Nowadays the major airlines in the United States earn much of their profits from their loyalty programs, and in particular, their co-branded credit card businesses. Even though the “big three” carriers are already raking in billions per year from these programs, they still see a lot of upside.
As a result, a lot of the decisions that we see at airlines are based on trying to increase credit card revenue. Free inflight Wi-Fi? It’s all about getting loyalty program sign-ups, so that airlines can market to members. New destinations? They’re also about getting people interested in the loyalty program, by creating appealing destinations for redeeming miles.
Along those lines, huge changes have just been announced to the United MileagePlus program, and they center around one thing — making sure that customers pick up United’s credit cards. These changes are good for those with a co-branded credit card, and bad for those without… it’s that simple.
United MileagePlus creates huge incentive to get credit card
United MileagePlus is overhauling how members can earn and redeem miles, and it all centers around whether or not a member has a co-branded credit card. The idea is that those with a United MileagePlus credit card not only earn more miles, but also get better deals on award redemptions.
The changes center around four main areas, so let’s go over the details. But first, here’s how United’s Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Nocella, describes these changes:
“The most rewarding way to fly United is as a MileagePlus member, and the best way to get the most value from the MileagePlus program is to have one of our credit or debit cards. MileagePlus is designed to reward loyalty to United, and our best customers deserve the best benefits in the industry. MileagePlus members can now earn more miles faster with a United card – and every one of those miles will go further with our always-on award ticket discounts and expanded access to Saver Award fares.”
United will award more miles for credit card members
For flights purchased as of April 2, 2026, United MileagePlus will be changing how it awards miles. Miles will still be awarded based on the cost of a ticket, though the structure will change.
Historically, the number of miles that MileagePlus members have earned has been based on their elite status, and had nothing to do with whether or not they had a United credit card. However, that will be changing. Primary cardmembers on United MileagePlus credit cards will start earning more miles on standard United tickets, and will get additional miles when they pay for their flight with an eligible credit card.
For context, below are the MileagePlus earn rates for tickets booked through April 1, 2026.
Old United MileagePlus earning rates
Then below are the MileagePlus earn rates for tickets booked as of April 2, 2026.
New United MileagePlus earning rates
As you can see, the idea is that if you’re the primary cardmember on a co-branded credit card, you earn more miles than someone who isn’t. So the idea is that if you don’t have a credit card, you’re significantly worse off than before, while if you do have a credit card, you’re better off than before.
Note that the above numbers don’t include the miles you potentially earn for actually paying for flights with the card. In other words, you could earn the above mileage rates while paying with a non-United credit card, as long as you’re the primary card member with an open account.
For example, a Premier 1K member with a co-branded credit card would earn 12x miles per dollar spent when paying with another card, while if they paid with the United Club Card, they’d earn 17x miles per dollar spent (since the card offers an incremental 5x miles).
New United MileagePlus earning rates with card
United will restrict basic economy mileage earning
This is related to the above point, but for flights purchased as of April 2, 2026, United MileagePlus will be greatly restricting mileage earning on basic economy flights. Under the new system, non-elite MileagePlus members must hold a co-branded credit card to earn miles when traveling on a basic economy ticket.
So yeah, that means basic economy tickets won’t earn you anything if you don’t have status and/or don’t have a co-branded credit card.
United is adding new restrictions on basic economy fares
United will offer award discounts to credit card members
With these changes, United co-branded credit card members will save at least 10% on every United award flight they book, and those with Premier elite status and a co-branded credit card will save at least 15%.
Primary card members can see their savings called out on United’s app and website, and soon United will show the discounted prices to everyone, as a way to encourage people to get a credit card. Again, the idea is to create a huge incentive to pick up a United credit card.
United will offer 10-15% award discounts for card members
United will offer more saver awards to credit card members
United will also offer additional saver level award seats in United Polaris business class for credit card members. Currently, roughly one-third of flights that have saver level awards have special availability for credit card members and Premier elite members.
That will be expanded even further, and we’ll also see the 10-15% discount stackable with this. In other words, a transatlantic Polaris business class award that ordinarily costs 80,000 miles would instead cost 72,000 miles for card members, or 68,000 miles for card members with Premier elite status.
United will offer more Polaris awards for card members
My take on these United MileagePlus program changes
I can’t say that I’m terribly surprised by this development from United, as this very much seems like the direction the industry has been headed. Up until now, airlines have primarily tried to create incentives for members to pick up co-branded credit cards. In this case, United is sort of taking the opposite approach, at least in terms of optics — the airline is punishing those without a co-branded credit card, by slashing what they earn.
While I don’t love the trend in general, honestly, it’s probably a pretty smart move. Those who are brand loyal are highly likely to pick up a co-branded credit card, and this definitely creates an incentive to apply for a United card ASAP.
As I see it, the single biggest move here is just awarding miles differently based on whether or not you have a credit card, as we’ve not seen such a drastic policy from an airline up until this point. On the redemption side, I’d say this is really only an evolution of what we’ve already seen.
We’ve already seen United MileagePlus basically restrict Polaris business class awards to those with a co-branded credit card or Premier elite status, so I wouldn’t consider that to be totally new. Similarly, we’ve seen award discounts for those members as well. But the earnings rates changes really are significant.
I will say, I do think this poses a bit of an issue for those outside the United States (who typically can’t get a co-branded credit card), as well as those who may not be able to get approved for a United credit card (which could be for a variety of reasons, while still potentially being a great customer). However, I suspect United views that as a minor detail in the scheme of things.
I’m not surprised to see things ultimately go in this direction
Bottom line
United has announced huge changes to its MileagePlus program, which increasingly make it all about credit cards. Obviously we’ve seen the general trend of creating incentives to pick up cards, particularly in recent years. But United is really taking it a step further than we’ve otherwise seen.
The idea is simply that if you have a co-branded United card, you’ll be better off than before in terms of earning and redeeming miles. Meanwhile if you don’t have a co-branded United card, you’ll be significantly worse off.
What do you make of these United MileagePlus changes?
