How much are United MileagePlus miles worth?
About 1.20¢ each — so a balance of 10,000 is worth roughly $120 when it is spent well.
That figure is the median of 5 published valuations, published 2026-09. It ranks number 11 of 16 currencies in the catalogue — all of them, side by side.
The short version
- Worth: 1.20¢ a mile, spent the way the valuation assumes.
- Floor: no cash redemption worth naming, so the value depends on booking travel with it.
- Kind: Airline — miles in one airline's program.
Why this number and not another
A mile has no fixed price. What it is worth depends on what it is spent on, and a valuation is an outlet's estimate of what a typical member gets when they redeem sensibly — not the best redemption anybody ever found, and not the worst. Outlets disagree, so Cardful takes the middle of their figures for every currency, so that a points card and a cash-back card can be ranked in the same unit; why the figures differ so much from one program to the next is its own page.
Each outlet's own figure, read 2026-09:
| Outlet | Per mile |
|---|---|
| The Points Guy | 1.20¢ |
| Upgraded Points | 1.20¢ |
| NerdWallet | 1.20¢ |
| Frequent Miler | 1.30¢ |
| AwardWallet | 2.09¢ |
If you redeem differently — only for cash, say — your own figure is the one that matters, and the extension lets you set it. Every ranking it shows you is then priced on yours.
Cards that earn United MileagePlus miles
| Card | Annual fee | Top rateThe best rate this card pays in this currency, on the category in the next column. | On |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase United Gateway | none | 2x | Flights |
| Chase United Business Card | $150 | 2x | Flights |
| Chase United Explorer | $150 | 3x | Flights |
| Chase United Quest | $350 | 3x | Flights |
| Chase United Club Business Card | $695 | 2x | Flights |
| Chase United Club Card | $695 | 5x | Flights |
The best card for earning them, by kind of spending
- dining out: United Business Card — $2.40 per $100
- gas: United Gateway — $2.40 per $100
- flights: United Club Card — $2.40 per $100
- hotels: United Explorer — $2.40 per $100
- streaming services: United Quest — $2.40 per $100
- food delivery: United Business Card — $2.40 per $100
- Uber and Lyft: United Gateway — $2.40 per $100
- public transit: United Gateway — $2.40 per $100
- parking and tolls: United Gateway — $2.40 per $100
- car rentals: United Club Card — $2.40 per $100
We track The Points Guy, Upgraded Points, NerdWallet, Frequent Miler and AwardWallet when refreshing these figures. How every number on this site is worked out.