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
Dec 9, 2023, 1:02 pm
#271
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: SEA once more (previously CDG and NRT)
Programs: Former DL DM and UA 1k, now a J class free agent (UA Gold, AS MVP Gold)
Posts: 2,450
Am I correct in assuming that for the following ticket, I'd earn full PQP based on the airfare, and not have it calculated by distance, and also not hit the 1500 PQP cap for partner flight segments? Such that it resulted in 8096 PQP?
UA 7929 (operated by NH) SEA-HND
UA 7930 (operated by NH) HND-SEA
In business class, both legs booked into P, base fare of $8096.
Purchased from United and ticketed on 016 ticket stock.
UA 7929 (operated by NH) SEA-HND
UA 7930 (operated by NH) HND-SEA
In business class, both legs booked into P, base fare of $8096.
Purchased from United and ticketed on 016 ticket stock.
Dec 9, 2023, 1:46 pm
#272
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.997MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,859
Am I correct in assuming that for the following ticket, I'd earn full PQP based on the airfare, and not have it calculated by distance, and also not hit the 1500 PQP cap for partner flight segments? Such that it resulted in 8096 PQP?
UA 7929 (operated by NH) SEA-HND
UA 7930 (operated by NH) HND-SEA
In business class, both legs booked into P, base fare of $8096.
Purchased from United and ticketed on 016 ticket stock.
UA 7929 (operated by NH) SEA-HND
UA 7930 (operated by NH) HND-SEA
In business class, both legs booked into P, base fare of $8096.
Purchased from United and ticketed on 016 ticket stock.
Dec 9, 2023, 2:11 pm
#273
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: SEA once more (previously CDG and NRT)
Programs: Former DL DM and UA 1k, now a J class free agent (UA Gold, AS MVP Gold)
Posts: 2,450
Dec 26, 2023, 2:35 pm
#274
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: SEA/NYC/IAD
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 1,932
Looks like the calculations for FCO-ZRH and ZRH-VIE are wrong on pqp.economiles.com. Short by 1 PQP (rather amusingly I would have been at 17999 if all of my segments posted correctly, alas Air Canada it was not meant to be).
Dec 26, 2023, 2:49 pm
#275
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,419
It’s a rounding issue. UA, to their credit, always rounds up.
Dec 27, 2023, 12:14 pm
#276
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Columbus, OH
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 24
Couldn't find an answer to this - apologies if it's been asked before. I'm going to be flying SQ51 IAH-MAN-SIN in D; I'm trying to figure out if UA will recognize IAHMAN and MANSIN as separate flight segments or if it will calculate IAHSIN as one flight, particularly for the purposes of determining PQP. If calculated separately, I believe it'd be 1786 PQP; if together, then capped at 1000? Thanks!
Dec 27, 2023, 12:15 pm
#277
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,419
Couldn't find an answer to this - apologies if it's been asked before. I'm going to be flying SQ51 IAH-MAN-SIN in D; I'm trying to figure out if UA will recognize IAHMAN and MANSIN as separate flight segments or if it will calculate IAHSIN as one flight, particularly for the purposes of determining PQP. If calculated separately, I believe it'd be 1786 PQP; if together, then capped at 1000? Thanks!
Dec 27, 2023, 1:01 pm
#278
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Philadelphia, LAX, Paris
Programs: UA 1K/2MM, SPG/Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Lifetime HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, AA Exec Plat
Posts: 3,331
Jan 3, 2024, 9:34 am
#279
Join Date: Jan 2024
Posts: 1
When does the PQP kick in?
Hi all, I also couldn’t find this answer anywhere and thought that this is the place for it.
I’ve got a roundtrip flight with Copa, one leg was before the end of the year, and one now, after the end of the year.
I was counting with the PQP from the first leg to help me achieve a higher medal in UA.
Does Copa or other partners send miles and PQP for each segment or they wait until the roundtrip is completed?
And then once it’s credited, will each be credited to the exact day which each was flown? I.e. will I be able to get the PQP for the first leg towards the 2023 status?
I’ve got a roundtrip flight with Copa, one leg was before the end of the year, and one now, after the end of the year.
I was counting with the PQP from the first leg to help me achieve a higher medal in UA.
Does Copa or other partners send miles and PQP for each segment or they wait until the roundtrip is completed?
And then once it’s credited, will each be credited to the exact day which each was flown? I.e. will I be able to get the PQP for the first leg towards the 2023 status?
Jan 3, 2024, 9:42 am
#280
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: AS 75K, DL Silver, UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Platinum + LT Gold
Posts: 10,517
Hi all, I also couldn’t find this answer anywhere and thought that this is the place for it.
I’ve got a roundtrip flight with Copa, one leg was before the end of the year, and one now, after the end of the year.
I was counting with the PQP from the first leg to help me achieve a higher medal in UA.
Does Copa or other partners send miles and PQP for each segment or they wait until the roundtrip is completed?
And then once it’s credited, will each be credited to the exact day which each was flown? I.e. will I be able to get the PQP for the first leg towards the 2023 status?
I’ve got a roundtrip flight with Copa, one leg was before the end of the year, and one now, after the end of the year.
I was counting with the PQP from the first leg to help me achieve a higher medal in UA.
Does Copa or other partners send miles and PQP for each segment or they wait until the roundtrip is completed?
And then once it’s credited, will each be credited to the exact day which each was flown? I.e. will I be able to get the PQP for the first leg towards the 2023 status?
Usually posting should be automatically a few days after, but if you don't see anything 14 days after the flown segment, request missing credit with United. Any 2023 travels will be posted to 2023.
Jan 3, 2024, 10:12 am
#281
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Latin America and USA
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold
Posts: 457
Hi all, I also couldn’t find this answer anywhere and thought that this is the place for it.
I’ve got a roundtrip flight with Copa, one leg was before the end of the year, and one now, after the end of the year.
I was counting with the PQP from the first leg to help me achieve a higher medal in UA.
Does Copa or other partners send miles and PQP for each segment or they wait until the roundtrip is completed?
And then once it’s credited, will each be credited to the exact day which each was flown? I.e. will I be able to get the PQP for the first leg towards the 2023 status?
I’ve got a roundtrip flight with Copa, one leg was before the end of the year, and one now, after the end of the year.
I was counting with the PQP from the first leg to help me achieve a higher medal in UA.
Does Copa or other partners send miles and PQP for each segment or they wait until the roundtrip is completed?
And then once it’s credited, will each be credited to the exact day which each was flown? I.e. will I be able to get the PQP for the first leg towards the 2023 status?
Jan 3, 2024, 10:30 am
#282
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: SEA/NYC/IAD
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 1,932
Agreed with Repooc17. One minor edit is that with Copa, because it's a *A airline partner, you can call UA after 7 days if you don't see the flown segment, you don't need to wait 14 days. I find most Copa flights credit automatically after about 2-3 days to my UA account. However, for some odd reason, ATL-PTY and a few others never credit automatically, I have to call UA MPSC every single time. I always call on day 8 and UA fixes it.
Jan 3, 2024, 11:01 am
#283
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: AS 75K, DL Silver, UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Platinum + LT Gold
Posts: 10,517
Agreed with Repooc17. One minor edit is that with Copa, because it's a *A airline partner, you can call UA after 7 days if you don't see the flown segment, you don't need to wait 14 days. I find most Copa flights credit automatically after about 2-3 days to my UA account. However, for some odd reason, ATL-PTY and a few others never credit automatically, I have to call UA MPSC every single time. I always call on day 8 and UA fixes it.
Submitting online has always worked for me, and has saved me from calling and waiting.
Jan 3, 2024, 12:29 pm
#284
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Latin America and USA
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold
Posts: 457
For context I always credit all *A flights to UA.
Jan 7, 2024, 11:43 am
#285
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Hyatt GLOB, Marriott Lifetime PLT, UA 1K 1MM.
Posts: 1,728
flat 1,000 pqd flying asiana, glitch or WAI?
Hey all! Got a partner question. I flew on Asiana on a C ticket. The cost of the ticket was $3,654 on a ticket I flew on the 5th, and it just posted and only deposited 1,000 PQD for that flight. 1,000 feels like it's a flat number that's hitting some sort of cap, but I can't find this documented anywhere. Anyone know if there's some published policy that limits PQD earnings on partner airlines, or did I run into some kind of glitch?