Nov 15, 2015, 11:28 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Million Miler Program
With United's change to PQPs and PQFs, UA no longer provides information on flight / "BIS" mile
United no longer shows the BIS mileage. For now, the app is showing segment miles during booking -- but united.com is not.
Presently using UA's timetable to research the flight, the flight miles are provided
Alternatively, you can use third-party tools like, gcmap to get a number. It may differ from UA's number by a few miles
Building a UA city pair BIS table
And finally, you can trust UA to track your miles (There have been very, very few instances of issues and less recently)
Post-merge, COPA flights also accumulated UA lifetime miles, that ceased in July 2015 when COPA left MileagePlus.
What if I use miles to purchase the trip? Does that earn Lifetime Miles?
MileagePlus Million Mile (and Beyond) Flyer Benefits [2014 forward]
Million Miler companion benefit
Building a UA city pair BIS table
Archive: [url=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/2150272-how-lifetime-miles-calculated-mileageplus-archive.html]How are "lifetime miles" calculated for MileagePlus? {Archive}
Related thread: Lifetime status by airline -- attempted summary
Mileage accrual for Million Miler qualification is based on the flight distance of United- and United Express-operated flights.
United no longer shows the BIS mileage.
Presently using UA's timetable to research the flight, the flight miles are provided
Alternatively, you can use third-party tools like, gcmap to get a number. It may differ from UA's number by a few miles
Building a UA city pair BIS table
And finally, you can trust UA to track your miles (There have been very, very few instances of issues and less recently)
- For elites, there is 500 lifetime mile minimum for UA/UX flights. (still true in 2020 and PQP/PQF era)
- There is no elite bonus or class of service bonus.
- BIS miles
= PQMs for 100% fares - Bus operated land connections booked as UA flight numbers earn lifetime miles
- No partner flights earn UA lifetime miles.
- Flight number / codeshare / ticket stock does not matter -- as long as it is a United-operated flight that is being credited to UA MP program.
- No credit card activity earns UA lifetime miles
- Only paid flights (including BULK / most consolidator tickets), no credit for award flights
- There is no method for purchasing lifetime miles
Basic Economy segments are non-mileage earning and do not earn lifetime milesIn the second iteration of BE (2018Q4),LT mileage earning appears to have been restored (100%50%of BIS)- Lapchild tickets are non-mileage earning including lifetime miles
Post-merge, COPA flights also accumulated UA lifetime miles, that ceased in July 2015 when COPA left MileagePlus.
What if I use miles to purchase the trip? Does that earn Lifetime Miles?
Depends
If you are using just UA miles and only paying cash for the taxes, as an award trip, it does not qualify for Lifetime miles
However
If you are using points from a credit card to purchase a ticket on their site, then the trip qualifies
If you are booking an economy ticket but using miles to upgrade, then the trip qualifies
If you are using the Money+Miles payment option, then the trip qualifies (regardless of the amount paid by miles)
If you are purchasing with a Chase creditcard and then using miles as a statement credit, then the trip qualifies
What about purchasing with "Money+Miles"?If you are using just UA miles and only paying cash for the taxes, as an award trip, it does not qualify for Lifetime miles
However
If you are using points from a credit card to purchase a ticket on their site, then the trip qualifies
If you are booking an economy ticket but using miles to upgrade, then the trip qualifies
If you are using the Money+Miles payment option, then the trip qualifies (regardless of the amount paid by miles)
If you are purchasing with a Chase creditcard and then using miles as a statement credit, then the trip qualifies
100% Lifetime Miles earning
see What is the "Book with Money and Miles" option ?
Related Threadssee What is the "Book with Money and Miles" option ?
MileagePlus Million Mile (and Beyond) Flyer Benefits [2014 forward]
Million Miler companion benefit
Building a UA city pair BIS table
Archive: [url=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/2150272-how-lifetime-miles-calculated-mileageplus-archive.html]How are "lifetime miles" calculated for MileagePlus? {Archive}
Related thread: Lifetime status by airline -- attempted summary
How are "lifetime miles" calculated for MileagePlus?
Nov 1, 2023, 3:24 pm
#271
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: United, American, Delta, Hyatt, Hilton, Hertz, Marriott
Posts: 14,802
An airport's location, or airport reference point, is defined as its geographical center. In the US this is determined by taking a weighted average of the ends of all of the runways. Occasionally, airports add or remove runways. This can affect the reference point. When the FAA database changes to update the reference p
oint, airlines might not pick up immediately on the change. I'm pretty sure this is why some airports "move" occasionally and why the number of miles UA (for example) credits for flights sometimes changes.
oint, airlines might not pick up immediately on the change. I'm pretty sure this is why some airports "move" occasionally and why the number of miles UA (for example) credits for flights sometimes changes.
Nov 2, 2023, 7:20 am
#272
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: UA*Lifetime GS, Hyatt* Lifetime Globalist
Posts: 12,337
From one normal flyer to another, yes! Seems they repositioned SFO slightly a year and a bit ago.
From Building a UA city pair BIS table,
Tangentially, LAX seems about half a mile farther south in UA's calculations than gcmap's. Something funny about California.
From Building a UA city pair BIS table,
Tangentially, LAX seems about half a mile farther south in UA's calculations than gcmap's. Something funny about California.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andreas_Fault
Last edited by UA_Flyer; Nov 2, 2023 at 9:06 am
Feb 14, 2024, 11:24 am
#273
Join Date: Nov 2023
Posts: 27
Does partner bookings on United metal count towards million miler status or does it have to be a united ticket?
- thinking about partner mileage runs this year to get better PQP rates and was just thinking if any of those would double up if for example I booked on ANA from DEN-Japan and had one leg on united metal if that would also count towards million mile.
- thinking about partner mileage runs this year to get better PQP rates and was just thinking if any of those would double up if for example I booked on ANA from DEN-Japan and had one leg on united metal if that would also count towards million mile.
Feb 15, 2024, 7:59 am
#275
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
Programs: CO, NW, & UA forum moderator emeritus
Posts: 35,432
t matter which carrier issued the ticket as long as it is a paid ticket with mileage credit going to UA.
Feb 15, 2024, 4:37 pm
#276
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CLE, DCA, and 30k feet
Programs: Honors LT Diamond; United 1K; Hertz PC
Posts: 4,165
To be pedantic, all non-award UA/UAX metal flights with a base fare >$0 count. There are some (thankfully not common) non-award $0 fare bookings that are possible (some certs/industry discounts/etc.) that also fail to contribute to lifetime mileage. It use to be easy to say if it doesn't earn RDM or isn't upgradable it doesn't contribute to LFM but BE has made that no longer as easy to say.
Feb 16, 2024, 6:21 am
#277
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: UA*Lifetime GS, Hyatt* Lifetime Globalist
Posts: 12,337
How hard is it for UA to include actual flight mile information in addition to PQP and PQF for each flight? The information is available so why not just make it easier for M+ members to access that information.
I have a giant spreadsheet that tracks all my UA activities since 1991 and al *A activities since 1997, but I am sympathetic to M+ members who may not have all the information or time to set up a tracking spreadsheet.
I have a giant spreadsheet that tracks all my UA activities since 1991 and al *A activities since 1997, but I am sympathetic to M+ members who may not have all the information or time to set up a tracking spreadsheet.
Feb 16, 2024, 3:02 pm
#278
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 .57 MM, United & Admirals Clubs (spousal), Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,056
I simply take note or make a screenshot of the app, showing my lifetime mileage before and after each flight.
Feb 16, 2024, 4:34 pm
#279
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Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: United, American, Delta, Hyatt, Hilton, Hertz, Marriott
Posts: 14,802
Feb 26, 2024, 9:21 pm
#280
Join Date: May 2006
Location: DC
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 597
Almost at one million miles and looking for some advice
Hi all. A few years back I was commuting to Europe and racking up UA miles. 1k and GS for years---it was fun!!! Unfortunately the party ended right before the pandemic when my clients moved operations to the Caribbean and I shifted my travel to AA. I'm currently sitting on 965,000 lifetime miles and looking to get to 1m soon.
I need 35k miles and don't want to do a travel run so I'm thinking of planning my next few trips on UA to chip away. Here's the question: The website and info has changed since I used to book tix. Now when I go to "details" I see different "base miles depending on the class of service. For example, the trip i'm looking at says:
455 base award miles (economy) 1625 base award miles (business) 2250 base award miles (refundable business)
So I am assuming that those are the total miles that go to my FF account, but where can I find the miles that count against the million mile target? I'm looking to fly the longest most round about route but would love to know mile-wise what i'm signing up for first.
Thanks for your help everyone. Much appreciated.
I need 35k miles and don't want to do a travel run so I'm thinking of planning my next few trips on UA to chip away. Here's the question: The website and info has changed since I used to book tix. Now when I go to "details" I see different "base miles depending on the class of service. For example, the trip i'm looking at says:
455 base award miles (economy) 1625 base award miles (business) 2250 base award miles (refundable business)
So I am assuming that those are the total miles that go to my FF account, but where can I find the miles that count against the million mile target? I'm looking to fly the longest most round about route but would love to know mile-wise what i'm signing up for first.
Thanks for your help everyone. Much appreciated.
Feb 26, 2024, 9:24 pm
#281
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,140
Feb 26, 2024, 9:30 pm
#282
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,225
Feb 26, 2024, 9:33 pm
#283
Join Date: May 2006
Location: DC
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 597
You guys rock. Thanks!
Feb 26, 2024, 11:21 pm
#284
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,413
When connecting, you might be able to choose the hub that gives you the longest route from the set of options that make geographic sense, but for the most part, if you're trying to go way out of your way, UA will increase the price considerably. This thread covers the basics -- UA-operated flights only, based upon the great-circle distance between the origin and destination of each flight segment.
Mar 14, 2024, 10:06 pm
#285
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: san francisco.
Programs: Marriott Ti, OW Ruby
Posts: 1,852
Lifetime miles
Is the lifetime miles number actually miles flown?
( with the following understanding:
A. you used to get a minimum 500 miles for shorter distances and B. now miles posted can be much less than actual miles flown)
thanks for any replies 🤙
( with the following understanding:
A. you used to get a minimum 500 miles for shorter distances and B. now miles posted can be much less than actual miles flown)
thanks for any replies 🤙