Jan 22, 2023, 10:48 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Earning PQP on Award flights
An exciting change we are making in 2023 is that when you use MileagePlus miles for award flights operated by United or United Express, you are now eligible to earn Premier qualifying credits. Eligible award flights will help you achieve status with 1 PQP earned per 100 miles redeemed, as well as 1 PQF earned per United or United Express flight. PQP and PQF from qualifying award flights will count toward earning all status levels, whether through both PQF and PQP or PQP only thresholds. PQP from award flights will also count towards earning incremental PlusPoints for eligible members.
An exciting change we are making in 2023 is that when you use MileagePlus miles for award flights operated by United or United Express, you are now eligible to earn Premier qualifying credits. Eligible award flights will help you achieve status with 1 PQP earned per 100 miles redeemed, as well as 1 PQF earned per United or United Express flight. PQP and PQF from qualifying award flights will count toward earning all status levels, whether through both PQF and PQP or PQP only thresholds. PQP from award flights will also count towards earning incremental PlusPoints for eligible members.
- PQP and PQF for award travel may only be earned on flight segments operated by United or United Express
- Only award tickets issued as a result of redeeming MileagePlus miles from a MileagePlus account are eligible to earn PQP and PQF
- Award tickets may be redeemed out of any MileagePlus account, but only the member who completes travel on the award ticket will earn the corresponding PQP and PQF
- Award tickets that include both United and non-United operated flights, will receive a prorated amount of PQP based on the United flights
- Only award travel flown on or after January 1, 2023, is eligible to earn PQP and PQF
Since we now earn PQPs, do we earn award miles? No
Do we earning lifetime miles? No
If my award flight is a mixture of UA (eligible) and partner (not eligible) flights, how will will PQP earnings be determined?
When an award itinerary includes both United and non-United operated segments, the PQP amount will be prorated based upon the distance flown for the United-operated segments only.
Each UA flight will earn 1 PQF.
Award travel will count toward earning all Premier status levels including Premier 1K status, either by a combination of PQP and PQF or PQP only.
Award travel will count toward the minimum of 4 flight segments needed on United or United Express to qualify for Premier status.
There is no cap on how many PQP you can earn on an award flight.
Appears Mileage Upgrades if cleared, now earn PQPs post flight, 1 PQP per 100 miles
Only the ticketed passenger who completed the travel will earn PQP and PQF from the award ticket. The name of the ticketed passenger must match the name in the MileagePlus account entered on the reservation.
You will now earn 1 PQP for every 100 miles you redeem on a Money + Miles ticket. This is in addition to the PQP you already earn on Money + Miles tickets on the portion of the base fare paid with money, excluding taxes and fees. You will also continue to earn 1 PQF per segment flown on eligible Money + Miles itineraries.
The traveler earns the PQP/PQF credit even if the award miles come from a different account.
Lifetime miles are still not earned on award travel and neither are RDMs.
Premier qualification on award tickets terms and conditions
- Premier qualifying points (PQP) and Premier qualifying flights (PQF) for award travel may be accrued only on flight segments operated by United or United Express.
- Only award tickets issued as a result of redeeming MileagePlus miles from a MileagePlus account are eligible to earn PQP and PQF.
- Only award travel flown on or after January 1, 2023 is eligible to earn PQP and PQF.
- Members will earn 1 PQF per United or United Express award segment flown.
- Members will earn 1 PQP per 100 miles redeemed for a United or United Express award ticket.
- PQP accrual will be recorded in members MileagePlus accounts on a segment-by-segment basis.
- Where an award itinerary includes both United and non-United operated segments, the number of PQPs will be calculated based upon the distance flown for the United-operated segments only.
- PQP and PQF accrual on award tickets will be determined based upon the accrual structure in effect at the time of travel, not at the time that air travel is purchased, booked or reserved, or the time that retro-credit is requested.
- Only the ticketed passenger(s) will receive PQP and PQF once travel is completed, regardless of the MileagePlus account the miles have been redeemed from.
- The traveler must provide their MileagePlus number and have the flights posted to their account to earn PQP and PQF.
- PQP and PQF earned from qualifying award flights count toward earning all Premier status levels.
- PQP earned from award flights will count towards earning incremental PlusPoints for eligible members.
- Members cannot earn Lifetime flight miles on MileagePlus award tickets.
- All calculations with respect to PQP and PQF earned for award travel will be determined by MileagePlus in its sole discretion, and such determinations shall be final.
PQP/PQF Posting for Award Travel / Mileage Upgrades on UA Flights
Nov 19, 2025 | 8:57 am
#197
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Plat & 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 8,685
After the flight. The PQP from the flight itself usually posts very quickly, within a day or two at most. But the PQP for the copay and miles could take a few more days. Usually if they don't post within a week, I would call UA and they always very quickly fix the problem.
Mar 3, 2026 | 8:39 pm
#198
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,622
Rookie question, so apologies in advance.
If I book a mileage ticket (016 ticket) and the carrier is LH do I receive the PQF and PQP? I know i do for United flights but uncertain for non-UA mileage tickets on an 016 ticket.
If I book a mileage ticket (016 ticket) and the carrier is LH do I receive the PQF and PQP? I know i do for United flights but uncertain for non-UA mileage tickets on an 016 ticket.
Mar 3, 2026 | 8:53 pm
#199
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA LT Plat 2MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 73,039
Mar 3, 2026 | 10:27 pm
#200
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: AA EP, UA 1K/MM, WoH Globalist, HH Diamond
Posts: 3,973
Mar 4, 2026 | 12:57 am
#202
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA LT Plat 2MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 73,039
Mar 4, 2026 | 3:13 am
#203
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Saipan, MP 96950 USA (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands = the CNMI)
Programs: UA Silver, Hilton Silver. Life: UA .60 MM, United & Admirals Clubs (spousal), Marriott Platinum
Posts: 17,987
In case anyone was wondering, when redeeming a 20K-mile award, and using a 10K-mile Quest Card discount, one only earns Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) for the Redeemable Miles (RDM) actually used, in this case 20K - 10K = 10K RDM spent, resulting in 100 PQP earned, or maybe 101 PQP if one has a fortunate breakdown of the RDM spent over two segments.
