United Airlines MileagePlus New PlusPoints Exchange

United Airlines transitioned away from various upgrade instruments to PlusPoints, which MileagePlus members use to upgrade flights. These PlusPoints are not always easy to use. If you pay for the premium cabin to begin with, they offer minimal benefits to the member, but you can […]

Jun 20, 2025 - 14:45

United Airlines transitioned away from various upgrade instruments to PlusPoints, which MileagePlus members use to upgrade flights.

These PlusPoints are not always easy to use. If you pay for the premium cabin to begin with, they offer minimal benefits to the member, but you can now use them for various other purposes as well.

You can access United’s page for Plus Points here.

MileagePlus members can exchange up to 600 PlusPoints per expiration date.

Also, i.e., January 31, 2027, expiring PlusPoints can be used for anything other than upgrades only until March 31, 2026.

There are limits on how many specific conversions you can make:

Benefit	Maximum exchange
TravelBank cash	$200 TravelBank cash
Bonus miles	15,000 miles
Premier qualifying points (PQP)	1,600 PQP
Premier qualifying flights (PQF)	4 PQF
Gifted status – Premier Silver	3 recipients
Gifted status – Premier Gold	2 recipients
Gifted status – Premier Platinum	1 recipient
Gifted status – Premier 1K	1 recipient

United’s Email:

PlusPoints can now be used for perks beyond upgrades.
As you fly toward your MileagePlus® Premier® status goals, we are excited to announce an enhancement to PlusPoints, a benefit that you will enjoy upon reaching Premier Platinum status or higher.*
In addition to being able to use PlusPoints to request premium cabin and seat upgrades, you’ll also be able to customize your Premier experience by exchanging them for various perks**, including:

And, as a Million Miler, don’t forget that this provides the opportunity to gift status to another person in addition to a Million Miler companion. This enhancement makes achieving our top Premier status levels even more rewarding. Keep flying to take advantage of these new ways to use PlusPoints.

Plus Points Exchange Table:

PlusPoints	10	20	40	80	100	160	320	440	600*
Gift Premier status			Silver Max 3x*		Gold Max 2x*			Platinum Max 1x*	1K Max 1x*
TravelBank cash	$20	$40	$80	$160	$200 Max*
Bonus miles	1,500	3,000	6,000	12,000	15,000 Max*
Premier qualifying flights (PQF)						2	4 Max*
Premier qualifying points (PQP)	100	200	400	800	1,000	1,600 Max*

*Maximum allowance of PlusPoints exchanged per PlusPoints expiration date (600 total across all perks per expiration date). For example, if you have 1,000 PlusPoints that expire on January 31, 2027, you may exchange up to 600 of them. Of these PlusPoints, you can use a maximum of 100 PlusPoints for TravelBank cash, 160 PlusPoints for PQP, etc.

Using Plus Points for Upgrades:

PlusPoints	Eligible Upgrade From	To	Flight Type
10	United Premium Plus	United Business®	Short-haul
20	United Economy®	United First® / United Business	Short-haul
	United Economy	United Premium Plus	Short-haul or Long-haul
30	United Premium Plus	United Polaris® Business Class	Long-haul
40	United Economy	United Polaris Business Class	Long-haul
80	Discounted Economy	United Polaris Business Class	Long-haul

Conclusion

It is always beneficial to have more options for using these PlusPoints, which were initially intended only for upgrading flights.

I was a United 1K member for years and have a Millio Miler status with them, which grants a lifetime Premier Gold status that maps to Star Alliance Gold.

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