Late last year, United MileagePlus made some changes to its benefits and elite status — and they weren’t all good. Still, United Airlines miles are easy to earn thanks to a suite of United credit cards and a couple of major transfer partners. You also can redeem miles across United’s vast network of domestic and international routes or on over two dozen Star Alliance partners.
However, there are several quirks to understand when booking award flights with United miles. Plus, there are also other ways to redeem United miles, but you typically won’t get a high redemption value.
Let’s explore how to redeem United MileagePlus miles for United flights, partner flights, travel, merchandise and more.
Redeem United miles for United flights
United operates one of the largest international and domestic flight networks, with hundreds of destinations from which to choose — and that’s not including its partner flights.
United uses dynamic award pricing, which is a fancy way of saying United can charge whatever it wants whenever it wants for any flight. If you’re curious about how many miles it will cost to fly on United Airlines, you’ll have to search for your desired route and date.
United gives you the option to book flights with money, miles or a combination of the two. However, since Money + Miles tickets provide an unimpressive redemption rate of 1 cent per mile (or less), we don’t recommend this route. Instead, we’ll focus on getting the most from your miles by booking award tickets entirely with miles.
How to book award flights on United’s website
United’s website is one of the best for finding award availability, so you can book most Star Alliance awards by simply searching online or in the app — no phone calls are required.
You can search for award flights without logging in, but if you have United Premier status or a United credit card, you’ll want to log in before searching. Cardholders and elite members gain access to additional (or discounted) award inventory on United-operated flights.
Head to United’s website, enter your flight search criteria and check “Book with miles.” Then, click the “Find flights” button to run your search.
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Above the search results, you’ll find prices for three days before and after your chosen date. You can also toggle between money and miles in the drop-down menu at the top.
To see award prices across an entire month, choose “Advanced search” in the search box and check the “Flexible dates” box. You can also choose your preferred cabin.
A calendar will pop up, with the lowest prices for that month in green. Click on a date to explore flight options.
Once you find an award you like, click the box containing the price and follow the on-screen prompts to book it with miles. You’ll have to pay for the taxes and fees in cash; we recommend using a credit card that earns bonus miles on airfare and provides travel insurance.
Related: Does paying the taxes and fees on award flights trigger trip protections?
Redeem United miles on partner flights
United is a member of Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance. Its members include Avianca, Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines; check out our Star Alliance guide for a full list. United has an impressive portfolio of nonalliance partners, too, including Aer Lingus, Emirates and Hawaiian Airlines. You can book partner flights with United miles through United’s site, as described above.
One of the biggest upsides of the MileagePlus program is that it doesn’t impose fuel surcharges on partner award tickets. Booking through other programs (like ANA Mileage Club) can add hundreds of dollars in taxes and fees. Plus, redeeming United miles for partner-operated flights to Europe can potentially save you thousands of miles.
Don’t forget that you can essentially add a free stopover to select round-trip tickets with United’s Excursionist Perk, which applies to both United-operated and partner flights.
Related: United’s best-kept elite status secret: How to earn PQPs faster with partner flights
Redeem United miles for travel, merchandise and more
You can also redeem United MileagePlus miles for United Club lounge memberships, hotel stays and Wi-Fi — but we seldom recommend doing this. These redemptions usually yield a value of 1 cent per mile or less, well below TPG’s March 2025 valuation of 1.35 cents each for United miles.
That said, here’s a quick look at these other travel redemption options.
Redeem United miles for hotels
You can earn 2 United miles per dollar spent on paid hotel bookings through United Hotels. Or, toggle the “Use MileagePlus miles” button in the top right corner to book your stay with miles.
You won’t get the most value for your miles this way. In the example above, a one-night stay at the Luxor Hotel and Casino costs 21,894 miles per night after taxes and fees, or just $220 if you pay in cash. That comes out to roughly 1 cent per mile. You’re better off paying cash and earning miles on the purchase than redeeming them for award flights.
If you hold MileagePlus Premier status, you can transfer United miles to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1 ratio. This isn’t a good deal either — TPG values Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each per our March 2025 valuations, which is roughly half our valuation of United miles. Still, it’s a good option to have if you’re short a few Bonvoy points for a high-value Marriott redemption.
Related: Quick Points: Earn up to 25 points per dollar spent on Southwest Hotels stays
Make inflight purchases with United miles
Though United has announced plans to bring free Wi-Fi to every flight, for now, you still have to pay for this privilege — and you can do so with miles. The cost varies by flight length; for instance, on U.S. domestic and short-haul international flights, Wi-Fi costs $8 or 800 miles for MileagePlus members. You can also purchase a Wi-Fi subscription for $49 or 7,500 miles per month.
Similarly, you can pay for inflight snacks with your miles. A $5 can of Pringles costs 590 miles, while a $10 cup of chardonnay will set you back 1,180 miles.
These options give you a value of about 0.85 cents per mile, so we recommend saving your miles for better redemptions.
Related: Score free and discounted inflight Wi-Fi with these credit cards
Upgrade your travel experience with United miles
United offers a few other travel-related redemptions, though none are a great value.
You can redeem 11,000 United miles for a payment code that covers the $78 TSA PreCheck fee for new and renewal applications, giving you a value of 0.7 cents per mile. Individual United Club lounge memberships cost $750 or 94,000 miles per year, giving you a value of about 0.8 cents per mile. All-access memberships cost between $1,200 (150,000 miles) and $1,400 (175,000 miles), depending on your elite status, giving you a value of 0.8 cents per mile.
In these cases, you’re better off getting a credit card that covers the TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee or provides lounge access. The following United cards offer one or both of these perks, plus a valuable welcome bonus:
- United℠ Explorer Card (see rates and fees): Earn 80,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months from opening an account, with a $0 annual fee the first year, then $150.
- United Quest℠ Card (see rates and fees): Earn 90,000 bonus miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after spending $4,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months from opening an account.
- United Club℠ Card (see rates and fees): Earn 95,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months from opening an account.
- United℠ Business Card (see rates and fees): Earn 125,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months from opening an account.
Lastly, you can book seat upgrades with miles. For instance, on an upcoming flight from Denver to London, you can purchase various premium seats for roughly 1 cent per mile.
Related: The ultimate guide to getting upgraded on United Airlines
Redeem United miles for merchandise and gift cards
You can redeem United miles for merchandise, such as electronics, luggage and home goods, via United’s online store. You’ll generally get a rock-bottom redemption value — for example, a pair of Bose QuietComfort headphones costs 53,900 miles. These headphones retail for $349, giving you a value of just 0.66 cents per mile.
We recommend earning miles with the MileagePlus X app, which lets you purchase gift cards for immediate use and earn bonus miles, but we don’t recommend spending your miles with it. You’ll get around 0.3 cents per mile in value this way, making it one of the worst possible redemptions you can make.
Related: We tested the best noise-canceling headphones for travel
Donate your United miles to charity
Finally, you can donate your United miles to select charities through Miles on a Mission. This is a good option for those who want to liquidate their mileage balance and give to a good cause. That said, it’s unclear how much money per mile will be donated to your charity of choice.
Related: How you can donate your points and miles to charity
Bottom line
There are many ways to redeem your United MileagePlus miles, but you’re generally best off booking award flights. Thankfully, booking these tickets online with United and its partners is relatively easy. And with the ability to transfer credit card points from Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards to United at a 1:1 ratio, you can quickly boost your account and unlock some stellar redemptions.
If you’re contemplating applying for a United credit card, there are several attractive welcome bonuses that could make it worth adding one to your wallet.