If you’re a loyal United flyer, you might want to pay attention to this.
The Chicago-based carrier just announced several changes to its premier elite status program, and it’s not necessarily all good news.
The updates start with earning Premier status, which is becoming more difficult next year with newly increased qualifying thresholds. But once you earn status, the benefits can be a little more exciting, especially for those who have struggled to use PlusPoints in the past.
Here’s what you need to know about United’s big Premier program update.
Achieving premier status in 2025
Achieving Premier status next year will be more difficult than ever, as United raise the threshold required to receive elite benefits.
To earn 2025 (valid through Jan. 31, 2027) status, you’ll need Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) and Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs), as you can see in the chart below.
tire | Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) + Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) | Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) only |
---|---|---|
Premier Silver | 5,000 PQP + 15 PQF | 6,000 PQP |
Premier Gold | 10,000 PQP + 30 PQF | 12,000 PQP |
Premier Platinum | 15,000 PQP + 45 PQF | 18,000 PQP |
Premier 1K | 22,000 PQP + 60 PQF | 28,000 PQP |
Note that there are two tracks to attain Premier status. The first combines PQPs and PQFs, and the second is a higher PQP-only goal. Each track requires a minimum of four flights on United or United Express Metal — that is, not on partners.
On average, thresholds are rising by about 25% across the board. That’s pretty significant, especially since the airline’s existing thresholds weren’t very generous. To put some (rough) dollars on these numbers, a traveler would have to spend a whopping $28,000 on United flights to earn Premier 1K status through the PQP-only track.
MileagePlus Chief Operating Officer Luc Bonder told TPG in an interview that the change “is about rewarding the value we give with the value we get and making sure those two things are balanced.”
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It is worth noting that United have not raised the Premier qualifying requirements since then PQPs and PQFs were first introduced in 2019. During the peak pandemic years (2020, 2021 and 2022), United temporarily lowered the status requirements due to lower travel demand, but in 2023, it finally The requirements were first unveiled by him back in 2019 but not actually implemented.
Now the airline is all set to raise the threshold once again.
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Of course, the move will sting for anyone who thinks United’s current needs are already stretched. After all, higher requirements mean you’ll need to spend and fly more to get the position.
However, in recent years the elite has grown. While unlocking elite status may sound good, it’s hard for airlines to deliver the elite benefits they promise when so many members are competing for first-class upgrades or extra-legroom exit row seats.
To that end, Bonder shared that “many of the benefits offered by the Premier program are limited capacity … benefits like upgrades, early boarding experience … if everyone is boarding the plane at the same time, no one will get status.” “
You’ll have to crunch the numbers to see if the new metrics work for your travel patterns. But the move reminds me of the now famous quote from Delta Air Lines, “When everyone is an elite flyer, no one is.”
United adds new ways to redeem PlusPoints
Getting the status will be harder than ever, at least it should be easier to redeem the best benefits of a really high-level status: PlusPoints.
When Premier Platinum and 1K members attain status, they are awarded 40 and 280 PlusPoints respectively. (You also earn 20 PlusPoints for every 3,000 PQP earned over 22,000 flights.)
Since their introduction, PlusPoints have been an upgrade currency, allowing higher-level elites to apply for entry into higher cabins pending their availability.
And in the nearly five years since PlusPoints went into circulation, it’s become more difficult than ever to actually confirm an upgrade. Because premium demand is so high, fewer business-class seats are available for upgrades.
The good news is that instead of letting PlusPoints expire at the end of the year if you can’t confirm an upgrade, United will give you four new additional ways to redeem PlusPoints next year, including:
- PQP or PQF Deposit
- TravelBank Cash
- Bonus miles
- Gifting Premier Status to other MileagePlus members
The airline didn’t have much to share beyond the annoyance. He promised more details about these PlusPoints updates in mid-2025.
“We call the overall strategy ‘PlusPoints Utility,'” Bonder said. He explained that customers have asked for more ways to use their PlusPoints for years, and now the airline is delivering on that with more utility for PlusPoints.
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United Premier Head-Start Bonus
As it has done for the past few years, United will offer existing Premier members a starter pack of PQPs in the new year to give them a head start on qualifying.
Specifically, you will receive the following number of PQPs at the beginning of 2025 (at a yet unknown date) based on the status you achieved in 2024:
- Premier Silver: 300 PQPs
- Premier Gold: 600 PQPs
- Premier Platinum: 900 PQPs
- Premier 1K: 1,400 PQPs
Note that this amount represents an increase of approximately 20% compared to the bonus PQP given last year.
Free PQPs certainly don’t hurt, but they alone won’t do much to help you re-qualify for the position. You’ll still need to do a lot of flying (or swiping down, more) to help you cross the finish line.
This starter bonus effectively makes it a little easier for someone to qualify again. If you are advancing to Premier status for the first time, you will need to earn a full set of PQFs and/or PQPs, as indicated in the table above.
Get premier status from credit card spending
Of the three major US airlines, United is the stingiest in granting status for spending on cobranded credit cards. The airline isn’t doing a 180 next year, but it will at least make it a little easier to leverage your status Your United Credit Card.
For one, United will improve PQP earning rates across all of its credit card portfolios, with the best improvements coming to its top-of-the-line cards.
Note that while the earning rate on Club cards is improving, all other cards will still earn at the same rate as before (it’s just that the earning frequency will be higher). In the past, United offered 25 PQPs for every $500 spent on these cards. Now, the minimum will not be $500.
In addition to the change in earning rates, United will increase the maximum number of PQPs you can earn from certain cards.
- United Club℠ Infinity Card: 15,000 PQP (from 10,000 PQP)
- United Club℠ Business Card: 15.000 PQP (from 1,000 PQP)
- United Quest℠ Card: 9,000 PQP (from 6,000 PQP)
Information for United Club Business Cards is independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bonder explained the rationale behind the move, saying United has historically been the weakest in offering status earnings for cobranded spend.
But now that this segment is more important to the bottom line than ever, the airline is retooling its strategy (but by ceasing to let fliers spend on their way to only top-tier status, a la American).
“We’ve been very intentional and thoughtful about how we’ve integrated the opportunity to earn more on our credit cards. We’ve continued to grow both the rate of earnings and the range of products on which those earnings were relatively thin. Five or six years offers first.”
Speaking about why United doesn’t allow travelers to upgrade to upper-level status, Bonder emphasized that “this is a program that reflects the relationship customers have with United Airlines, and flying is the ultimate reward that all of our travelers have. We see it in all redemption activity.
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The bottom line
United is gearing up for another busy year of travel with some major adjustments to its premier program.
The changes are headlined by the introduction of higher requirements for gaining status and upgrading to Pluspoints. Bonder said the higher requirements are designed in part to help rebalance elite levels.
“This threshold is very much a function of where the market sits today. It’s a function of rent. It’s a function of demand, it’s a function of the population that we see at each of those premier levels. And we’re very confident in what this threshold does. It helps us ensure that the premier population doesn’t swell.”
Although the increased threshold will sting for many, United is sweetening the deal with more ways to use Pluspoints for its best class, such as gifting Premier status and converting them to miles. This should definitely help people use their PlusPoints (instead of letting unused ones expire at the end of the year if an upgrade doesn’t clear up).
Of course, this news will greatly benefit United and its partners. But casual travelers who have earned Gold or Platinum status in past years may want to enjoy those benefits now before they become more difficult to achieve.
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