United Airlines announced changes to its MileagePlus frequent flyer program effective beginning in the coming year. The carrier will discontinue the option for members to earn elite status through a combination of flight segments and points, instead requiring all Premier status achievement to be based solely on Premier qualifying points.
Under the new framework, customers seeking the lowest elite tier, Premier Silver, must accumulate 6,000 qualifying points annually, eliminating the previous alternative of combining 15 flight segments with 5,000 points. The points requirements for Premier Gold and Platinum tiers will remain unchanged from the previous points-only pathway. However, the threshold for the airline’s top tier, Premier 1K, is increasing to 32,000 qualifying points from 28,000 in the current year.
Members continue to earn one Premier qualifying point per dollar spent on United base fares and upgrades, as well as for every 100 miles redeemed for travel on United flights. United Chase credit card holders also accumulate points through card spending. Regardless of points earned, flyers must complete at least four flights on United or United Express aircraft annually to maintain Premier status eligibility.
United’s President of MileagePlus characterized the flight segments requirement as outdated, stating the airline sought to establish a single consistent metric across customer engagement and flight activity. The carrier also announced that cardholders holding Premier status will receive an automatic 5% head start in points toward their prior-year status level when a new calendar year begins.
This adjustment follows other recent modifications to United’s frequent flyer structure, including earlier changes to how miles are earned and reductions in basic economy earnings, bringing the airline in line with comparable practices at competitor carriers.
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