United Airlines is significantly altering its MileagePlus loyalty program, prioritizing benefits for credit card holders while reducing rewards for those without, effective April 2. The changes encompass both how miles are earned on flights and how award travel is priced, signaling a clear push to increase credit card adoption.
The most substantial shift involves mileage earning rates. United is reducing mileage accrual for customers who do not hold a MileagePlus credit card by 2 miles per dollar spent on flights. Conversely, cardholders will spot an increase of 1 mile per dollar. This tiered system creates a substantial disparity, with general members now earning as little as 3 miles per dollar, compared to 6 miles per dollar for cardholding general members. The changes pose a particular challenge for MileagePlus members outside of the United States, where United-branded credit cards are not available.
Customers with no annual fee or co-brand debit cards will earn reduced mileage rates until they spend $10,000 in a calendar year, at which point they will receive the enhanced cardholder earning rate for the remainder of that year and the following one. The airline frames this as a way to “reward cardmembers more,” but the impact on non-cardholders is significant, potentially reducing mileage earnings by up to 40% for base members while offering a maximum increase of 9% for 1K elite members with a credit card.
The earning structure, as it currently stands and will be after April 2, is as follows:
| Status | Current Earning | New Earning | New Cardmember Earn |
|---|---|---|---|
| General member | 5 miles/$ | 3 miles/$ | 6 miles/$ |
| Premier Silver | 7 miles/$ | 5 miles/$ | 8 miles/$ |
| Premier Gold | 8 miles/$ | 6 miles/$ | 9 miles/$ |
| Premier Platinum | 9 miles/$ | 7 miles/$ | 10 miles/$ |
| Premier 1K® | 11 miles/$ | 9 miles/$ | 12 miles/$ |
Alongside the changes to flight mileage earning, United is also increasing the mileage multipliers for purchases made with its co-brand credit cards. The United Explorer card will now earn 3 miles per dollar on United purchases (up from 2), the United Quest card will earn 4 miles per dollar (up from 3), and the United Club card will earn 5 miles per dollar (up from 4). While these increases are incremental, United acknowledges that its cards still aren’t the most lucrative options for earning points on United purchases, citing the American Express Platinum card (5x points) and Chase Sapphire Reserve (8x points through the Chase portal) as superior alternatives.
Further incentivizing credit card employ, United is eliminating mileage earning on basic economy fares for general members without a credit card, and reducing earning for all other members. General members with a credit card will earn 3 miles per dollar on basic fares, while Silver members will earn 2 (5 with a card), Gold members 3 (6 with a card), Platinum members 4 (7 with a card), and 1K members 6 (9 with a card).
The airline is extending some benefits to the children of cardmembers, allowing their accounts to be linked to receive the higher mileage-earning rates. However, this benefit does not extend to children whose parents do not hold an eligible card or meet the spending requirements for no-annual-fee debit products, raising questions about equity within the program.
United is also marketing changes to award travel pricing, offering discounts of 10% or more on flight redemptions for cardholders, and at least 15% for elite members with a card. A United Economy award priced at 15,000 miles will now cost 13,500 miles for primary cardholders without Premier status, while a United Polaris business class seat priced at 200,000 miles will now cost 170,000 miles for primary cardholders with Premier status. The airline is also promoting increased availability of Saver Award seats in Polaris business class for cardmembers, a move that effectively limits access to these awards for non-cardholders and those without elite status. This mirrors a strategy employed by Delta Air Lines, which charges non-cardholders more SkyMiles for award tickets.
These changes come as United CEO Scott Kirby aims to increase MileagePlus profits by 50% in four years, a goal the airline previously failed to achieve. The focus on credit card adoption is intended to drive this growth, though the airline is currently focused solely on converting members to cardholders, with no announced plans for incremental benefits based on spending thresholds.
