Oct 20, 2019, 6:42 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Partner ticket PQP calculator
Beginning in 2020, if you fly a partner airline (not UA metal) and your ticket is on the stock of another airline (not 016 ticket), you will earn PQP as a fraction of the distance flown. That fraction is determined by your fare class, and can be found in the tables below. 
Other Partner Airlines (not Star Alliance)
Warning: It is strongly recommended that you consult the United earnings page for your airline and confirm the earning rate here, as they have been to known to change without notice and apply retroactively to tickets purchased before the change.
GREEN background is a "preferred" partner.
Updated PQP calculator with new per-segment earning cap
More Information on earning PQP and PQF
Archive: Earning Status (PQP) on non-016 Tickets and Partner Metal {Archive}
Partner Earning
Beginning in 2020, if you fly a partner airline (not UA metal) and your ticket is on the stock of another airline (not 016 ticket), you will earn PQP as a fraction of the distance flown. That fraction is determined by your fare class, and can be found in the tables below.
The way to derive this fraction is to go to the United earnings page for your airline and determine the RDM (not PQM) earning rate for your fare class. Then divide this number by 5 for "preferred partners" and 6 otherwise.
If the fare class of a non-016 *A partner flight allows RDM earnings (and therefore PQDs), the flight also earns Premier Qualifying Flight (PQF) credit.
Preferred Partner Airlines: AC AD AV CA CM EN EW LH LX NH NZ OS SN VA WK
Other Partner Airlines (status earning): A3 AI BR ET HO LO MS OA OU OZ SA SK SQ TG TK TP ZH
Other Partner Airlines (NO Premier credit): 3M 4B 9K EI HA UK VW
Note that for the third category you will earn RDM but no PQP, regardless of ticket stock (this is no change from before when you would not earn PQM).
For flights on or after July 1, 2020, the maximum Premier qualifying points that can be earned per flight {segment} on tickets issued and operated by Star Alliance partners and select MileagePlus partner airlines are as follows:
MileagePlus members who purchased tickets on eligible partners prior to these new rules may submit receipts showing tickets were issued prior to April 29, 2020, to [email protected] with the subject line "OA PQP Review" to be considered for PQP earning under the prior rules. Receipts should not be submitted until after travel is completed for flights on or after July 1, 2020.
UA Capping PQP Earn with Partners (update -- per flight segment)
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I fly a United-operated segment on a non-United ticket? You will earn PQP equal to the portion of the fare assignable to that segment. This information is transmitted from the ticketing carrier to United, and will be a somewhat arbitrary number between 0 and the full value of the fare component which includes that segment**. (This is the same as earning PQD on such a segment today.)
**Many reports of this not working even this well, and the potential number being outside this range.
What about codeshare segments? As before, codeshares do not matter. Only the operating carrier (metal) of each segment and the stock of the ticket determine your earnings.
How do I get a non-016 ticket? Any ticket purchased directly from another airline will be a partner-issued ticket, even if it has United segments. (Any ticket purchased from United will be an 016 ticket, even if it has no United segments.) Tickets purchased from an agency will usually have a stock of the marketing carrier of the most significant segment ("first long segment" usually).
What's the trick here? Because PQP are earned as a fraction of the distance flown, flying long distances on low-priced fares can earn more PQP than dollars spent. For any given journey, you should consider where you are earning a favorable ratio of PQP to dollars of at least 1.0 when ticketing this way, and consider ticketing with United if you are not.
What about BULK fares? Bulk fares will also earn PQP by distance, as noted in the table below. This is the only way to earn by distance on United metal.
Earnings Tables
Last updated in the image on 17-Nov-23.
To use: Determine the flight miles of your trip, then multiply by the applicable percentage based on the fare class of the ticket. That is your PQP for that segment. Example: 1000 mile flight on Air Canada booked in W fare code: PQP = 1000*.15=150).
Note that values >= 20% are rounded to the nearest 1%, and smaller values are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. If precise calculations are needed, you should always use the original source material (United website).
Star Alliance Airlines
Warning: It is strongly recommended that you consult the United earnings page for your airline and confirm the earning rate here, as they have been to known to change without notice and apply retroactively to tickets purchased before the change.
Note: There are special rules for AC branded Economy fares on 014 tickets.
GREEN background is a "preferred" partner.
Preferred Partner Airlines: AC AD AV CA CM EN EW LH LX NH NZ OS SN VA WK
Other Partner Airlines (status earning): A3 AI BR ET HO LO MS OA OU OZ SA SK SQ TG TK TP ZH
Other Partner Airlines (NO Premier credit): 3M 4B 9K EI HA UK VW
Note that for the third category you will earn RDM but no PQP, regardless of ticket stock (this is no change from before when you would not earn PQM).
For flights on or after July 1, 2020, the maximum Premier qualifying points that can be earned per flight {segment} on tickets issued and operated by Star Alliance partners and select MileagePlus partner airlines are as follows:
MileagePlus members who purchased tickets on eligible partners prior to these new rules may submit receipts showing tickets were issued prior to April 29, 2020, to [email protected] with the subject line "OA PQP Review" to be considered for PQP earning under the prior rules. Receipts should not be submitted until after travel is completed for flights on or after July 1, 2020.
UA Capping PQP Earn with Partners (update -- per flight segment)
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I fly a United-operated segment on a non-United ticket? You will earn PQP equal to the portion of the fare assignable to that segment. This information is transmitted from the ticketing carrier to United, and will be a somewhat arbitrary number between 0 and the full value of the fare component which includes that segment**. (This is the same as earning PQD on such a segment today.)
**Many reports of this not working even this well, and the potential number being outside this range.
What about codeshare segments? As before, codeshares do not matter. Only the operating carrier (metal) of each segment and the stock of the ticket determine your earnings.
How do I get a non-016 ticket? Any ticket purchased directly from another airline will be a partner-issued ticket, even if it has United segments. (Any ticket purchased from United will be an 016 ticket, even if it has no United segments.) Tickets purchased from an agency will usually have a stock of the marketing carrier of the most significant segment ("first long segment" usually).
What's the trick here? Because PQP are earned as a fraction of the distance flown, flying long distances on low-priced fares can earn more PQP than dollars spent. For any given journey, you should consider where you are earning a favorable ratio of PQP to dollars of at least 1.0 when ticketing this way, and consider ticketing with United if you are not.
What about BULK fares? Bulk fares will also earn PQP by distance, as noted in the table below. This is the only way to earn by distance on United metal.
Earnings Tables
Last updated in the image on 17-Nov-23.
To use: Determine the flight miles of your trip, then multiply by the applicable percentage based on the fare class of the ticket. That is your PQP for that segment. Example: 1000 mile flight on Air Canada booked in W fare code: PQP = 1000*.15=150).
Note that values >= 20% are rounded to the nearest 1%, and smaller values are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. If precise calculations are needed, you should always use the original source material (United website).
Star Alliance Airlines
Warning: It is strongly recommended that you consult the United earnings page for your airline and confirm the earning rate here, as they have been to known to change without notice and apply retroactively to tickets purchased before the change.
Note: There are special rules for AC branded Economy fares on 014 tickets.
GREEN background is a "preferred" partner.
Other Partner Airlines (not Star Alliance)
Warning: It is strongly recommended that you consult the United earnings page for your airline and confirm the earning rate here, as they have been to known to change without notice and apply retroactively to tickets purchased before the change.
GREEN background is a "preferred" partner.
Updated PQP calculator with new per-segment earning cap
I created a updated version of the PQP calculator to handle the upcoming per segment PQP earning limits. It also calculates RDM:
https://pqp.economiles.com/
https://pqp.economiles.com/
More Information on earning PQP and PQF
Earning PQP on flights ticketed and operated by a Star Alliance Partner
Members can also earn Premier qualifying points on tickets issued and operated by Star Alliance partners and select MileagePlus partner airlines. Your PQP will be equal to award miles earned divided by 5 if you’re flying on a preferred partner; for other MileagePlus partner airlines, it will be award miles earned divided by 6.
Please note award miles is your base award miles earning plus your fare class bonus award miles earning, if eligible. Premier bonus miles earned are not included within this calculation and are ineligible for Premier qualifying points accrual.
For Star Alliance airlines as well as Air Dolomiti, Azul, Eurowings, Edelweiss, and Olympic:
Preferred partner PQP: Award miles divided by 5
MileagePlus partner PQP: Award miles divided by 6
For example, if you earned 360 award miles for your flight, you’ll receive 72 PQP if you flew with a preferred partner, and 60 PQP if you flew with a MileagePlus partner.
PQP Calculator with option to apply max PQP per flight:
https://pqp.economiles.com/
For flights on or after July 1, 2020, the maximum Premier qualifying points that can be earned per flight on tickets issued and operated by Star Alliance partners and select MileagePlus partner airlines are as follows:
MileagePlus members who purchased tickets on eligible partners prior to these new rules may submit receipts showing tickets were issued prior to April 29, 2020, to [email protected] with the subject line "OA PQP Review" to be considered for PQP earning under the prior rules. Receipts should not be submitted until after travel is completed for flights on or after July 1, 2020.
For more information on PQP accrual for a specific airline, visit our airline partner pages.
Members can also earn Premier qualifying points on tickets issued and operated by Star Alliance partners and select MileagePlus partner airlines. Your PQP will be equal to award miles earned divided by 5 if you’re flying on a preferred partner; for other MileagePlus partner airlines, it will be award miles earned divided by 6.
Please note award miles is your base award miles earning plus your fare class bonus award miles earning, if eligible. Premier bonus miles earned are not included within this calculation and are ineligible for Premier qualifying points accrual.
For Star Alliance airlines as well as Air Dolomiti, Azul, Eurowings, Edelweiss, and Olympic:
Preferred partner PQP: Award miles divided by 5
MileagePlus partner PQP: Award miles divided by 6
For example, if you earned 360 award miles for your flight, you’ll receive 72 PQP if you flew with a preferred partner, and 60 PQP if you flew with a MileagePlus partner.
PQP Calculator with option to apply max PQP per flight:
https://pqp.economiles.com/
For flights on or after July 1, 2020, the maximum Premier qualifying points that can be earned per flight on tickets issued and operated by Star Alliance partners and select MileagePlus partner airlines are as follows:
MileagePlus members who purchased tickets on eligible partners prior to these new rules may submit receipts showing tickets were issued prior to April 29, 2020, to [email protected] with the subject line "OA PQP Review" to be considered for PQP earning under the prior rules. Receipts should not be submitted until after travel is completed for flights on or after July 1, 2020.
For more information on PQP accrual for a specific airline, visit our airline partner pages.
Archive: Earning Status (PQP) on non-016 Tickets and Partner Metal {Archive}
Earning Status (PQP) on non-016 Tickets and Partner Metal
Nov 13, 2023, 4:27 pm
#256
Join Date: Dec 2022
Programs: UA1K
Posts: 464
note: may be true in the OPs case, and even in most cases, but not necessarily universally true. I’ve definitely seen fares in the charts that earn RDM but not PQF. At least in the past. This is the case on some low fares on AC (or at least, used to be - I think maybe domestic Canada but maybe more than that) and I think on TK as well. Forget now, but not sure if the lowball 10% earning fares on SQ (N, for example), earn PQF either.
so there are definitely cases, even if not the norm.
so there are definitely cases, even if not the norm.
Nov 13, 2023, 4:51 pm
#257
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,092
note: may be true in the OPs case, and even in most cases, but not necessarily universally true. I’ve definitely seen fares in the charts that earn RDM but not PQF. At least in the past. This is the case on some low fares on AC (or at least, used to be - I think maybe domestic Canada but maybe more than that) and I think on TK as well. Forget now, but not sure if the lowball 10% earning fares on SQ (N, for example), earn PQF either.
so there are definitely cases, even if not the norm.
so there are definitely cases, even if not the norm.
Yes, there are BE fares that don't earn a PQF - not what the OP asked about.
Nov 15, 2023, 4:41 pm
#259
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: DL DM, AA EXP, various hotel
Posts: 2,227
Has anyone encountered a minimum RDM earn for a PQF? I'm not short PQP but I'm still short a few PQF. Flying an NZ domestic two-leg where one of the legs is only 46mi and I'm earning at 5% (super cheap fare class), so RDM earn should be 2-3.
Any experiences with super low RDM-crediting partner flights?
Any experiences with super low RDM-crediting partner flights?
Nov 15, 2023, 5:29 pm
#260
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,092
Has anyone encountered a minimum RDM earn for a PQF? I'm not short PQP but I'm still short a few PQF. Flying an NZ domestic two-leg where one of the legs is only 46mi and I'm earning at 5% (super cheap fare class), so RDM earn should be 2-3.
Any experiences with super low RDM-crediting partner flights?
Any experiences with super low RDM-crediting partner flights?
Nov 15, 2023, 11:27 pm
#261
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 816
Out of curiosity, does anyone really use or care about the image chart in the wiki? I'm nominally the maintainer, but I get the sense that most people use the website tool and more importantly no one really cares since with the PQP caps you can't run for status anymore.
Just getting a sense of whether it's worth updating again.
Just getting a sense of whether it's worth updating again.
Nov 17, 2023, 2:30 am
#262
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2018
Programs: mileage plus
Posts: 46
Out of curiosity, does anyone really use or care about the image chart in the wiki? I'm nominally the maintainer, but I get the sense that most people use the website tool and more importantly no one really cares since with the PQP caps you can't run for status anymore.
Just getting a sense of whether it's worth updating again.
Just getting a sense of whether it's worth updating again.
I do. In 2022 and 2023 I used it to aquire PQP's for as little as $023 each. It was extremely useful in making quick decisions on non-016 travel.
Now though, I'm struggling to get anything close, since airline pricing power has come back with a roar.
Hopefully this will improve for travelers down the road, but may have to change to a strategy of 'on/off' years for earning 1k. Year one: fly and use Plus Points and disregard status. Year 2 fly to gain 1k. Rinse, repeat.
Thanks for the effort @findark!
Nov 21, 2023, 8:16 am
#264
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: BOM-SIN-EWR
Programs: UA*G (1K again), Sixt Plat, *was*: SQ QPP01 & SK EBS/EBG, LH SEN, AA EXP, 9wPlat
Posts: 8,606
Nov 27, 2023, 6:01 pm
#266
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: San Francisco & London
Programs: UA1k, Oneworld Sapphire, Hyatt Globalist, IHG DiamondAmb, Hilton Diamond, Marriott LTP,
Posts: 1,785
How many PQP can I expect to get on a flight on LH to Dubai as per follows:
outbound BHX to DXB via Fra- PE flex
inbound DXB to BHX via FRA in. Business.
Hoping to get 2k PQP to renew my 1k. Also how do I use the website tool to obtain this information
outbound BHX to DXB via Fra- PE flex
inbound DXB to BHX via FRA in. Business.
Hoping to get 2k PQP to renew my 1k. Also how do I use the website tool to obtain this information
Nov 27, 2023, 7:57 pm
#267
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,419
If you're in a more expensive fare class, the number of PQP might be higher. You can adjust the inputs on that page to match whatever you've purchased.
Nov 28, 2023, 12:16 am
#268
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA-1K MM, AA-Gold, DL-Silver, AS-MVP
Posts: 2,509
Per above, the lowest PE and Business fares will only yield around 1,394PQP. You'll need to book in a higher fare class on the inbound to get more. Z class will only yield 1,744PQP, you'll need to book in C,D,J or even A, if you want to get above 2,000 PQP.
Dec 9, 2023, 12:03 am
#269
Join Date: May 2023
Posts: 3
PQP earned on Ana issued but operated by united
Hi guys, recently bought a ticket from CGK - NRT, NRT - EWR on ANA website P class.
CGK - NRT is operated by Ana in P class
NRT - EWR is NH6452/ UA78 operated by United
Is there any possibility of being able to find how much PQP I earn from the NRT-EWR sector, how to specifically get that fare amount?
Thank you for the replies
CGK - NRT is operated by Ana in P class
NRT - EWR is NH6452/ UA78 operated by United
Is there any possibility of being able to find how much PQP I earn from the NRT-EWR sector, how to specifically get that fare amount?
Thank you for the replies
Dec 9, 2023, 8:51 am
#270
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA-1K MM, AA-Gold, DL-Silver, AS-MVP
Posts: 2,509
Go to your reservation at UA.com and at the bottom under your MP number, it should give you an estimate of total PQP. Take out the CGK-NRT portion and it should give you a rough estimate of the NRT-EWR portion.