United Adds New Ways To Use PlusPoints: Breaking Down The Chart

Intro

Earlier this year, United Airlines came out with an announcement stating that starting in 2027, the airline would be coming out with new ways for Platinum, 1K, and Global Services members to use their Plus Points.

Well, I just received an email from United, and they have finally released what these new opportunities look like.

The Details

United PlusPoints have been a valuable asset for securing upgrades in the past, especially for long-haul routes in Polaris that can cost upwards of 4000 USD. However, certain members have been disappointed that they never seem to get their upgrades cleared, and United has listened.

Going forward, members of United will be able to utilize PlusPoints in the following ways:

New United PlusPoints chart

We'll get to what is worth it below, but I just wanted to add that it is nice to see United adding different ways to redeem PlusPoints. A lot of people in the GS category have no use for free upgrades as they are traveling in business on the company dime, so this is more geared towards that.

Mostly Irrelevant, But Some Good

Let's be honest, most of the chart above does not represent good value at all. As an example, redeeming 80 PlusPoints for a 160$ credit on United is just flat out sad. As an example, I redeemed 80 PlusPoints for a round-trip upgrade from Los Angeles to Hong Kong from economy to business class (3-4000$ value at the time)...

This was a lovely flight in Polaris, actually almost flew it last night...

However, there are a few options here that United has come out with that aren't too bad and might be worth pursuing. These are the following (in my eyes):

• 40 PlusPoints to gift silver status to someone

• 100 PlusPoints to gift gold status to someone

Now this one is more directed towards those with Global Services status, and who fly a lot, but this could be a good opportunity for a select few:

• 600 PlusPoints to gift 1K status to someone

To me, the sweet spot for a lot of 1K members will be being able to gift Star Alliance Gold status to 2 different people for a total of 200 PlusPoints. That's not bad value at all, and I imagine we might see people beginning to sell off their PlusPoints for status (illegally, people do this already with PP), upping the number of those who are Star Alliance Gold.

Lastly, this chart only comes into effect for PlusPoints that expire beginning January 2027, and not the ones expiring in 2026.

Final Thoughts

After a long wait, United has finally released what the new Pluspoints chart will look like going forward. While it doesn't look great on paper, the opportunity to gift Gold status to others for 100 PlusPoints might actually be a good use. Still, I'll stick with my upgrades for now...

I really hope that United does NOT devalue PlusPoint upgrades, as 40 PlusPoints (in W or higher) is probably the main reason I am loyal to United Airlines.