your Ritz-Carlton card to request a statement credit.  And the request MUST be made within 4 billing cycles of the purchase date.

It’s also possible to apply the  AMEX Platinum  $200 airline fee credit for a seat upgrade.  Technically, upgrades are excluded from earning the credit.  But many folks report getting reimbursed for upgrades in the past.

Bottom Line

Each airline has a different policy for upgrading your seat on a coach award flight to Economy Plus:

• Alaska Airlines and United Airlines allow you to pay cash to upgrade
• Delta lets folks use miles to book an Economy Plus seat
• With JetBlue, you can pay cash or use points to get an extra legroom seat
• And American Airlines does NOT  allow folks to pay cash or use miles to upgrade to Economy Plus

When paying cash for an upgrade, consider using cards like the  Chase Sapphire Reserve  or  Citi Prestige .  Because these cards offer  automatic statement credits for seat upgrade purchases.

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Ask a Travel Nerd: How I Introduce Friends to Award Travel

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I’ve been an enthusiastic award traveler for over a decade, using points and miles earned from credit cards to book flights, hotels and more. Award travel has granted me experiences that would have otherwise been over my budget, helping me explore the world, spend time with loved ones and get where I’m going in comfort.

I’m grateful for my hobby and eager to share it with curious friends and family. However, award travel has complexities and pitfalls that make it risky.

I’ve learned over the years that introducing others to award travel requires a degree of care, so here are five guidelines I use when I welcome new players to the points and miles game.

1. Set realistic expectations

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average U.S. household spent over $1,850 on transportation and lodging for out-of-town trips in 2022. With that figure in mind, I’m not surprised people commonly get into award travel as a way to cut costs. But while “get a credit card and travel for free” sounds alluring, the reality is it’s not free and not that simple.

Booking with points and miles takes varying degrees of effort, depending on where you want to go and how luxuriously you want to travel. In addition to planning your itinerary, you’ll have to figure out which airline and hotel programs you’ll use to book it.

Once you earn enough points and miles, there’s no guarantee the airplane seat or hotel night will be available. Even when they are, booking them may involve out-of-pocket costs, such as taxes, fuel surcharges or resort fees . In short, it’s no sure bet.

To manage expectations, I paint an honest picture of award travel. While it’s not a golden ticket to first class seats and presidential suites, it can help you travel for less.

2. Start small

Since I started collecting points and miles in 2010, I’ve opened over 80 credit cards in pursuit of sign-up bonuses, spending rewards and other benefits. I've sometimes averaged more than one new credit card per month.

I can handle that volume because I’ve worked up to it, learning how to manage my credit and loyalty accounts over the years. But a beginner attempting that same pace would be like a student driver entering a Formula One race.

I encourage newbies to start small and set an achievable travel goal (like booking one flight or hotel stay with points) and figure out how best to meet it. That narrow focus provides an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of award travel without getting overwhelmed. If things go well, ramping up is easy. If not, the cost of failure is low.

3. Emphasize good financial habits

You’re not likely to ding your credit score by trying chess or snorkeling, but getting into award travel generally involves opening (and monitoring) various financial and loyalty accounts.

Richard Kerr, vice president of travel at Bilt Rewards, says that award travelers must set their priorities appropriately.

“Rewards never outweigh interest and fees,” Kerr said, who adds that it's important to make sure "the well-being of your personal finances always comes first in your pursuit of points and miles.”

According to data from the Federal Reserve, credit card annual percentage rates averaged more than 20% in 2023. Meanwhile, when redeemed for travel, most points and miles are worth just 1 to 2 cents.

Mismanaging accounts can be costly, so I stress the importance of organization and fiscal responsibility. I implore new award travelers to pay their credit card balances on time and in full and warn them against overspending. I also offer tips for keeping track of accounts and due dates and share my organizational tools where needed.

4. Follow along 

Points and miles can open a lot of doors, but throwing folks in the deep end to fend for themselves can do more harm than good.

Once I introduce someone to award travel, I feel some responsibility for the outcome, so I offer my continued assistance as needed to help them stay afloat.

I try to proactively check in with folks about their progress and ensure they’re meeting spending requirements, managing accounts and avoiding unnecessary costs. If all goes well initially, I keep them apprised of future opportunities (like award sales or outsized credit card bonuses ).

5. Don’t be pushy

The prospect of traveling at a heavy discount has the ring of a late-night infomercial, making many folks distrustful of it initially. I talk about award travel without sounding like I’m selling something. I speak plainly, avoid overhyping and never force details on disinterested parties.

On a related note, I’m upfront about any way I stand to gain personally. For example, I always disclose when a credit card offer earns me a referral bonus (even though I send my friends only the best available offers anyway).

Finally, I don’t ask for anything in return — my help comes with no strings attached.

on American Express' website

on Chase's website

on Citibank's application

Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spend on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

On a similar note...

How to unlock additional award availability with United Airlines

If you're having difficulty finding saver award availability with United Airlines, you're not alone.

Ever since United MileagePlus scrapped its official award charts , saver awards (the seats that require fewer miles and are also available to partner airlines) have felt harder to find. Saver award space greatly affects the value of your award redemption, as dynamically priced awards can surpass 50,000 miles for a one-way domestic, economy-class flight (though even prices for saver seats are subject to devaluations — as we saw recently ).

Today, we'll explore an exclusive benefit that enables United MileagePlus elite members and eligible cobranded credit card holders to access hidden saver awards on United and United Express flights.

Who has access to United's expanded saver awards?

There are two paths to access expanded saver awards on United flights: United cobranded credit cards and elite status.

If you're the primary cardholder of a United Explorer Card , United Business Card , United Quest Card or United Club Infinite Card , you can access expanded economy-class saver awards, giving you access to the XN fare class . United releases more seats to the XN fare than the X fare (the standard fare class for economy-class saver awards).

United Premier Silver and Gold members have the same XN fare class access to expanded economy-class saver awards. In contrast, Premier Platinum, 1K and Global Services members also have access to expanded business- and first-class saver awards, with access to the IN fare class. As you may have expected, United generally releases more seats to the IN fare than the I fare (the standard fare class for business-class and domestic first-class saver awards).

The expanded saver award benefit is only eligible for MileagePlus reservations, so even if you're a United cardholder or Premier member, you can't unlock additional award availability when booking through a partner like Air Canada Aeroplan or Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles .

Related: The best websites for searching Star Alliance award availability

Searching for expanded saver award availability

If you're an eligible United credit card holder or Premier member, go to united.com and sign into your MileagePlus account. Once you've signed in, enter your search details. You'll see "Special member pricing" listed under the flight number and the price slashed out when there's an XN fare available.

However, non-cardholders will see this flight price as follows.

Here's how it looks when there's an IN fare available. Again, the IN fare is only available to Premier Platinum, 1K and Global Services members.

For those with no status (or lower-tier Premier Silver or Premier Gold status), that 80,000-mile price for business class won't appear.

Note that you must log in to see any applicable discounts, but there is a different way to check this inventory.

Another way to see XN and IN fares

If you want to know if your flight has XN or IN fare space, you'll need to enable "expert mode ."

Once you've enabled expert mode, you can search for a cash ticket and see the available fare classes by selecting "Details" under your desired flight.

"XN9" means nine or more economy-class saver award seats are available for eligible cobranded card holders and Premier members. "X0" indicates there are no standard economy awards, which means a general MileagePlus member without an eligible cobranded card would need to pay a higher price. Additionally, this means that this flight can't be booked using a Star Alliance partner award currency.

Here's the same search for the flight from Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) to Washington's Dulles International Airport (IAD).

Note that "IN9" means that there are at least nine seats available for travelers with Premier Platinum (or higher) status, whereas "I0" means that no saver-level awards are open for other travelers.

Related: Last-minute strategies for earning United Premier elite status

Waitlisting business- and first-class saver awards

Few know about this, but you can join a waitlist for business-class saver awards if there is saver availability in economy class. According to United's air award rules , you can call and book a coach award at the business saver level while being waitlisted for a business-class seat.

Once on the waitlist, you should receive an upgrade if a business-class (or domestic first-class) seat becomes available as a saver award. If your upgrade doesn't clear before check-in, you will be prioritized toward the top of the upgrade waitlist . Technically, it's not considered an upgrade since you have already redeemed the required miles for the higher fare class.

This greatly improves your chances of being cleared for the next class of service. If your upgrade doesn't clear, any additional mileage initially used for the business-class seat will be refunded to you.

Bottom line

If you're having issues finding saver award space, an eligible United credit card might help you unlock more value from your miles. With the enhanced availability of saver awards and the option to join the waitlist for saver business class, United's cobranded credit cards and elite status play a crucial role in maximizing your miles.

Additional reporting by Benji Stawski.