Exclusive: United Airlines unveils big changes to PlusPoints upgrades

United Airlines is following through on its promise to make PlusPoints far more flexible, but the increased utility is coming at a (steep) cost. The Chicago-based carrier rolled out its highly anticipated updates to how Premier elite members can use PlusPoints on Thursday. The airline is sharing the updates via customer emails, and it also …

Jun 19, 2025 - 17:10

Exclusive: United Airlines unveils big changes to PlusPoints upgrades

United Airlines is following through on its promise to make PlusPoints far more flexible, but the increased utility is coming at a (steep) cost.

The Chicago-based carrier rolled out its highly anticipated updates to how Premier elite members can use PlusPoints on Thursday. The airline is sharing the updates via customer emails, and it also briefed TPG exclusively in advance of the changes.

The good news is that travelers who can’t seem to get their PlusPoints upgrades to clear will have far more uses for this upgrade currency. But, don’t expect this newfound flexibility to come cheaply — or be easily understandable at first glance.

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Here’s everything you need to know.

Exchange PlusPoints for perks

Back in October, United announced that it would debut new ways to use PlusPoints, which have historically been limited to upgrading flights booked with United and select partners.

And now, beginning with the 2025 status year, PlusPoints can be used for the following perks:

TravelBank cash
Bonus miles
Premier qualifying points (PQP)
Gifting Premier status
Premier qualifying flights (PQF)

Note that these new exchange options are limited to PlusPoints earned in the 2025 Premier year and beyond, meaning that those with PlusPoints from last year will be stuck using them exclusively for upgrades.

Each perk requires a different amount of PlusPoints, which I’ll outline below. You can mix and match the exchange of PlusPoints between different perks, but there are some restrictions to keep in mind.

The first is that you’re limited to exchanging 600 eligible PlusPoints per expiration date, meaning that each year you qualify for status, at most 600 PlusPoints can be exchanged — the rest must be used for upgrades.

That said, there aren’t that many members earning more than 600 PlusPoints each year, Jill Doyle, managing director of the MileagePlus program, explained to TPG. (“A fairly small percentage of our program goes above that” were her words.)

Note that each individual perk also has a maximum number of PlusPoints that can be exchanged each year. More on that below.

The second big restriction is that the timeline for exchanging PlusPoints is far shorter than the expiration date of your PlusPoints.

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Each year you earn PlusPoints, you’ll have until March 31 of the year prior to their expiration to exchange them for perks. For example, if you earn PlusPoints in 2025, they will expire on Jan. 31, 2027, but the exchange closes on March 31, 2026, meaning that for the eight months between March 31, 2026, and Jan. 31, 2027, your PlusPoints can exclusively be used for upgrades.

This last restriction is perhaps the most punitive.

Even though United is giving flyers more flexibility to use PlusPoints, you’ll need to make your decision about how many points to exchange well before the end of the year. I guess this will help limit lots of last-minute exchanges in late January when travelers realize how many expiring PlusPoints they have, but it still doesn’t feel like the most flyer-friendly restriction.

“In order to make it really a viable product, we had to put some parameters on it that helps in our planning,” said Doyle. Reading between the lines, it seems like United was worried that it would indeed have way too many exchanges happening at the end of the year.

You’ll be able to process a PlusPoints exchange by visiting this website and natively in the United mobile app.

TravelBank cash

Here are the redemption rates if you want to exchange PlusPoints for TravelBank cash.

10 PlusPoints: $20 TravelBank cash
20 PlusPoints: $40 TravelBank cash
40 PlusPoints: $80 TravelBank cash
80 PlusPoints: $160 TravelBank cash
100 PlusPoints: $200 TravelBank cash

Note that you cannot exchange more than 100 PlusPoints per eligible year for TravelBank cash.

TravelBank cash can be applied to most United flight purchases and acts similar to a gift card. It’s stored directly in your MileagePlus account and will expire one year from the date of deposit.

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Bonus miles

Here are the redemption rates if you want to exchange PlusPoints for MileagePlus miles.

10 PlusPoints: 1,500 MileagePlus miles
20 PlusPoints: 3,000 MileagePlus miles
40 PlusPoints: 6,000 MileagePlus miles
80 PlusPoints: 12,000 MileagePlus miles
100 PlusPoints: 15,000 MileagePlus miles

Note that you cannot exchange more than 100 PlusPoints per eligible year for MileagePlus miles. MileagePlus miles don’t expire, and bonus miles will be posted in the Premier member’s account within three days of selection.

Premier qualifying points (PQPs)

Here are the redemption rates if you want to exchange PlusPoints for Premier qualifying points (PQPs).

10 PlusPoints: 100 PQPs
20 PlusPoints: 200 PQPs
40 PlusPoints: 400 PQPs
80 PlusPoints: 800 PQPs
100 PlusPoints: 1,000 PQPs
160 PlusPoints: 1,600 PQPs

Note that you cannot exchange more than 160 PlusPoints per eligible year for PQPs. The PQPs earned from the exchange will be deposited directly into the Premier member’s account — they cannot be gifted or transferred.

Exchanges made before Dec. 31, 2025, can be applied either to the 2025 or 2026 qualification year, while exchanges made between Jan. 1, 2026, and March 31, 2026, will automatically be applied to the 2026 qualification year.

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Gifting Premier status

Here are the redemption rates if you want to exchange PlusPoints for a gift of Premier status.

40 PlusPoints: Premier Silver status
100 PlusPoints: Premier Gold status
440 PlusPoints: Premier Platinum status
600 PlusPoints: Premier 1K status

Note that you can only select up to three Premier Silver gifts, up to two Premier Gold gifts and just one gift of Premier Platinum and/or Premier 1K each year.

Gifted status will be valid through the date when the PlusPoints would have expired, and members receiving a Premier gift will not earn PlusPoints unless they also hit the published qualification criteria for that tier of status.

Premier qualifying flights (PQFs)

Here are the redemption rates if you want to exchange PlusPoints for Premier qualifying flights (PQFs).

160 PlusPoints: 2 PQFs
320 PlusPoints: 4 PQFs

Note that you cannot exchange more than 320 PlusPoints per eligible year for PQFs. The PQFs earned from the exchange will be deposited directly into the Premier member’s account — they cannot be gifted or transferred.

All PQFs earned from an exchange will be valid for the 2026 qualification year, no matter whether they were selected in 2025 or 2026.

Is this a good deal?

PlusPoints upgrades vary in cost depending on the route and cabin class purchased, and while they can provide great value when they help you successfully clear into a higher cabin, many flyers have complained in recent years that they find themselves stuck on the upgrade list with no chance of clearing, especially during peak travel periods.

Many travelers then let their PlusPoints expire each year, which obviously isn’t a great way for United to reward its top flyers (though I imagine the airline doesn’t mind some of the breakage here).

These new exchange options will certainly be better than nothing and should provide travelers will some more utility to use their points instead of letting them expire.

That said, between the onerous terms and conditions — especially the limitation that exchanges must be completed by early 2026 — and the stingy redemption rates, this likely won’t represent a good deal for many Premier members who could instead use PlusPoints for upgrades.

For instance, exchanging 40 PlusPoints for TravelBank or bonus miles would yield $80 in TravelBank credit or 6,000 MileagePlus miles, worth $81 according to TPG valuations.

Meanwhile, 40 PlusPoints applied to a long-haul upgrade from economy to Polaris business class could be valued at upwards of $1,500, if not more.

When I posed this example to Doyle, she chose to underscore the increased utility this exchange program unlocks, not the underlying value of the actual PlusPoints. “Rather say, if you don’t get value from [PlusPoints because you] never get that upgrade, we’re giving you a different option. And so that’s where we’re trying to lean into is the value for the customer, not pegging [PlusPoints] to a specific value that may be ill-received,” she explained.

Nevertheless, this discrepancy in value is so apparent, especially for a frequent flyer, that it leaves me wondering if this move is a harbinger of what’s to come for PlusPoints.

Pressed about other changes that might be coming, Doyle would say only: “I can’t share much.” However, it sure seems like this could be the first phase of a multi-pronged process of adjusting the value for PlusPoints.

Of course, only time will tell, but if I’m a betting man, I’d say that the days of enjoying 40-point upgrades from economy to business on eligible long-haul flights might be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

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