It’s called a frequent flyer program, but today, many airline loyalty programs have become complex and bear little resemblance to their original forms. Rather than being a simple ‘fly ten times get a free flight’ or being based on how many miles you travel with an airline, loyalty programs have become increasingly spend-based, where you earn miles and benefits based on how much you spend with an airline. In some cases, you can earn elite status without even having to set foot on a carrier’s aircraft.

Central to the shift towards spend-based earning is co-branded credit cards. With these, customers can earn miles by using these credit cards for virtually anything, and these programs have become profit centers for airlines. The three US legacy carriers have leaned particularly heavily into credit cards and spending, to the point where they’re essentially unprofitable without their programs. United Airlines, meanwhile, has revamped its MileagePlus program to be more credit card-centric than ever before, essentially turning it into a frequent spender program.

The Latest Changes To United MileagePlus

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As of April 2, 2026, MileagePlus members have been split into two tiers: MileagePlus credit cardholders and non-cardholders. Whereas before, all members earned a base rate of five miles from purchasing tickets, with Premier members earning an added bonus. Today, non-cardholders who are general members earn three miles, whereas Premier Silver, Gold, Platinum, and 1K members earn five, six, seven, and nine miles, respectively. General cardholders now earn six miles, while cardholders with Premier status earn between eight and 12 miles.

Another bit of major news is that non-cardholders do not earn any miles when booking basic economy tickets unless they already hold Premier status. In addition, cardholders earn a 10% discount on award flights, while cardholders who hold Premier status save 15%. What’s more, credit card holders will be offered additional saver-level award tickets for flights in Polaris business class.

On the redemption side, United is going with the trend of favoring cardholders and elite members, but the Chicago-based carrier is unique in offering different earnings rates for cardholders and non-cardholders. Because of how lucrative credit cards are for airlines, many carriers heavily incentivize people to sign up for co-branded credit cards, but United is somewhat penalizing non-cardholders instead. Of course, the motive behind these changes is to encourage loyal customers to sign up for a co-branded credit card.

The Trend In The US Airline Industry

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American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines all operate spend-based loyalty programs and have increasingly been favoring credit cardholders. At American Airlines, you don’t even technically need to fly with the airline to earn elite status, as credit card mileage earnings also count as Loyalty Points for status, and the airline does not have a minimum flight requirement. The same is true for Delta Air Lines, and the carrier also already offers a 15% discount for American Express cardholders on award tickets, similar to what United is now offering to MileagePlus cardholders.

Southwest Rapid Rewards and JetBlue TrueBlue are both spend-based programs, as are the loyalty programs operated by Spirit Airlines, Frontier, Air Canada, Aeromexico, and WestJet. Alaska Airlines, however, is the unique outlier in that it offers Atmos members three choices on how to earn status: by miles flown, by segment, or by spending as well. As a whole, however, moving to spend-based programs has become the norm in the airline industry, with credit cards being central to this shift.

While American’s AAdvantage and Delta’s SkyMiles program do not require members to actually fly for loyalty status, many other airlines do have a minimum flight requirement. For United’s MileagePlus program, members must fly a minimum of four segments operated by either United Airlines or United Express within a calendar year to reach Premier Status, and the tiers can be achieved either by earning a certain number of Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs), or only by earning a higher number of PQPs.

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Why The Focus On Credit Cards?

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Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are the world’s two most profitable carriers, and yet, almost all of their profit is from the frequent flyer programs. Without them, the two would essentially lose money or just break-even from flying; however, loyalty programs on their own are lucrative, and these two airlines in particular generate huge interest from consumers through their networks, products, and brand image. Key to their success is their partnerships with credit card issuers.

The revenue from the miles that airlines sell to banks, as well as other program partners like rental car agencies, is significant, and airlines receive full payment upfront from their partners while also selling miles in bulk. Meanwhile, the cost to sell these miles is quite low, making this a high-margin transaction in a notoriously low-margin industry. What’s more, the business of selling miles to companies stays relatively consistent even during downturns, making a steady source of revenue when other revenue sources are down.

Credit card issuers are the biggest sources of revenue for airlines, and these companies therefore want customers to sign up for these cards as much as possible to further increase demand for their miles. In addition, this also locks in customer loyalty, as someone who holds a MileagePlus Chase card is unlikely to fly with American Airlines, for example, since they earn more rewards and are entitled to more benefits when traveling with United. While United is taking a major leap by differentiating mileage earning rates for cardholders, expect this to soon be the new industry standard.

The United Credit Cards On Offer

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United Airlines partners with Chase for its MileagePlus co-branded credit cards and issues six cards in total. The United Gateway card is the carrier’s entry-level credit card, and it offers two free checked bags each year as well as 25% back on in-flight and Club premium drinks. It’s a small list of benefits, but this card also has no annual fee. The Explorer card is the carrier’s mid-tier credit card, with a $99 annual fee, a free checked bag, two annual United Club passes, priority boarding, and over $500 in annual partner credits.

The United Quest card has a $350 annual fee and comes with a $200 United travel credit, an annual 10,000-mile award flight discount, two free checked bags, as well as priority boarding. Meanwhile, United’s top personal credit card is the Club card, which includes a United Club membership, two free checked bags, Premier Access travel services, as well as over $875 in annual partner credits. However, it has an annual fee of $695. In addition, United and Chase offer a co-branded debit card, which earns one mile per dollar spent on United and one mile for every two dollars spent on other purchases.

In addition to the four personal credit cards, United also has two business cards. The United Business card includes two annual United Club passes, one free checked bag, as well as over $600 in annual partner credits, at the expense of a $150 annual fee. Meanwhile, the United Club Business card is largely the same as the personal United Club card, but is targeted at business owners.

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The Other Way To Make The Most Of MileagePlus

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To make the most out of United’s MileagePlus program, you’ll want to both use a co-branded credit card and to hold elite status. There are four tiers within MileagePlus (Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum, and Premier 1K), which have increasingly higher requirements and come with progressively higher rewards. With the lower three tiers, the added requirements are either 15 PQFs and 5,000 PQPs, or 6,000 additional PQPs, whereas the top Premier 1K status requires either another 15 PQFs and 7,000 PQPs, or 10,000 more PQPs.

With each tier comes a higher mileage earning rate, along with added benefits. All Premier members receive complimentary access to Economy Plus seats, made available at check-in for Premier Silver members and at booking for the other three tiers. Members receive priority boarding (ranging from Group Two for Silver members to pre-boarding for 1K members), and of course, a placement on the complimentary upgrade list for short-haul routes, ranging from day-of-departure to 96 hours before departure.

In addition to these, Premier status holders are entitled to complimentary bags (ranging from one to three) when traveling in economy, and higher status tiers can not only select Economy Plus seats for free, but can also extend this privilege for up to eight companions. What’s more, the Premier Platinum and 1K tiers grant PlusPoints for reaching these tiers, with Platinum members earning 40 PlusPoints, while 1K members earn 280 PlusPoints. The primary benefit is that they can be used for cabin upgrades, allowing you to skip the waitlist and also upgrade to premium cabins on international flights.