5 reasons we prefer United Airlines miles for credit card earning

Among the mile programs of the big global U.S. carriers, United Airlines Mileage Plus is our favorite for earning and using miles via credit cards. Here are 5 reasons why…

1. Better reward availability

Independent studies show that United has the best mile reward availability among the global U.S. based carriers. You can find a seat at the lowest mileage requirement about 70% of the time on the dates you want. No airline is perfect, and certain destinations at certain times of the year (read: Hawaii during Christmas) will be challenging, but United is consistent.

2. A dead simple award search tool

Even if reward seats are available, they’re of no use to you if you can’t find them. We get frustrated with the online award search tools offered by most airlines. You have to fumble with a login, don’t get to see most partner choices, and be patient as they run very slowly. One of the benefits of the United merger with Continental is the ability to use Continental’s reward search tool at www.continental.com.

Trust us, it’s the best in the business. You don’t have to log in to use it, it shows nearly all available partners, and has an accurate calendar that shows availability over several months. If you can see the award available on the Continental site, it’s available with your United miles. Of course, you can also transfer your United miles back and forth with Continental as many times as you want for no fee, instantly. And next year, the best of the Continental reward search will be incorporated into United.com’s tool.

Then view the comprehensive results. That's it!

3. More partners than any other

United and Continental together with their merger become the world’s largest airline. That in itself gives you lots of options. But you also get to use your miles for travel on all of their Star Alliance partners. These include Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1 , bmi, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines , EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, and US Airways. This maximizes the chances there will be a flight with award seats available when and where you want to travel.

4. A generous reward rule

United and Continental charge no fee for changing the dates on a reward ticket as many times as you want up to 21 days prior to departure. The only catch is you must keep the origin and destination the same. This is great for times you can’t get the precise date you want upfront, but want to lock in something ‘good enough.’ If you see seats open up on the date you really want — regardless of the route to get there – you can change it for free up to 21 days in advance.

5. A powerful credit card for earning miles

While the base United Explorer credit card offers helpful perks like no checked bag fee, if you want to maximize mile earning potential we recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It earns double points on all travel and dining purchases with no caps, and points instantly transfer 1:1 into Continental/United miles. And it has a generous sign on bonus. You can read the pros and cons of each card here (or just apply for both).