Understanding PQP and PQF United: Earn More, Fly Better
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Achieving elite status with United Airlines’ MileagePlus program can greatly enhance your travel experience by offering benefits such as free upgrades, priority boarding, and more. To take advantage of these benefits, you need to understand how to earn Premier Qualifying Points (“PQP”) and Premier Qualifying Flights (“PQF”). These two metrics are at the heart of United’s elite status criteria, and knowing how they differ and how to maximize your earnings will help you move up the ranks faster, ensuring you enjoy the full range of benefits that come with elite membership.
Changes to qualification thresholds in 2025
New requirements for earning PQPs and PQFs between January 1 and December 31, 2025 to obtain or maintain elite status for 2026.
These are the requirements for elite status:
| Now | Update in 2025 | |||
| Premier status | PQP and PQF | PQP only | PQP and PQF | PQP only |
| Premier Silver | 4,000 PQP + 12 PQF | 5,000 PQP | 5,000 PQP + 15 PQF | 6,000 PQP |
| Premier Gold | 8,000 PQP + 24 PQF | 10,000 PQP | 10,000 PQP + 30 PQF | 12,000 PQP |
| Premier Platinum | 12,000 PQP + 36 PQF | 15,000 PQP | 15,000 PQP + 45 PQF | 18,000 PQP |
| Premier 1K | 18,000 PQP + 54 PQF | 24,000 PQP | 22,000 PQP + 60 PQF | 28,000 PQP |
Please note: In addition to the requirements described above, you must have flown at least four times on United or United Express to qualify for each elite tier.
What is PQP United Airlines
Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) are a key component of United’s MileagePlus program. They determine your Premium membership status, which provides benefits such as free upgrades and priority boarding.
PQPs are earned based on the amount spent on United and eligible partner airlines, including base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges, but excluding taxes and fees.
What is PQF
Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) is one of the criteria used to qualify for different tiers of Premier status in the MileagePlus program and measures the number of flight segments taken on United Airlines and its partner airlines. Each individual flight is considered a segment.
Example:
If you fly from New York to Los Angeles with a layover in Chicago, this would count as two PQFs.
If you fly Chicago-Denver-Phoenix and then the same route on the way back, that’s four segments. A flight is not considered a segment if it has no minimum mileage.
How to Earn Premier Qualifying Points (PQP)
1. Flight Purchases
Earn PQPs by booking and flying on United and United Express flights for cash
Earn PQPs for every dollar spent on United and eligible partner airlines. For every dollar spent on United flights or airline tickets issued by United excluding taxes and fees
Earning PQP on Award flights:
When you book airline tickets with rewards (MileagePlus miles from your MileagePlus account), you earn 1 PQP for every 100 miles redeemed and 1 PQF for every United or United Express flight.
PQPs and PQFs for award flights can only be earned on segments of flights operated by United or United Express.
For award tickets that include flights on both United and other carriers, a member will earn a pro-rata amount of PQP based on United flights.
2. Partner Airlines:
Flights with United’s partner airlines can also earn PQPs.
United partners fall into two categories:
- Preferred partners
- Non-privileged partners
Earn PQPs based on fare class and flight distance. This is calculated by dividing the miles earned by a certain number*, depending on whether the partner is a preferred or non-preferred partner.
- Preferred partners: The number of miles earned is divided by 5.
- Non-privileged partners: The number of miles earned is divided by 6.
At the same time, there are certain limits on earning PQP from one flight with a partner airline:
- for a flight with a preferred partner, you will earn a maximum of 600 PQP
- For a flight with a non-privileged partner, you will earn a maximum of 500 PQPs
United partner list
You can find a full list of these partners on the United website.
3. Credit Cards
Certain United co-branded credit cards offer PQPs as a benefit based on your spending.
Using certain United co-branded credit cards can help accelerate the process of earning Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) and achieving elite status.
| Credit Card | PQP Earnings | Annual Cap | Annual Fee |
| United Explorer Card | 25 PQPs per $500 spent | Up to 1,000 PQPs | $95 (waived first year) |
| United QuestSM Card | 25 PQPs per $500 spent | Up to 6,000 PQPs | $250 |
| United ClubSM Infinite Card | 25 PQPs per $500 spent | Up to 10,000 PQPs | $525 |
| United Business Card | 25 PQPs per $500 spent | Up to 1,000 PQPs | $99 |
| United ClubSM Business Card | 25 PQPs per $500 spent | Up to 1,000 PQPs | $450 |
In 2025, the frequency of PQP accrual for expenses will change and the restrictions on the number of PQP that can be earned on some co-branded cards will increase, see the table below:
| Credit Card | PQP Earnings 2025 | Annual Cap 2025 | Annual Fee |
| United QuestSM Card | 1 PQP per $20 spent | Up to 9,000 PQPs | $250 |
| United ClubSM Infinite Card | 1 PQP per $15 spent | Up to 15,000 PQPs | $525 |
| United ClubSM Business Card | 1 PQP per $15 spent | Up to 15,000 PQPs | $450 |
| First Hawaiian Bank United | 1 PQP per $20 spent | Up to 1,000 PQPs | $99 (waived first year) |
| First Hawaiian Bank United World Elite Business Card | 1 PQP per $20 spent | Up to 1,000 PQPs | $99 |
Note that achieving elite status solely through credit card spending will be a challenge, but using flights and a credit card will make it much easier to earn the necessary qualifying points and flights.
4. Promotions
Look out for special promotions that offer additional PQPs.
5. Starter PQP
Annually, based on your status on February 1, United makes one-time PQP deposits (Starter PQR).
| Premier status | Starter PQP deposit in 2024 | Starter PQP deposit in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Premier Silver | 250 PQP | 301 PQP |
| Premier Gold | 500 PQP | 601 PQP |
| Premier Platinum | 750 PQP | 901 PQP |
| Premier 1K | 1250 PQP | 1,400 PQP |
Participants with a trial status or those who have not yet been verified are not eligible
6. PQP for upgrades
MileagePlus Upgrade Awards
Starting January 1, 2023, members can earn Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) from the miles redeemed for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards at a rate of 1 PQP for every 100 MileagePlus miles used.
The PQP from these upgrades is also calculated based on the cash portion of the co-pay fee.
PQP will be credited only after the MileagePlus Upgrade Award flight has been completed, and it may take up to seven days after departure to reflect in your account. PQP earned through redeemed miles and the co-pay fee will be credited separately and may appear in your account at different times.
Cash upgrades
Cash upgrades contribute to earning Premier Qualifying Points (PQP), but they do not impact Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs). The number of PQFs remains the same—one per flight segment—regardless of the class of service. Additionally, cash upgrades do not accrue award miles.
While upgrade fees do earn PQPs, these points are not included in the PQP totals displayed for a flight on the United website or app. Instead, the PQP earned from upgrades will be credited separately and reflected in your account after the flight.
Is It Possible to Buy PQP United?
Using the Premier Accelerator feature, you can purchase PQPs, but a prerequisite is the simultaneous purchase of the Rewards Accelerator option, which in turn is only offered when booking a United flight.
PQP and Premier Accelerator
The Premier Accelerator is a feature of United Airlines’ MileagePlus program that allows members to purchase additional PQP, accelerating the path to Premier status.
Fares and options may vary by flight.
Example: When you book a one-way ticket from Los Angeles (LAX) to Honolulu (HNL), you can use Rewards Accelerator in conjunction with Premier Accelerator to buy the following:
- 7,000 bonus miles and 500 PQP for $727
- 10,000 bonus miles and 800 PQP for USD 1,074.
What You Need to Know About Premier Accelerator
- PQPs purchased through the Premier Accelerator program are credited to your MileagePlus wallet within 24 hours of purchase.
- Premier Accelerator is only available until you board your return flight and cannot be redeemed after that point. If you are traveling one way, the Accelerator program is available only until you board the flight.
- Premier Accelerator can be purchased once per route. If you have already purchased an Award Accelerator award ticket for your trip but have not purchased a Premier Accelerator award ticket, you are no longer eligible for the Premier Accelerator offer on that route.
- The Premier Accelerator program is only available on tickets issued by United (including award tickets), although travel may be on other airlines.
- Customers traveling on a Basic Economy ticket are not eligible for Premier Accelerator.
When It Makes Sense to Use Premier Accelerator?
Almost never. If you are on the verge of status and will only make it if you speed up your journey a bit with an award accelerator, you have no other option.
Conclusion
If you clearly understand what PQP and PQF are and how they are calculated, you will be able to develop your own strategy on your way to the elite levels, which will be most convenient for you!
What happens to PQP miles crediting if your flight was canceled and transferred to a partner’s airline company? Read our next article.
