Earlier today, United unveiled a mixed bag of good and “better read the fine print” news about its 2026 version of MileagePlus. On the bright side, the thresholds to earn elite status remain unchanged and ugprading award tickets will become easier. On the other hand, upgrades, perks, and PlusPoints are being re-wired, and MileagePlus elites are going to find the new landscape a lot more unpredictable.
United Airlines Keeps 2026 Elite Thresholds, But PlusPoints And Upgrades See Major Changes
Despite rumors of another status hike, 2026 will see no changes to the number of flights or spend needed to reach each elite tier. Per the official United announcement:
| Status Tier | 2026 Qualification Requirements |
|---|---|
| Premier Silver | 15 PQFs + 5,000 PQPs or 6,000 PQPs |
| Premier Gold | 30 PQFs + 10,000 PQPs or 12,000 PQPs |
| Premier Platinum | 45 PQFs + 15,000 PQPs or 18,000 PQPs |
| Premier 1K | 60 PQFs + 22,000 PQPs or 28,000 PQPs |
And in a nod to those who earned status this year, United will again offer the same “PQP head start” for 2026 that they did in 2025. 300 PQPs for Silver, 600 for Gold, 900 for Platinum, 1,400 for 1K. So if you were already a Premier coming into the new year, your spending requireents will be the same as this year.
Big Changes to PlusPoints
Here is where things start to get complicated. United is not tweaking how you earn elite status, but it is reworking how PlusPoints are handled, though not until February 1, 2027.
Premier Platinum still awards 40 PlusPoints. Premier 1K still starts with 280. Beginning January 1, 2026, 1K members will be able to earn additional PlusPoints via eligible spending on cobranded United credit cards. That is new: PQP earned through eligible United credit card spending will now count toward earning additional PlusPoints, with no limits.
As previously announced, United is expanding what PlusPoints can be used for beyond cabin upgrades. Options will include things like bonus miles, TravelBank credit, gifting status, or even converting to PQPs or PQFs. For travelers frustrated that their upgrades never cleared, this offers more paths to extract value from PlusPoints.
> Read More: United Airlines Expands Redemption Options For PlusPoints (Full List)
The tradeoff arrives on February 2027. United is shifting upgrade pricing from fixed charts to dynamic pricing. The number of PlusPoints needed to upgrade will fluctuate based on demand, route and cabin. Your upgrade could cost more or sometimes less than before, though I’d predict in most cases it will cost a lot more. Your upgrade currency is about to become less predictable, though the upside may be that if you are sitting on a large stash of PlusPoints, you can more easily confirm upgrades in advance (perhaps at 3-5x current level…that’s my guess).
Beginning in February 2027, we’ll retire the fixed chart for PlusPoints upgrade amounts and transition to a dynamic system. This change will allow the number of PlusPoints required for an upgrade to better reflect factors like demand, cabin, and more, providing members with greater flexibility.
But there is one decidedly positive development when it comes to using PlusPoints that will take effect in 2026, not 2027.
More Award Ticket Upgrade Access, More Award Space For MileagePlus Elites + Credit Card Holders
United says beginning February 1, 2026, all Premier members will be eligible for both complimentary upgrades on eligible domestic and shorthaul flights and PlusPoints based upgrades on award tickets for longhaul flights. That is a meaningful change. Up until now, PlusPoints could not be used and award ticket flyers often got left out of the upgrade queue.
United also states that elites and cobranded credit card holders will see expanded saver availability, particularly in premium cabins. This is a two-edged sword that makes total sense for United and MileagePlus, but comes at great expense to other Star Alliance loyalty programs.
My Analysis
United says it is “improving your Premier status experience in 2026,” but the changes are a mixed bag.
Status seekers get a break, with no increases in PQP or PQF thresholds for 2026. The barrier to elite remains stable. I expected that, even though many thought United would raise qualification requirements.
PlusPoints will offer more flexibility, but I expect they will be worth a lot less in 2027. Expanded redemption options are welcome, but dynamic upgrade pricing erodes predictability and will likely only benefit those Global Services flyers that have thousands of PlusPoints and are not really flexible on schedule. If demand surges during holidays or peak seasons, you will end up spending significantly more points for the same upgrade. Some like that, though I prefer the current system with fixed pricing.
Award ticket flyers get a fairer shot. The ability for elites to upgrade award tickets and expanded saver award access are positives for MileagePlus members. Real value will depend on how United implements demand-based upgrades. This could make PlusPoints more useful if United controls price spikes or greatly devalue them if upgrades become overpriced.
I have covered these annual changes for years. When United tweaks MileagePlus, there is excitement, grumbling, hope, and disappointment. This update feels no different. United did not raise the bar to earn status. Instead, it tinkered with the flavor and value of what being elite means, offering more options and more uncertainty.
If I were advising a frequent flyer friend today, I would say:
- If you are chasing elite status, nothing has changed, but question what elite status actually gets you versus the benefits of being a free agent plus co-branded credit card holder (to gain access to extra award space)
- 1Ks and Global Services members will see more use for their upgrades in 2026, but expect a PlusPoint to be worth less in 2027
- Expanded access to premium cabin seats for credit card holders and elite flyers may push more to MileagePlus, which will increase competition for those seats
Once we get real-world data next year, such as how many upgrades actually clear and what dynamic pricing really costs, we will know whether MileagePlus has improved or worsened. For now, we can just prepare accordingly.
CONCLUSION
While I am pleasantly surprised to see United make it easier to upgrade award tickets next year, I would prepare for the worst when it comes to PlusPoints in 2027. Certainly, the many additional uses for these points still make them valuable, but I expect when it comes to upgrading, most will find that securing a Polaris Business Class seat will take a lot more PlusPoints than currently required.
image: United Airlines
@ Matthew — I am so glad we are about to hit 1K for the very last time. These PP changes will make 1K status effectively useless, come Feb 2027.
1K has been worthless for a while now; other than being last of the preboards and snackbox in economy, after your PlusPoints inevitably fail to clear at the gate.
@ 1990 — All of our PlusPoints were used in 2025, for LHR, FRA, MUC, AKL, and HKG. We intend to do same in 2026. Economy, what’s that??
“So if you were already a Premier coming into the new year, you are not being asked to hunt more flights or spend.” What do u mean?
I meant compared to last year. I’ll clarify.
Churn and burn. Loyalty is dead.
Thanks for summary. I guess will see how it looks come Feb for using Plus Points. I have been on the fence about stepping back from 1k. With 2 million miles in, I find the chasing a high spend on UA to be to restricting in terms of letting flights on other airlines go. Of course, they want to hold pax to fly them and not others. What has kept me was the use of Plus Points to upgrade from Economy Plus to Business Class in a predicable way. Most of my flying is transoceanic. Predictability and confidence in outcome is important. Once predictability is lost then the attractiveness is gone. We have seen similar in the award pricing which foreshadow a loss of value.
My sense is that I would be better off just buying the most interesting flight when needed and perhaps getting gold status with another alliance. Giving up 1k will be a withdrawal though. Let’s see how looks 4 months from now.
That’s what I’ve done this year and I have no regrets. I’ll cover this in a future story.
It has now been a few years since I was 1K, but even then almost all of my PQPs (and GPUs before that) expired unused due to lack of availability on the TATLs I wanted. Even then, I’d have given all of them for just one STW. Since then, it still seems I can find some saver award on some airline and transfer the CC points if I am flexible enough. Or I just buy the best value in F or J. Status just doesn’t seem to offer much. Only OW Emerald for free seat selection on BA seems to have much value.
There are still a decent number of award redemptions EWR-LHR on UA in the 80-88k o/w range (I find it interesting that they still give me cardmember award redemption prices as I have the $0 gateway card and I put $0 spend on it, and I had thought they were restricting that cardmember discount after August 1, 2025 unless you spend $10k, but not yet, at least for me…)
Two years ago I would have said AA has that pricing beat. Not really anymore. A very small handful of 65k dates in 2026 (although tons of 70k in February), but lowest is usually around 100k. Have to imagine TY points being transferrable to AA has a lot to do with that.
Delta, as your last article noted, is a complete joke. Lowest o/w I could find was 200k JFK-LHR. With Delta, folks are not in it for the miles, they’re in it for the status which Delta flyers perceive as valuable. And mostly you have to either fly with Delta or spend with Delta to get status – occasionally they run MQD promotions with their vacations site, but it’s not reliable like AA Hotels / eshopping / simplymiles is. So if you fly Delta a bunch domestically and you want Delta status, you put your $ on the Delta card, and that’s that. Not worth it at all to me, but here in NYC we have choices, and so I put my spend on cards with transferrable points.
I guess it’s another gentle reminder that points programs are not your friend. The one time I reached 1k no United staff in flight or on ground acknowledged it on any of the dozens of domestic or international flights I took for the entire time I held the status.