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United Airlines had previously said that there would be no changes to the qualification requirements for next year’s Premier status. The good news is that United is not raising the status level criteria and is making its PlusPoints more flexible.
Premier status is earned through the Premier qualifying points (PQP) and Premier qualifying flights (PQF) outlined above. The numbers needed to achieve each tier of Premier status in 2026 will not be changing from the thresholds set for this year.
Starter PQP Deposits Are Returning
All members who achieved Premier status this year will once again receive a PQP deposit in early 2026 at the same levels applied this year. This helps to get a head start on status for the new year.
More Options to Redeem PlusPoints
In October 2024, United shared that PlusPoints were going to become more flexible and that members would have more ways to use them besides upgrades (something Premier members have been rightfully moaning about for years). These options were updated in June and are now live for redemption. New options include:
- Gifting Premier status (all the way through Premier 1K®): Premier Silver® can be had for 40 PlusPoints, Premier Gold® for 100 PlusPoints, Premier Platinum® for 440 PlusPoints, and Premier 1K® for 600 PlusPoints
- TravelBank Cash: Up to 100 PlusPoints can be redeemed for $200 (max)
- Bonus Miles: Up to 100 PlusPoints can be redeemed for15,000 miles (max)
- Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF): 2 at 160 and 4 at 330
- Premier Qualifying Points (PQP): 1,600 max
More information can be found here.
PlusPoints Are Going Dynamic in 2027
The only negative that I see here is that the number of PlusPoints needed to upgrade a flight is going dynamic. The chart above will be eliminated and we do not know how these will be priced when that change occurs in February 2027.
More Ways to Earn PlusPoints
In another positive move, Premier 1K® and above members will be able to earn even more PlusPoints. PQP earned through eligible United® credit card spending will now count toward earning additional PlusPoints. There is no limit to the amount of PlusPoints you can earn. These have always been treated separately.
Upgrades on Award Tickets
Beginning February 1st, both PlusPoints and Complimentary Premier Upgrades (CPUs) will be eligible toward upgrades on award tickets for all Premier members. This was previously provided to Global Services members and credit cardholders, only.
Anthony’s Take: This is exciting news all around for Premier members. United is making MileagePlus benefits stronger without making the levels harder to attain. Now if we can just roll back some of the redemption devaluations and fix the food in Polaris®.
(Image Credits: United Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
