United is among the largest airlines in the world, and millions of members of its United Mileage Plus frequent flyer program are active. United Airlines is a US-based airline and one of the founding members of Star Alliance. You can fly with any 26-member Star Alliance airline and earn United miles. The extensive network of United allows you to travel to almost any corner of the world, and you can redeem your United miles to book both United and Star Alliance award flights. You can redeem miles for award flights without fuel surcharges and save a lot of money per ticket. You’ll need to earn United miles to redeem them, and there are multiple ways to do so.
In this article, we will learn about the best ways to earn and redeem United Airlines MileagePlus Miles.
5 EDGE Miles on Axis Travel Edge and Airline Spends. 2 EDGE Reward Points on all Other Eligible Spends
5000 EDGE Miles on Spends of ₹1,000 Within the First 30 Days of Card Issuance
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The Axis Horizon is one of the best credit cards for direct airline spends, offering 5 EDGE Miles for every ₹100 spent on airline transactions. EDGE Miles earned on this card can be converted to partner airlines like United at a 1:1 ratio, making it one of the simplest ways to accumulate United Miles. In addition to its strong earning potential, the card also provides valuable perks such as complimentary airport lounge access, enhancing its overall appeal for frequent travellers.
8 Marriott Bonvoy Points/₹150 for Spends at Marriott Hotels, 4 Marriott Bonvoy Points/₹150 for Travel, Dining, and Entertainment, and 2 Marriott Bonvoy Points/₹150 for Other Spends
Silver Elite Status in the Marriott Bonvoy Program and One Free Night Award Worth 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points
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The Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card is India’s first co-branded hotel credit card, designed for frequent travelers and loyal Marriott customers. With a ₹3,000 + GST joining and renewal fee, it offers Silver Elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy program, up to 4 Free Night Awards based on spending milestones, and reward points on travel, dining, and hotel stays (up to 8 Marriott Bonvoy Points per ₹150 spent). Cardholders enjoy 12 complimentary domestic and international lounge access, golf privileges, and comprehensive travel insurance.
Marriott Bonvoy Points can be easily transferred to United Airlines Mileage. Cardholders would even get bonus points.
4 Reward Points/₹100 for Flights, Travel Platforms, and International Spends (~4%). 2 Reward Points/₹100 for All Other Eligible Spends (~2%)
₹1,000 Cashback, PostCard Voucher Worth ₹3,000, and 3 Month EazyDiner Membership on Spending ₹25,000 Within 30 Days of Card Issuance
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The HSBC TravelOne Credit Card is a solid option if you want a simple travel card that still gives good value. You earn 4 reward points for every ₹100 spent on travel and international transactions, and 2 points per ₹100 on other spends. The card also comes with useful perks like airport lounge access, insurance benefits, and travel discounts. The best part is its wide range of airline partners. If you want to convert your points to United Airlines miles, you can do it at a ratio of 2:1, which means 2 reward points = 1 United MileagePlus mile. This makes it a decent option if you’re planning to collect United miles, though not the most rewarding compared to some premium cards.
Earn 12 EDGE Reward Points per ₹200 on Spends up to ₹1.5 Lakh and 35 EDGE Reward Points per ₹200 Thereafter in a Calendar Month
Choose a gift voucher worth Rs. 12,500 from any one of Luxe, Yatra, or Postcard Hotels
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Magnus is one of Axis Bank’s most premium credit cards, offering travel insurance, complimentary lounge access, and many other travel-related privileges. You even get 24×7 concierge service and exclusive dining and hotel stay discounts.
3 Reward Points/₹100 Spent
20,000 Reward Points
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The HSBC Premier Metal Credit Card is an exclusive option available only to customers who maintain a Premier relationship with HSBC, making it suitable for high-income individuals. The card offers a base reward rate of 3 reward points for every ₹100 spent, along with strong travel perks like unlimited airport lounge access, low forex markup, and complimentary golf benefits. You can also earn higher reward points through the HSBC Rewards Marketplace on travel bookings.
When it comes to converting points to United Airlines miles, the ratio is 2:1, meaning 2 reward points = 1 United MileagePlus mile. This makes it a decent option for earning United miles, though the conversion ratio is not the most rewarding compared to some other premium cards.
5 Reward Points/₹150 on Regular Spends (3.33%) | Up To 10x Reward Points On SmartBuy (Up To 33.33%) | 2x Reward Points (10/₹150) On Weekend Dining (6.67%)
Complimentary Membership of Club Marriott, Swiggy One and Amazon Prime (On Spends of Rs. 1.5 Lakh Within 90 Days of Card Issuance)
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The Diners Club Black is another super-premium offering by HDFC Bank, featuring complimentary airport lounge access and travel insurance. Cardholders earn 5 reward points for every ₹150 spent, with the opportunity to earn up to 10x reward points on SmartBuy transactions. These reward points can be converted to United Miles at a ratio of 1:0.5, meaning 1 reward point equals 0.5 United Miles, translating to an effective reward rate of 1.62% on regular spends and up to 16.2% on SmartBuy spends.
5 Reward Points/₹150 Spent (3.33% Reward Rate)
12,500 Bonus Reward Points and Complimentary Club Marriott Membership
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The Infinia is the most premium credit card offered by HDFC Bank, and being invite-only, it is accessible only to a select group of high-net-worth individuals. The card delivers top-tier privileges, including a VIP concierge service, complimentary airport lounge access, extensive travel benefits, and a strong reward-earning structure. Cardholders earn 5 reward points for every ₹150 spent, with the opportunity to earn up to 10x reward points on SmartBuy portal transactions. As a welcome benefit, users receive 12,500 reward points. These points can be converted to United Miles at a ratio of 1:0.5, meaning 1 reward point equals 0.5 United Miles—offering an effective reward rate of 1.62% on regular spends and up to 16.2% on SmartBuy spends.
There are multiple ways to earn United MileagePlus miles in India, but the best way is to fly with United or one of its partner airlines. The number of miles earned by you depends on multiple factors, such as the airline, flight route, fare class, etc.
There are no United Miles co-branded credit cards in India. One can only convert their credit card Reward Points to the program.
Earlier, you earned miles based on the miles flown on your United flights, but now it is based on your flight ticket’s base price, excluding taxes. Also, the higher your MileagePlus elite status, the more miles you get. Here is how many miles you earn for every dollar you spend based on your elite status –
For example, if you are a general member of MileagePlus and you buy a one-way ticket from New York to Vancouver at a $200 base fare, you will earn 1000 miles, but if you’re a Premier Gold member, you will earn 1600 miles.
The miles earning rate also stands for economy class, and the flights will also help you reach Premier status. This is based on a combination of Premier qualifying points (PQP) earned and Premier qualifying flights (PQF) taken by you.
It is possible to earn United miles when you fly on any Star Alliance member airline, as United is a member of the Star Alliance. You also get miles when you fly with United’s non-alliance partners, but it is a bit tricky with this method.
If you book a partner airline’s flight through United and have a United ticket number, then you earn miles similar to what you get on flying via United-operated flights. It is based on your elite status and your ticket’s base fare. However, if you have a partner ticket, then you earn miles based on your flight route and fare class.
If you book directly through a partner airline, credit card portal, or a 3rd-party website, you will most likely have a partner ticket stock. Ticket numbers starting with 016 are United tickets, and you can check the number on your e-ticket. The miles-earning rate varies by partner airline, so you should check it on United’s website before booking your ticket.
Another method to earn United miles in India is to transfer or convert your credit card reward points into United MileagePlus miles. Different cards have different transfer ratios, so you should check them before converting your points to United Airmiles.
If you are a Marriott Bonvoy member or your credit card earns Marriott Bonvoy points, you can transfer these points to United Miles at a ratio of 3:1, 3000 Marriott Points = 1000 United Miles. Also, when you transfer every 60,000 Marriott points to United Miles, you get a bonus 10000 miles. Thus, you can earn up to 30,000 United miles by transferring 60,000 Marriott points.
If you have an American Express credit card, you can convert your Membership Rewards points to Marriott points at a 1:1 ratio, where 1 Membership Rewards point = 1 Marriott Bonvoy point. You can further transfer your Marriott points to United Miles at the existing ratio. Overall, you can convert your Amex Membership Reward Points to United Miles at a 3:1 ratio, and when you transfer 60,000 points, you get a bonus 10,000 miles, and the conversion ratio becomes 2:1.
Now that we know the various ways to earn United MileagePlus miles, we will next talk about how to redeem them. You can redeem your earned miles on United as well as on award flights from Star Alliance member airlines. United’s website is great for searching award flight availability for both United and Star Alliance-operated flights. Let’s check out the best ways to redeem your United miles
United Airlines has a great network of international and domestic flights, with thousands of destinations worldwide. United no longer has an award chart; it has been replaced by dynamic award flight pricing. There is another option called the Money + Miles, where you can pay for your ticket with a combination of miles and money.
Follow these steps to book a United award flight –
United is one of Star Alliance’s founding members and has widespread international connectivity. You can redeem your United miles for Star Alliance and other non-alliance partner airlines directly from the United website.
The United flight search engine is more comprehensive and accurate than most others, making it easy to search for and book award flights on partner airlines.
You can use United Airlines’ flight search engine to search for Star Alliance and other partner award flights. You can search for flights without logging in as well.
If you find it difficult to look for multi-partner connecting flights, you can search for the flight ticket segment-by-segment. The process to search for flights is similar to how you search for United-operated award flights.
You can use earned United miles for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards and Star Alliance Upgrade Awards.
MileagePlus Upgrade Awards – You can upgrade your fare class on United paid tickets, and the cost depends on the cabin and your current fare class. You can change the departure and arrival locations to check out upgrade costs for a flight. Generally, the upgrade is cheaper for expensive fare classes and more expensive for lower fare classes.
Star Alliance Upgrade Awards – You can upgrade your tickets on Star Alliance and non-alliance partner airlines with your United miles. The economy and business class fares are eligible to upgrade, and the cost varies based on the partner airline.
You can redeem your United miles for a host of flight and airport benefits that include –
Let’s check out some of the best routes from India to redeem your United miles. There is no fixed region-based award ticket table at United, and they follow dynamic pricing for their award flights, so you should check for your travel dates by searching for flights individually. Also, all the flight options discussed below are for one-way routes.
India to London – You can book a flight from Delhi to London starting at around 55,000 United Miles for Economy, along with minimal taxes of about £16.70, making it one of the best-value long-haul redemptions using United MileagePlus miles.
India to New York – You can book a nonstop flight from Delhi to New York starting at just 49,500 United Miles for Economy, along with around £30.30 in taxes, making it one of the best-value long-haul redemptions, especially on direct flights like Air India.
India to Paris – You can book a nonstop flight from Delhi to Paris starting at around 55,000 United Miles for Economy, along with just ~£16.70 in taxes, making it a great-value redemption for a direct Europe flight. Business class is also available from around 110,000 miles, offering solid value for a premium long-haul experience.
Until summer 2019, United Miles expired after 18 months of inactivity on your MileagePlus account, but this is no longer the case. United Miles do not expire anymore, and you don’t need to redeem miles on flights, rent cars, or spend miles on a shopping portal to ensure your account is active, and your United Miles don’t expire.
All of these restrictions no longer apply, and it is welcome news for casual flyers and individuals who do not regularly track their Miles. When United Airlines ditched its award chart and opted for dynamic award pricing, it announced that its United Miles would no longer expire. The only way that you won’t have access to United Miles is if you forget your MileagePlus Account number or its password.
If you have to reschedule or cancel your United award ticket, then you don’t have to pay any cancellation or date change charges. However, in case of a no-show, you will have to pay a fee of $125 regardless of the award ticket class.
You can redeem your United miles to book award tickets for your friends and family members. It is a simple process, and you don’t need to add any nominees to your account. Just head over to the United Airlines website and use your miles to book award flights for anyone you want to.
United Airlines has reduced the infant fares on international award travel and now charges a flat, reasonable rate instead of a percentage of the adult award ticket. United used to allow infants up to 2 years of age to travel free on domestic award tickets, including US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, but on international awards, individuals had to pay 10% of the fare for infants.
Now, there is no fee for domestic award flights in the USA for infants. For flights between the USA, Mexico, and Canada, you have to purchase an award ticket for infants, but you only have to pay the taxes. For international award flights, the fee depends on the fare class and the flight route.
Being one of the most respected and highly connected airlines in the world, United Airlines is also one of the founding members of Star Alliance. United MileagePlus, the airline’s frequent flyer program, has members throughout the world. We discussed the best ways to earn United miles in the above article.
Apart from flying on United or partner-operated flights, you can transfer your credit card reward points or Marriott points to United miles as well. When it comes to redeeming your United miles, you can do so on United-operated and Star Alliance or non-alliance partner airlines.
We recommend that you get a credit card that allows you to earn United miles so that you earn maximum benefits whenever you spend money on travel and other categories. Let us know what you think about the United Airlines’ frequent flyer program and how you plan to redeem your earned miles.
You can convert your credit card reward points to United Miles at a given ratio that depends on your card. The best credit cards in India for earning United Miles are the Axis Bank Magnus, Axis Bank Reserve, Axis Bank Horizon, HDFC Bank Infinia, and HDFC Bank Diners Club Black credit cards. You can earn reward points on your card spending and then convert the points to United Miles.
There are several ways to earn United Miles in India –
There are several ways to redeem your United Miles –
As United Airlines is one of the founding members of Star Alliance, you can redeem your United Miles to book Star Alliance award flights. You can search for Star Alliance award flights through United’s flight search engine and proceed with your booking there.