United Boosts MileagePlus Loyalty with New, Faster Ways to Earn Premier Status
MileagePlus Premier members can pick from a variety of offers packed with value, whether traveling now or later
United Airlines is introducing three new promotions that let eligible MileagePlus Premier members “Pick Your Path” depending on their upcoming travel plans. The new promotions give members the chance to fast track their Premier status or earn bonus miles and will run from April 29 to July 27, 2021.
Offers include:
• A “Welcome-back Bonus” promotion that gives members deposits of bonus Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for their first three trips.
• An “Easy PQP” offer, which provides the member with a PQP deposit without needing to travel.
• And an offer that allows members to earn double miles through the MileagePlus X app.
“While demand for travel is steadily increasing, we recognize that different customers are beginning to return to travel at different times,” said Luc Bondar United’s vice president of marketing and loyalty and President of MileagePlus. “Offering three separate promotions allows us to meet our Premier members where they are and gives our members the opportunity to select an offer that is meaningful to them whether they’re ready to travel now or if they’d rather receive miles to save for a trip later on.”
Welcome-back Bonus PQP
Eligible Premier members can earn up to 25 percent of the outright PQPs required for their current status level with the Welcome-back Bonus PQP offer. Combined with the 25 percent PQP deposit that United gave members at the start of this year, members who choose this option will have the opportunity to earn half of the PQP-only requirement to requalify for their status level.
Easy PQP
Premier members who aren’t planning any travel before this summer — specifically before July 27 — can choose to receive a 10 percent deposit of the outright PQP requirement for their current status level with the Easy PQP option. Members will automatically receive between 350 and 1,500 PQPs depending on their status level.
Bonus Miles Through MileagePlus X
Eligible U.S.-based Premier members who prefer to save up for their next trip can choose to earn double miles (up to 10,000 bonus miles total) on all transactions made with MileagePlus X. With the MileagePlus X app, members can buy eGift cards from hundreds of merchants, dine at participating restaurants, or shop online and earn miles for each purchase.
Members have until May 13, 2021 to choose their promotion option or they will be automatically enrolled in the Welcome-back Bonus PQP offer. To be eligible, members must have held Premier status on April 19, 2021.
Eligible Premier members can visithttps://promo.united.com/offers/pickyourpath or sign into the MileagePlus X app to make their selection.
The new offerings build on announcements United introduced last year including reducing Premier qualifying thresholds, automatically giving members 25 percent of the PQP requirements for their status level and offering additional promotions for travel earlier this year.
Those threshold levels were reduced to:
| Level | Standard Requirements | Requirements Adjusted for 2021 |
| Premier Silver | 4,000 PQP + 12 PQF or 5,000 PQP | 3,000 PQP + 8 PQF or 3,500 PQP |
| Premier Gold | 8,000 PQP + 24 PQF or 10,000 PQP | 6,000 PQP + 16 PQF or 7,000 PQP |
| Premier Platinum | 12,000 PQP + 36 PQF or 15,000 PQP | 9,000 PQP + 24 PQF or 10,000 PQP |
| Premier 1K | 18,000 PQP + 54 PQF or 24,000 PQP | 13,500 PQP + 36 PQF or 15,000 PQP |
More information about all of the changes United made to its Premier program in the last year can be found here.
