Lifestyle

The ultimate guide to elite status with the United card


United MileagePlus branded members Chase United credit card can earn Premier qualifying points (PQP) for achieving United elite status by meeting certain card spending requirements.

The PQP maximum varies considerably depending on the MileagePlus credit card you have. You’ll see many cards here, some of which are no longer open to new subscribers.

Remember, you need to earn a certain amount of PQP every year to qualify for the United that United coveted. Top Elite Status. Generally, the only way to earn PQP is to fly or, perhaps more accurately, spend a lot of money on United and Star Alliance flights.

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So is earning PQP on a credit card through daily spending better than breaking the bank on flights?

It may be, but accumulating PQP on a MileagePlus credit card still requires a lot of spending.

See how the MileagePlus credit card earns PQP.

Cards do not earn PQP

Most – but not all – United credit cards earn PQP. ROMANO / NURPHOTO INSTRUCTIONS / GET IMAGES

There are a number of free annual cards that do not earn PQP through credit card spending.

Information about the United MileagePlus Card and the United TravelBank Card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Cards earn up to 1,000 PQP

The following cards earn PQP 500 for every $12,000 spent with the card, up to PQP 1,000 in a calendar year.

Information about United Club Business, MileagePlus Rewards, MileagePlus Card with annual fee and MileagePlus Business Card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Cards earn up to 3,000 PQP

These cards earn PQP 500 for every $12,000 spent with the card, up to PQP 3,000 in a calendar year.

Information about the United MileagePlus Select Card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Cards earn up to 4,000 PQP

Just one card earns PQP 500 for every $12,000 spent with the card, up to PQP 4,000 in a calendar year, and that’s a fairly new perk.

Cards earn up to 10,000 PQP

At PQP 500 for every $12,000 spent by card, up to PQP in a calendar year, these two cards are golden geese for earning PQP through credit card spending. Unfortunately, these cards have been closed to new members for years.

  • Card Plus℠ Presidential Plus℠.
  • Business card United℠ Presidential Plus℠.

Information on the United Presidential Plus and United Presidential Plus Business business cards has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

How much PQP can come from credit card spending?

If you have multiple MileagePlus credit cards, you can earn up to PQP 5,000 on spending via qualifying cards for one calendar year per MileagePlus account. To be fair, since qualifying cards earn 500 PQP for every $12,000 spent, it would take $120,000 in annual credit card spending to earn 5,000 PQP.

The only cards exempt from this limit are the United Presidential Plus Card and the United Presidential Plus Business Card.

Some notes about Premier 1K

You can use 20 PlusPoints to upgrade from economy class to first class in US KYLE OLSEN / THE POINTS GUY

Until this year, MileagePlus members could not use PQP earned through credit card spending to achieve Premier 1K status.

Thankfully, the PQP you earn through credit card spending now counts towards Premier 1K status. However, unless you’re earning your PQP with your United Presidential Plus or United Presidential Plus Business Card, you’ll need to land a 36-segment Premier qualifying flight to qualify for Premier 1K status this year.

What are Flex PQPs?

Flex PQP cannot be applied to 1K Premier status. KYLE OLSEN / THE BAD POINTS

Some MileagePlus members with old MileagePlus or Continental One Pass credit cards have previously earned Flex PQP. For reference, these cards now earn standard PQP.

If you have leftover Flex PQPs, you can apply them to PQP status requirements for Premier Silver, Premier Gold and Premium Platinum, but not Premier 1K. You can choose from five elite statuses to which you apply your flexible PQP, giving you flexibility if you’ve met your elite status goals.

Flex PQPs released before 2012 do not expire. Recently released flexible PQPs expire after 39 months.

Key point

As you can see, earning PQP through the MileagePlus credit card requires a lot of annual spending. The different United credit cards have significant variations in the maximum amount of PQP you can earn.

On the other hand, American Airlines has simplified the process of earning Loyalty Points through co-branded credit card spending.

All of Advantages branded credit cards earn 1 Loyalty Point – except for the free AAdvantage® Aviator® Mastercard® card, which earns 0.5 Loyalty Points – for every $1 spent, no amount maximum. That means you could theoretically spend $200,000 on an American Airlines-branded credit card annually and win Executive Platinum status without even boarding a US flight once.

Hopefully United will simplify earning PQP through the MileagePlus credit card in 2023.

Just remember that to qualify for any level of Premier status, you must have taken a minimum of four flights on United or United Express in a calendar year.

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