How to book a United Airlines flight using American Express Membership Rewards points

Using points and miles to book flights can be a great way to save on travel, but navigating transfer partners and redemption options can sometimes be confusing. If you’re wondering how to use your Amex Membership Rewards points for a United Airlines flight, there are a few strategies that can help.

American Express Membership Rewards points can be easier to earn than Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and American Express has plenty of airline transfer partners. Unfortunately, United Airlines is not one of them.

You might be wondering if it’s possible to use Amex points to book a United flight. There are several ways to book a United Airlines flight with your Membership Rewards points. In this post, we will show you how to do it. Let’s dive in!

How to earn United Airlines miles

Open United Airlines co-branded credit card

United Airlines is one of the ten major domestic airline carriers in the United States, it has a mileage program called MileagePlus that allows you to book flights with miles, and there are several ways to earn the miles. Obviously, flying with United Airlines is one of them. Alternatively, you can sign up for one of their co-branded Chase United Airlines credit cards, shop through the United Airlines MileagePlus Shopping portal, dine with United Airlines MileagePlus Dining, or answer a survey on the Opinion Miles Club portal.

💡 Good To Know

You can learn more about various ways of earning United Airlines miles in our post about domestic airlines and how to keep their miles from expiring.

Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United Airlines

You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United Airlines but in our opinion, United Airlines miles are worth only 1.1-1.3 cents per point, so it might be not the best idea to spend your hard-earned Ultimate Rewards points on such a low-value redemption (you’ll be a better off transferring your points to Hyatt which can provide an outstanding value, so make sure to check out our post about everything you need to know about booking Hyatt hotels with points).

How to book United flights with Amex Points

As we previously mentioned, you can’t transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points directly to United Airlines, but there are ways of booking a United Airlines flight using your Membership Rewards using the following options!

How to book United flights with Amex Points via Aeroplan

Since you can’t transfer Amex points to United Airlines miles directly, here’s how to book United Airlines flights with your Membership Rewards points by transferring them to a partner: Aeroplan, the loyalty program of Air Canada. Aeroplan is a member of the Star Alliance, and United Airlines is part of the same alliance, which means you can redeem Aeroplan points for United Airlines flights.

How does it work?

1. Transfer Amex Membership Rewards to Aeroplan: You can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio. Transfers are usually instant.
2. Search for United flights on Aeroplan: Log in to your Aeroplan account and search for award availability on United Airlines.
3. Book your United flight: Once you find availability, use your Aeroplan points to book the flight.
4. Save on fees: Unlike some other transfer partners, Aeroplan doesn’t add high fuel surcharges, making it a great way to book United flights with Amex points.

This method often provides better value per point than transferring to Chase Ultimate Rewards and then to United. If you’re looking for the best way to use American Express points on United Airlines, Aeroplan is a solid alternative.

How to book United flights with Amex Business Platinum Pay With Points

Another way to book United flights with Amex points is by using your American Express Business Platinum card through the Pay With Points option. Although you can’t directly transfer Membership Rewards points to United Airlines, this method allows you to book flights through American Express Travel and get a rebate of 35% on certain flight bookings.

If you have an American Express Business Platinum Card you can redeem your points using the 35% rebate via Pay With Points, up to 1,000,000 points back per calendar year. American Express owns an Online Travel Agent (OTA) portal that can be used to book flights and hotels, including booking them with points. Normally, the redemption rate wouldn’t be so great but using the 35% rebate you can get more than the average value out of your American Express Membership Rewards Points on United Airlines flights.

How does it work?

It’s pretty straightforward, you book your flight using the American Express Travel portal, and “pay” with points using your American Express Business Platinum card at 1 cent per point, then 6 to 8 weeks later you will receive your 35% rebate in form of Membership Rewards points back in your account. This way your points are worth 1.54 cents each.

However, keep in mind that you will receive the 35% rebate only in the following circumstances:

• You’re booking first and business-class flights on any airline
• If you’re booking an economy flight, you need to enroll in the $200 annual airline fee credit and select an airline. You’ll receive your 35% rebate only if you book a flight for the selected airline. So, if you’re planning to book a United Airlines flight using points, make sure to select the airline beforehand.

Your Membership Rewards account balance needs to have a sufficient amount of points to cover the entire purchase at 1 cent per point.

A step-by-step guide to booking a United Airlines flight using Membership Rewards to receive the 35% rebate

The prerequisite is that you need to have an American Express Business Platinum card. If you don’t have one you can apply here and receive 150,000 American Express Membership Rewards points after spending $20,000 within the first 3 months of Card Membership.

So, now you have the card? Great! Continue to Step 1.

Step 1 — Sign in to American Express Travel Portal

Sign in to your American Express account and in the sidebar, click Travel → Book a Trip.

Step 2 — Search flights

Once you enter your flight details and perform a search, you’ll be presented with a list of flights. If you’re planning on booking an economy ticket, make sure that you choose the same airline as the one that you selected on your card benefits page.

Step 3 — Proceed to payment

Now that you selected your flight, select a payment option (you would want either Use Only Points or Use Points + Card), then click “Apply” to apply your points. Keep in mind that your Membership Rewards points balance needs to have a sufficient amount of points to make the booking.

Step 4 — Book your flight with points

In the final step, you’ll be asked to select a card that you’ll be using for booking. Here’s a peculiar part of booking with Amex points: the points will be immediately deducted from your account upon booking and you will see dollar charges on your statement.

No need to worry, you’ll receive full credit for these charges from Amex a few days later. Note that you will not be earning additional points on the charges.

Now just sit tight and wait, in about 6 to 8 weeks you’ll receive an email from American Express saying that you got the 35% rebate and a hefty amount of points was deposited back into your account!

Bottom line

You can’t transfer Amex points to United Airlines miles directly, but by using Aeroplan or the Amex Business Platinum Pay With Points feature, you can easily book a United Airlines flight with points while maximizing the value of your Membership Rewards!