How to Book Tickets with United Miles
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If you’ve earned United MileagePlus miles — whether by flying United, earning through credit card bonuses, or transferring points from a program like Chase Ultimate Rewards — you can use those miles to book flights around the world. This article explains step by step how to book tickets with United miles, provides practical tips on how to get the most out of your bonus travel, and suggests.
What “Book with Miles United” Actually Means
When you book with miles United, you are using your United MileagePlus miles as a form of currency to pay (in whole or in part) for flights — both on United and its airline partners. These miles function as virtual travel currency, redeemable for award flights, upgrades, and even experiences.
United MileagePlus miles don’t expire as long as your account remains active, which gives you flexibility when planning far-off trips.
How to Book with Miles United
Booking United award flights is straightforward, especially when using United’s online tools.
1. Log in to Your MileagePlus Account
Go to United.com and sign in to your MileagePlus account. You can search without logging in, but members may see more available award inventory.
2. Start a Flight Search
- On the homepage, select “Flight.”
- Enter your departure and arrival cities, travel dates, and number of travelers.
- Check the “Book with miles” option.
This tells United you want to search for award flights rather than cash-priced fares.
We recommend selecting flexible dates right away (choose the “Flexible dates” or “View 30-day calendar” option), which will allow you to compare the cost of miles for the entire month and see the cheapest options.
The cheapest costs for that month are shown in green on the calendar that appears. To view flight possibilities, click on a date.
3. Select Your Flights
Once you find an itinerary you like:
- Choose the flight that fits your schedule and budget in miles.
- Review the mileage cost and any taxes and fees you’ll pay in cash (these are not paid with miles).
4. Complete Passenger & Payment Details
Fill in traveler info, add seats/extras if needed, and pay the taxes and fees with a credit card.
5. Confirm Your Booking
After confirmation, United will email your itinerary with award details and any payment confirmations.
Expert Mode: What It Offers, and How to Enable It
Okay, let’s talk about using miles for award tickets. There are nine different fare classes for these tickets, and the prices can vary a lot based on the code. You can see all the fare class options by turning on Expert Mode.
If you turn on expert mode, you can see what fare classes are still open when you’re looking at flights. Just switch your filter to show prices in cash, not miles, and then you can begin your search.
This allows you to quickly see which reward seats and price groups are available on any flight. This will help you better understand the options available to you.
United will show a series of one or two letters together with a number when in expert mode. The number is the number of seats left in that fare class, while the letter represents the fare class.
Example
When you check out a flight’s details, you can see how many tickets are left in each price group. For example, if you see XN9 and X9, it just means there are nine XN tickets and nine X tickets still up for grabs on that flight. Also, if it says IN0 and I0, that tells you there aren’t any discounted Business or First Class tickets left on that flight.
You must understand which fare class is associated with a specific kind of ticket or incentive in order for expert mode to be helpful.
Award Flight Types
Despite the fact that United offers a wide range of fare classes, here’s the lowdown on United’s award fare classes (Saver award fare classes):
First/Business Class Saver
- JN: Everyday award open to all elite members (prices change) and credit cardholders
- ZN: Everyday award for all other customer
- IN: Saver award for elites member
- I: Saver award for everyone else and partner bookings
- O: Saver First Class on routes that offer true international First
If you’re a Premier Platinum, 1K, or Global Services member, you get more access to business and first-class seats (IN fare) on United flights. You’ll see more options than regular customers in the I fare class. To see these extra seats, just log into your MileagePlus account.
Usually, United offers more IN fare seats than I fare seats (which is the usual one for business and first-class awards within the US). So, if you’re Premier Platinum or 1K, you’ll have more to pick from.
Keep in mind that you can only book I fares with rewards from partner programs like Air Canada Aeroplan and ANA Mileage Club.
Premium Plus
- ON: All awards (prices change)
Economy
- YN: Everyday award open to all elite members (prices change) and credit cardholders
- HN: Everyday award for all other customer
- XN: Saver award for elite members and certain credit card holders
- X: Saver award for everyone else and partner bookings
If you have a United Explorer Card, United Business Card, United Quest Card, or United Club Card, you can get more economy seats (XN fare class). This is also true for all United elite members, even Premier Silver and Premier Gold. Usually, United releases more seats to the XN fare than the X fare (the normal one for economy saver awards). But, like with business class, you can only book X fares through partner programs.
Booking Partner Flights with United Miles
Since United is with Star Alliance, you can fly with partners such as Lufthansa, ANA, and Swiss. You can use United miles to book these flights just like you would for United flights. Just search with book with miles on United.com.
This gives you more choices for where to go, even places United doesn’t fly to directly.
Other Ways to Use MileagePlus Miles
Besides flights, you can sometimes use your miles for:
- Upgrading your seat
- Paying with a mix of Money + Miles (combining cash + miles)
- Other travel extras through United’s partners
Tips to Get the Best Value When You Book with Miles United
Search Flexible Dates. Use the 30-day calendar to find lower mileage options across multiple days.
Aim for Saver Awards. Saver Awards are the lowest-priced award seats United releases on a flight. They require fewer miles than Everyday (standard) awards and therefore, usually provide the best value per mile when you redeem.
| Economy Saver | X | Lowest-level economy award space available to all members |
| Expanded Economy Saver | XN | Extra Saver space available to United elites & certain cardholders |
| Business Saver | I | Lowest-level business class (Polaris on long-haul) |
| Expanded Business Saver | IN | Extra business Saver space for elites/cardholders |
| First Saver (3-cabin aircraft) | O | Saver First Class on routes that offer true international First |
Consider One-Way Searches. Searching one-way flights separately often shows more award inventory.
Pay Attention to Taxes and Fees. Taxes and fees on award flights vary by route and are paid in cash, not miles. Always check this before booking.
In Conclusion
Booking flights with miles is a great way to get real trips out of your United miles. Whether it’s a short trip in the country or a long trip overseas, using MileagePlus miles can really bring down the price.
To get the best results, plan ahead, be flexible with your dates, and check United’s MileagePlus tools online to see what’s available. Though finding award flights via airline loyalty programs can take some patience and practice, you’ll eventually get the hang of it.
Our community has developed a free tool for searching for reward tickets across various loyalty programs, including United. This can simplify your search for the best travel options from major hubs (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Miami).
