United Airlines Loyalty Program Changes for 2023
United Airlines has published today some major changes coming to its MileagePlus Premier program in 2023. The Chicago-based airline says these updates with give you more opportunities to achieve Premier status and will also allow United to provide more value and benefits to its MileagePlus Premier members.
The changes revealed today however are both good and bad. United will have higher requirements to earn status going forward, but will also give members additional options to get there, and a bonus to get started. Let’s take a look at all the details that United provided today.
Premier Status Qualification
In addition to flying a minimum of 4 flight segments on United or United Express, you’ll need to earn a combination of Premier qualifying flights (PQF) and Premier qualifying points (PQP) or a certain number of PQP to qualify for each Premier status level through January 31, 2025, based on your activity between January 1 and December 31, 2023.
Here are the new requirements:
| Premier status | PQF + PQP | PQP only |
|---|---|---|
| Premier Silver | 12 PQF + 4,000 PQP | 5,000 PQP |
| Premier Gold | 24 PQF + 8,000 PQP | 10,000 PQP |
| Premier Platinum | 36 PQF + 12,000 PQP | 15,000 PQP |
| Premier 1K® | 54 PQF + 18,000 PQP | 24,000 PQP |
New Features and Changes in 2023
For the past two years, United has adjusted the MileagePlus Premier program requirements to reflect the frequency of travel during uncertain times. As travel demand is almost at pre-pandemic levels, United is bringing back its standard requirements with some changes and additions.
Jumpstart your PQP balance
You’ll get a head start on your status goals to make retaining or upgrading status easier. In early 2023, United will automatically deposit PQP into MileagePlus accounts based on the 2023 Premier status you reached at the end of 2022.
All members with Premier status as of February 1, 2023, except for those that hold Trial status, will receive PQP deposits applied to their 2023 balances, according to their status level. Eligible members will enjoy this head start toward status in 2024 as well.
Qualifying for award tickets
Use MileagePlus miles for award flights operated by United or United Express, and you will earn Premier qualifying credits. Eligible award flights will help you achieve status with 1 PQP earned per 100 miles redeemed, as well as 1 PQF earned per United or United Express flight.
PQP and PQF from qualifying award flights will count toward earning all status levels, whether through both PQF and PQP or PQP only thresholds. PQP from award flights will also count towards earning incremental PlusPoints for eligible members. Learn more.
Increased credit card PQP caps
For 2023, the maximum PQP able to be earned for card spend will double for the United Quest℠ card from 3,000 to 6,000 PQP and for the United Club℠ Infinite card from 4,000 to 8,000 PQP. Eligible United℠ MileagePlus Chase Cardmembers will continue to earn 500 PQP per $12,000 spent. The maximum number of PQP that can be earned on eligible card spend in a calendar year across multiple credit cards has increased from 5,000 PQP to 15,000 PQP, making it even easier to reach Premier status goals through card spend.
Award ticket redeposit fee removal
Another positive development is that all redeposit fees associated with canceling award travel have been removed
Earn more PlusPoints
United allows you to earn unlimited extra upgrade points after reaching the highest published status level. To align with travel returning to normal levels, Premier 1K members will earn incremental PlusPoints for every 3,000 PQP earned beyond 18,000 PQP (starting at 21,000 PQP) once they have met the published Premier 1K requirements in 2023.
Conclusion
United Airlines is making major changes to the MileagePlus Premier program for 2023.
There’s bad news as the requirements to earn status are higher going forward. For Premier 1K for example, if you don’t fly 54 flights per year, you will need to spend $24,000 on tickets to keep or earn your status.
But there’s also some good news. You can earn Premier qualifying credits with award tickets and the number of PQPs you can earn from United credit card spend has been doubled. Additionally there’s a a jumpstart bonus.
Let us know what you think about these changes!
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I am just waiting for AA to announce their new scheme for next year!
Even the silver level, I do get decent service and about 25% upgrades which isn’t too bad out my airport. I hope maybe they would have added selling economy plus seats at booking for at least 1 or 2 people. But since reaching silver is way more costly than earning on DL or AA, it might be a good thing? Not sure.
Ouch!
1k is going to become quite expensive and a lot more exclusive and elusive.