United Miles Calculators
United Miles Calculators for calculating the average cash value and transferring rewards. Get the details on how to earn United Miles using travel partners.
Program Details
United operates flights to 231 destinations and 125 international destinations in 48 countries across five continents. They operate out of Chicago, Illinois with their largest hub being Chicago-O'Hare International Airport (ORD). In addition to Chicago, they have hubs at:
- Houston George Bush International Airport (IAH)
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
- Denver International Airport (DEN)
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Star Alliance
United Airlines is a founding member of the Star Alliance. United MileagePlus members are able to earn and redeem United Miles flying other airlines that are within this alliance. Star alliance consists of 26 airlines which are:
- Aegean
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- ANA (All Nippon Airways)
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian
- Avianca
- Brussels Airlines
- CopaAirlines
- Croatia Airlines
- Egyptair
- Ethiopian
- Eva Air
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Scandinavian Airlines
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- Swiss
- TAP Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
Credit Card Rewards Calculators
There are no credit cards available for United members based in Canada. Your best option for earning United Miles outside of flying will be by spending with United's partners, transferring rewards to your United MileagePlus account using transfer partners, and buying United Miles. For credit cards that allow you to earn rewards transferable to United, you can change the 'View Rewards As...' option to see how many United Miles you can earn with that credit card.
You can compare the results side by side any credit cards featured on the site to find out which earns you the most rewards and the best return. If cookies are enabled, all spend entered (primary/first column only) will carry over to all credit card calculators on the website.
For United specifically, you'll want a credit card that earns a great return on general airline spend with rewards that can be redeemed towards United and other airlines.
Redeeming Rewards & Cash Value
United Miles can be redeemed for award flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and gift cards. Miles can also be put towards merchandise awards, apple products, United subscriptions, and TSA PreCheck.
Transfer Partners
United Miles can be hard to earn if you're based in Canada since there's no good rewards card that earn you a decent amount of United Miles on everyday spend. If you need to top off your United Miles account, you have a large handful of hotel programs that you can use to do so.
The United Miles Transfer Calculator will calculate the transfer of rewards from partner programs to your United account. Enter any amount of United Miles in the field below to see the amount of rewards you'll need in the partnering program to equal the value you specified in the field.
Earning With Partner Credit Cards
The list of cards below consist of credit cards that earn United Miles directly and credit cards that earn points with partners that you can transfer to your United MileagePlus account. Earning rates for transfer partner credit cards listed in the table reflect the transfer ratios (as defined in the calculator listed in the previous section above).
Earning Rewards
United Miles are generally earned flying United Airlines, Star Alliance, and other select airline partners. Miles can also be earned booking other forms of travel such as hotels and car rentals, shopping online, and even dining out.
United Airline Partners
The most direct way to earn United Miles is by flying United, United Express, and United airline partners. The amount of miles you earn will be based on the type of ticket you've purchased, the ticketing airline, and the operating airline. You will also earn additional miles based on your United Premier status in the United MileagePlus program.
All in all, you can earn United Miles flying the following airlines:
- Aegean
- Aer Lingus
- Aeromar
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air Dolomiti
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- ANA (All Nippon Airways)
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian
- Avianca
- Azul
- Boutique Air
- Brussels Airlines
- Cape Air
- CopaAirlines
- Croatia Airlines
- Edelweiss
- Egyptair
- Ethiopian
- Eurowings
- Eva Air
- Hawaiian Airlines
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Olympic Air
- Scandinavian Airlines
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Silver Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- Swiss
- TAP Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
- Vistara
Earning miles with these airlines will require you to enter your United MileagePlus membership number when booking your flight.
United Hotel Partners
You can earn United Miles by booking hotels through the United Hotels portal, booking direct with hotels and setting your earning preferences to United Airlines, or earning hotel rewards points and transferring those points to your United MileagePlus account.
| Hotel Partner | Book/Earn |
|---|---|
| ALL Accor Live Limitless | Accor Point Transfer |
| Hilton Honors | Hilton Point Transfer |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Marriott Point Transfer or Change Marriott Bonvoy Earning Preference |
| IHG Rewards Club | IHG Point Transfer or Change IHG Rewards Club Earning Preference |
| Choice Privileges | Choice Point Transfer or Change Choice Privileges Earning Preferences |
| World of Hyatt | Hyatt Point Transfer or Change World of Hyatt Earning Preferences |
| Wyndham Rewards | Wyndham Point Transfer or Change Wyndham Rewards Earning Preferences |
| Radisson Rewards | Radisson Point Transfer or Change Radisson Rewards Earning Preferences |
| Shangri-La | Shangri-La Point Transfer or Change Golden Circle Earning Preferences |
| Rocketmiles | Book via Rocketmiles-United Link |
| PointsHound | Book with PointsHound and set your program to United MileagePlus |
Marriott United Partnership
If you're part of the Marriott Bonvoy Program, you'll benefit heavily from flying United. Marriott and United are partnered up through the RewardsPlus program. This grants a numerous amount of benefits for those who are part of both programs especially for those with elite status in either program.
When you have a confirmed flight reservation with United, you can book your Marriott hotel through the special United-Marriott Bonus promo link to earn bonus United Miles through the RewardsPlus program. This is in addition to the United Miles you'll earn on your flight and the Marriott Bonvoy Points you'll earn on your stay. You also will still receive all your Marriott Bonvoy Benefits if you have elite status with Marriott. There's not really a downside to this so I recommend using this portal whenever booking a trip that involves both United and Marriott.
In addition to earning bonus miles, the RewardsPlus partnership also grants benefits such as complimentary elite status across programs, bonus miles when transferring from Marriott Bonvoy to United and the ability to transfer United Miles to Marriott Bonvoy, and more.
United Transportation Partners
If you need a rental car and you want to earn extra United Miles, you'll be able to solve both problems renting with Hertz and Hertz-owned brands Thrifty and Dollar. This can easily be done using the cars.united.com car rental portal powered by RentalCars.com. You'll earn the most points and benefits when booking with Hertz versus Thrifty and Dollar. Do note that you will be charged a Frequent Flyer Surcharge of $0.75 per day when taking this route with Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty.
Amtrak is also a partner of United.
| Transportation Partner | Book/Earn |
|---|---|
| Hertz | Book via cars.united.com or direct through hertz.com and use the following Hertz codes:
|
| Dollar | Book via cars.united.com |
| Thrifty | Book via cars.united.com |
| Amtrak | Earn when traveling Amtrak in the northeast region of the United States |
United Portals
United offers several portals that you can use to earn additional United Miles. This includes United Cruises, United Hotels, United Vacations, and United Shopping.
United Cruises
The United Cruises portal allows you to earn United Miles when booking a cruise. Along with earning United Miles, you'll receive several other benefits when booking through United Cruises which includes the ability to redeem your United Miles for cruise, the ability to use Miles+Cash for your cruise, extra benefits for those with United Premier elite status, and much more.
United Hotels
Booking directly through the United Hotels Portal will earn you 2 United Miles per $1 spent which is not a bad rate for anyone looking to earn United Miles. The portal also provides a few extra benefits for those with United Premier Status so it's worth looking into. The United Hotels portal is powered by Hotels.com so it's easy to use and navigate.
United Vacations
You can book your entire vacation using the United Vacation portal. You'll receive United Miles on your booking and save money on vacation packages that features top hotel brands. You can also reserve your vacation for $250 per person and pay the rest later which can be a useful benefit.
United Shopping
The United MileagePlus Shopping portal allows you to earn United Miles shopping online at top retailers. When you go to the United MileagePlus Shopping portal, you'll have more than 900 stores to shop at. Find the store you want to earn and click 'Shop Now'. You'll be taken to that store's website to shop as normal. Once you make a purchase, the MileagePlus Shopping portal will be notified and you'll receive your United Miles. It's that easy.
Buying Rewards
If transferring points to your United Account is not an option, the next option is buying United Miles. At the standard rate, United Miles costs USD 3.5 cents per mile. In addition to that, you'll have to pay taxes which brings the cost up to about USD 3.762 cents per mile. You can buy as little as 2,000 miles for USD $75.25 and as many as 120,000 miles for USD $4,515. You can buy up to 120,000 United Miles per transaction and up to 175,000 United Miles per year.
| United Miles Cost Cost Per Miles |
|
|---|---|
| 2,000 - 120,000 Miles | USD 3.5 Cents USD 3.762 Cents w/ Taxes |
United Miles are on sale several times per year which allows you to purchase United Miles at a heavily discounted price. If you have to buy United Miles, their promotions are the best time to do so.
How To Buy United Miles
- Head over to United's Buy Miles page.
- Log into your United MileagePlus account.
- Select how many United Miles you want to buy.
- Enter your payment information.
- Review the purchase details and agree to the terms and conditions.
- Click Purchase Now.
United Miles will usually post to your account immediately, but it can take up to 48 hours.
Like most program, buying rewards should be kept to a minimum unless you're topping off your account or you can redeem them for more than what you paid for them.
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