From its hubs in Chicago, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco and Washington, United Airlines operates more than 4,500 flights daily to more than 300 cities. So, whether or not you’re based in the United States, there’s a good chance you’ve flown on United Airlines. United operates its own frequent flyer program known as MileagePlus, which has provided great value to members for years.

Unfortunately, following a larger trend in the points and miles industry, the United MileagePlus program has switched over to a dynamic pricing model, meaning that award prices for both United-operated and partner-operated award flights are tied to the cash prices of those flights. However, it’s fairly unclear how United award rates are calculated and, unlike some of other programs that use dynamic pricing models, you can still find very high-value awards through the United MileagePlus program, especially if you’re eligible for cardholder or elite status member discounts.

While the United MileagePlus program doesn’t publish an award chart, there is an unpublished award chart that shows the minimum award rates for Saver-level flight awards (the least expensive type of United MileagePlus award) on certain routes. This hidden award chart, which we will provide later in this article, can help you know what kind of prices to expect on each route.

In this article, we’re going to look at how the United MileagePlus program prices award flights and upgrade awards, and we’re also going to include the unpublished chart that shows the minimum rates for Saver award flights.

Traveler checking his booked flight with United Airlines.

Award Chart for Flights on United Airlines and Partner Airlines

There are two types of award prices available for flights through the MileagePlus: Standard and Saver. Standard awards typically require more miles and have greater availability. Saver awards typically require fewer miles and have less availability. The price difference between Standard and Saver awards can be significant. So, if you want to maximize the value of your United MileagePlus miles, you should make sure to only redeem for Saver-level awards.

In addition to booking flights on United Airlines, the MileagePlus program allows you to spend miles on flights with many partner airlines as well. Since United is a member of Star Alliance, you can use United miles to purchase flights on any Star Alliance airline. Additionally, United also has some other non-Star Alliance airline partners with which you can purchase flights using MileagePlus miles. Here is the current list of airlines (both Star Alliance and non-Star Alliance) through which you can purchase flights using United miles:

As you can see, one of the greatest advantages of the MileagePlus program is its large number of airline partners, which gives you a ton of options for redeeming your miles.

As mentioned, the United MileagePlus program now uses a dynamic pricing model to set both Saver and Standard award prices for United- and partner-operated flights. Thus, the price of a specific award will depend on the route, the date and the demand. However, we have compiled user data to create an award chart with the minimum required miles that you can expect to pay for Saver-level awards on each route to or from the U.S. (except Hawaii).

The following award chart shows the minimum Saver award prices on United Airlines flights to or from the U.S. (except Hawaii):

Departure/arrival regionUnited-operated flightsPartner-operated flights
U.S. (except Hawaii)• Economy: 5,000–15,000
• Business: 30,000		• N/A
Canada• Economy: 9,000–15,000
• Business: 30,000		• Economy: 20,000
• Business: 33,000
Hawaii• Economy: 10,000–25,000
• Business: 50,000		• N/A
Mexico and the Caribbean• Economy: 5,000–20,000
• Business: 35,000		• Economy: 20,000–22,000
• Business: 38,000–39,000
Central America• Economy: 10,000–20,000
• Business: 35,000		• Economy: 20,000–22,000
• Business: 38,000–39,000
Northern South America• Economy: 20,000–30,000
• Business: 55,000		• Economy: 22,000–33,000
• Business: 51,200
Southern South America• Economy: 41,000–45,000
• Business: 80,000		• Economy: 49,500
• Business: 88,000
Europe• Economy: 30,000–40,000
• Business: 80,000		• Economy: 30,000–44,000
• Business: 88,000
• First: 121,000
Africa• Economy: 45,000
• Business: 80,000		• Economy: 49,500
• Business: 88,000
• First: 143,000
Middle East• Economy: 34,000–40,000
• Business: 80,000		• Economy: 44,000
• Business: 88,000
• First: 154,000
Central Asia• Economy: 31,000–45,000
• Business: 80,000		• Economy: 49,500
• Business: 88,000
• First: 154,000
South Asia• Economy: 55,000
• Business: 100,000		• Economy: 60,500
• Business: 110,000
• First: 154,000
North Asia• Economy: 50,900
• Business: 100,000		• Economy: 53,100
• Business: 110,000
• First: 132,000
Japan• Economy: 55,000
• Business: 100,000		• Economy: 60,500
• Business: 110,000
• First: 121,000
Oceania• Economy: 45,000
• Business: 85,000		• Economy: 49,500
• Business: 93,500
• First: 121,000
Australia and New Zealand• Economy: 37,500–55,000
• Business: 100,000		• Economy: 60,500
• Business: 110,000
• First: 143,000

The prices listed in the award chart above are the minimum Saver-level rates for both United- and partner-operated, one-way award flights. If you wish to know the minimum price of a round-trip Saver-level award flight, you can simply double the applicable rate from the chart above.

It’s also worth mentioning that United adjusts cash prices for its own flights as well as partner flights every year. Thus, these minimum prices will change somewhat year after year. The prices you see in the chart above are the most accurate minimum prices for 2024.

While these are only the minimum prices for these awards, you can commonly find real-world Saver award space at these minimum levels. These minimum-priced Saver awards typically represent your best chances to get good value out of your United miles.

Award Pricing for Upgrades on United Airlines and Star Alliance

Through the United Airlines MileagePlus program, you also have the option to redeem miles for upgrades on flights operated by any Star Alliance airline (including United Airlines). Unlike award flights, upgrade awards on Star Alliance flights have fixed prices based on the regions you’re flying between, your original booking class and the class you’re upgrading to.

The best way to find the rates for upgrade awards on Star Alliance-operated flights is to visit the United Airlines website and go to the Upgrade Awards page. While these upgrade award rates are fixed, there are many rates corresponding to the hundreds of different types of upgrade awards, and posting an award chart including all of these rates here would take up several pages.

So, if you want to know the price of a specific upgrade award on an upcoming Star Alliance flight, you can go to the Upgrade Awards page and select the origin and destination of your flight. Then, you can choose your original booking class in the “Filter by fare class” field. Once you have that, scroll down, and you’ll be able to see all of the different types of upgrades available from that fare class and their respective prices.

United Airlines MileagePlus upgrade chart for Hawaii to Japan flights, showing mileage and co-pay for economy to premium cabins.

Since upgrade awards on Star Alliance flights have fixed prices, it’s possible to find outsized value on certain upgrade awards that have high cash prices. To get the best value for your United miles, you should divide the cash price by the award price to get the value per mile and then compare the value per mile among several redemption options.

The Bottom Line

The United MileagePlus program has experienced significant devaluations over the past decade, the biggest of which resulted from its switching to a dynamic pricing model for United award flights as well as partner award flights. This means that award flights offered through the MileagePlus program are now tied to the cash prices for those flights.

The good news is that, unlike many programs that use dynamic pricing, it’s still possible to find outsized-value redemptions (offering several cents per mile) through the MileagePlus program. The best way to find outsized-value redemptions is to look for Saver award flights that are being sold for their minimum award prices (which are listed in the award chart above).

The United MileagePlus program also has around 40 airline partners, which means United miles can be redeemed in a wide variety of ways. So, despite the fact that the MileagePlus program has undergone significant devaluations, this program is still relevant and still provides solid value to its members.