As the sun begins to set on 2025, your time is running out to earn or regain your Elite Airline membership for 2026. Now is the time to check your account balance, plan your travels for the rest of the year, and see where you’ll be by December 31st.
If you don’t think you’ll reach your United MileagePlus Premier status goal, here are some tips to help you earn the Premier qualifying points and Premier qualifying flights you need before the end of the year.
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How to Obtain United Airlines Premier Status
United uses two elite status metrics: Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) and Premier Qualifying Points (PQP).
You can choose to qualify through the PQP alone or by combining the PQP and PQF. Here are the requirements for status in 2026:
| status level | Requirements (PQP only) | Requirements (PQF + PQP) |
|---|---|---|
| Distinguished Silver Card | 6,000 PQP | 15 PQF + 5,000 PQP |
| Premier Gold Card | 12,000 PQP | 30 PQF + 10,000 PQP |
| Premier Platinum Card | 18,000 PQP | 45 PQF + 15,000 PQP |
| Advanced 1K | 28,000 PQP | 60 PQF + 22,000 PQP |
But keep in mind that to obtain any Premier status, you need to fly at least four paid flight segments operated by United or United Express in a calendar year. In most cases, these four paid components will also count as PQF.
VIP eligible flights
You’ll earn 1 PQF for each flight segment on United, United Express, and United partner airlines, including eligible award flights. So if your flight has one stop, you will get 2 PQF.
The only paid flights that do not count toward PQF are basic economy tickets, non-United-operated flights to Venezuela and flights to Cuba. In addition, award flights operated by partner airlines do not accrue PQF.
Advanced qualification points
There are many ways to earn PQP, including paid and award flights, seat assignments and upgrades, and credit card purchases. We’ll cover these in detail later.
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Although basic economy fares do not accrue PQF, they do earn PQP and count toward the four-segment minimum qualification.
As with PQF, you cannot earn PQP on award flights with partner airlines. You can only earn PQF and PQP on the United-operated segments of your award flight.
Related: Flights, Credit Cards, and More: How to Earn Miles with United’s MileagePlus Program
How to earn more PQP
The only way to earn more VIP qualifying flights is to fly more. However, there are several ways to earn advanced qualification points, and they don’t all require leaving the venue.
Flights booked through United
Let’s start with the basics: Earn PQP on United tickets.
When you book a flight with United in any fare class, all passengers, including those with Premier status, earn 1 PQP for every $1 spent on the base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges. This applies to all United-issued tickets (represented by the 016 ticket number), regardless of whether the flight is operated by United or a partner airline.
This means you can maximize the PQP of a fare that is primarily the base ticket and airline-imposed surcharges (rather than taxes and other charges). Unfortunately, international travel often carries hefty government taxes and fees that do not earn PQP.
When you search for flights on the United website, you can see what PQP and PQF a specific flight will receive by clicking “Details.” Below is an example of a one-stop flight from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), with both legs operated by United. All tickets earn 2 PQF, but the amount of PQP increases with the ticket price.
You can even earn PQP on flights and upgrades booked using miles, albeit at a much lower rate. You’ll earn 1 PQP for every 100 MileagePlus miles you redeem and seat upgrades on United and United Express flights. Award itineraries that include partner-operated flights will only earn PQP on United segments.
This is a similar trip from DEN to BER that costs the same number of miles – it’s just that this option earns less PQF and PQP because one of the segments is operated by a partner airline. This difference may cause us to dash your dreams of elite status, so be sure to check all of your options before booking.
You can also earn PQP on Preferred and Economy Plus seats and paid cabin upgrades, earning 1 PQP for every $1 spent (excluding taxes and fees). However, please note that PQPs are not earned on other non-flight purchases such as baggage fees and United Club lounge memberships, nor are certain private bulk and travel industry fares.
PQP is granted to the traveler, not the person purchasing the ticket. Therefore, if you book and pay for tickets for your entire family, you can only earn PQP on your tickets and not on your relatives’ tickets.
Related: How to redeem 100,000 United MileagePlus miles for maximum value
Flights booked through partner airlines
Partner itineraries (flights booked through partner airline sites where you enter your United MileagePlus number when booking) are the best option for United Premier status because you can earn significant PQPs for a fraction of the regular price.
The amount of PQP you can receive depends on the partner airline:
- Preferred Partner Airlines: Earn 1 PQP for every 5 award miles earned, up to 750 PQP per flight in Economy and Premium Economy, and up to 1,500 PQP in First and Business Class.
- MileagePlus partners: Earn 1 PQP for every 6 award miles earned, up to 500 PQP per flight in Economy and Premium Economy, and up to 1,000 PQP in First and Business Class.
Confusingly, Preferred Partner and MileagePlus Partner have nothing to do with which airlines are in Star Alliance. You can view the full list of Preferred Partners and MileagePlus Partners on the United website.
To complicate things further, the number of miles (and therefore PQP) you can earn varies from airline to airline. Most United partners award miles based on three factors: distance flown, fare class and the airline operating the flight. You can learn about mileage earning guidelines for each partner on the United website.
Here’s an example of a partner itinerary that earns significantly more than 1 PQP per $1 booked through United:
This one-way Lufthansa economy ticket from Los Angeles to Krakow, Poland, costs $398 and is fare in T class (50% accrual according to Lufthansa’s income table), so you can earn the following MileagePlus miles:
- Los Angeles to Munich: 5,989 air miles multiplied by 50% equals 2,994 miles earned
- Munich to Krakow: Flying 500 miles times 50% equals 250 miles earned
- All: Earn 3,244 miles
Since Lufthansa is a preferred partner, you earn 1 PQP for every 5 bonus miles:
- Earn 3,375 miles divided by 5 equals 675 PQP
Compare that to the same flight booked and ticketed through United at the same price, which only earns 344 PQP:
In this case, you could earn nearly twice as much PQP simply by purchasing your ticket on the Lufthansa website instead of the United website. This can make a big difference if you want VIP status at the last minute.
MileagePlus credit card spending
Flights aren’t the only way to close the gap on your 2026 status goal; you can also earn PQP by spending with most United credit cards.
Cards that offer PQP earn at a rate of 1 PQP per $15 or $20 spent, depending on the card. Each card has a limit on the number of PQPs you can earn in a calendar year, but you can stack PQPs from multiple cards. This guide details how to earn PQP from credit card purchases.
As 2025 winds down, take a look at your earnings activity to see how many more PQPs you can earn on your card, or if it makes sense to apply for another United card before the end of the year.
Here are three of our favorite United co-branded cards that earn PQP and their current welcome bonuses:
- United℠Discover Card (See rates and fees): Earn 60,000 bonus miles when you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening. Additionally, you can earn 10,000 bonus miles when you add an authorized user to your account within the first three months of opening your account.
- United Quest℠ Card (See rates and fees): Earn 70,000 bonus miles and 1,000 Premier qualifying points when you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening. Additionally, you can earn 10,000 bonus miles when you add an authorized user to your account within the first three months of opening your account.
- United Club℠ Card (See rates and fees): Earn 80,000 miles after you spend $5,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening. Additionally, you can earn 10,000 bonus miles when you add an authorized user to your account within the first three months of opening your account.
RELATED: United Credit Card Comes with Increased Statement Points and Higher Annual Fee – Is It Worth Keeping Your Card?
Buy PQP
If you have an upcoming booking with United, you may be able to purchase additional miles and PQP for your trip. To view your offers, go to “My Trips” and open your booking, then click “View all offers” and find the “Rewards Accelerator” option.
Clicking “Learn More” will take you to a page where you can view your current PQP and PQF balances and choose to purchase MileagePlus miles and PQP. Here are the options for one-way flights from Denver to Philadelphia:
It’s easy to see that this isn’t a great deal since you can earn more PQP and bonus miles on a paid United ticket for the same price. However, if you don’t have the flexibility to take another flight in the final months of 2025, it might be a worthwhile option — especially if it can get you a promotion into one of United’s highest tiers, such as Premier 1K.
When it comes to purchasing status, United typically offers targeted purchases to the next status level sometime in January or February, but historically these purchases have been prohibitively expensive.
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bottom line
While 2025 is coming to an end, there’s still plenty of time to regain your current United Premier League elite status or upgrade next year. The first step is to determine your situation and the income you will receive from any scheduled year-end travel so that you can decide whether mileage running is right for you. You can easily view the number of PQPs and PQFs you have under “Your Premier Progress” in the “My United” section of your MileagePlus account.
If you’re close to your 2026 status goal but not quite there yet, consider your travel plans and credit card spending for the rest of the year. Booking your flight through the right channels or paying with the right card can help you cross the finish line.
