How to Transfer United Airline Miles

Transferring Miles to Another Person

Head to the “Buy or Transfer Miles” page and select “Transfer Miles.” Begin your transaction by visiting https://buymiles.mileageplus.com. Select “Transfer Miles” at the top menu bar.

Log into your MileagePlus account. Clicking on the “Transfer Miles” option will prompt you to log into your account. In order to earn and transfer frequent flyer miles with United, you need a MileagePlus membership. As of February 2018, annual membership fees are $450 to $550. There’s also a $50 one-time initiation fee. Additionally, you can only transfer miles to MileagePlus members.

Fill out the transfer miles form. After logging in, the transfer form will load. Enter your name, MileagePlus number, and email address. Select the number of miles you want to transfer, then enter the name and MileagePlus number of the person receiving the miles.

Pay the transfer fees. Transfers cost $7.50 per 500 miles. There’s also a $30 processing fee. After clicking “Submit Transaction,” you’ll be prompted to pay the fees by credit or debit card.

Allow up to 1 business day to finalize the transaction. Transfers are usually instantaneous. The recipient should see their miles in their account almost immediately after you make the transfer. However, it might take up to 1 business day for the transaction to process. If there's a problem with your transfer, contact the MileagePlus Service Center at 1-800-421-4655. Representatives are available 7 days a week between 7 a.m. and 12 a.m. (CST).

Booking a Flight for Someone Else

Book a flight with your miles to avoid transfer fees. In addition to getting around transfer fees, booking a flight is the best option if the recipient doesn’t have a MileagePlus membership. There are no additional fees if you use your United miles to book a flight for someone else.

Log into your MileagePlus account. Start by heading to United’s website at https://www.united.com/en/us. Find the yellow box with “MileagePlus: Sign in or Join” on the left side of the page. Click the box and enter your MileagePlus number and password. Sign in before looking for flights so your search results will include additional deals for members.

Select “Search for award travel” when you look for flights. Click “Reservations” on the top menu bar, then select “Flight search.” Enter the cities you’re traveling from and to, and check the box marked “Search for award travel.” Your results will list flights by miles instead of dollars.

Enter the person’s name and date of birth on the booking form. After selecting flights, you’ll be prompted to enter the booking info. You must enter the recipient's full legal name and date of birth instead of your own information. You cannot transfer the flight to someone else if you book the trip under your name. The name and date of birth you provide must match the recipient's license or passport. You don't need to enter any license or passport numbers. If you're booking a flight for a minor, enter their name and date of birth. If they're between the ages of 5 and 14 and flying unaccompanied, you'll need to pay a $150 unaccompanied minor fee. You'll also need to provide the full legal name, phone number, and address of the adults dropping them off and picking them up from the airports.

Book the flight and send the person their itinerary. After entering their information, click "Continue," which will bring you to the payment page. Confirm that you're redeeming miles and book the flight, then send the recipient their itinerary. There's an option to email the itinerary or you could take a screenshot and send it to them via text or email.

Converting Miles to Rewards Points

Sign up for a rewards program with a United Airlines partner. United partners with a number of businesses, including Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, and other hotels. In addition to earning extra miles by staying at a partner hotel, you can exchange hotel points and miles at varying ratios. They also partner with the car rental agency Hertz. If you're a Hertz Gold Plus Reward member, you can earn 75 United miles per rental day. Provide your MileagePlus number when you reserve or pick up your rental car. Marriott and United share the RewardsPlus linked membership program. You can convert miles to Marriott Reward points at a 1-to-1 ratio. The points to miles ratio depends on the transfer amount. For instance, you can convert 8,000 points to 2,000 miles, 16,000 points to 5,000 miles, and 24,000 points to 10,000 miles. A full list of conversion ratios is available on United’s MileagePlus website.

Make transfers through your partner program account. In order to make transfers between points and miles, log into your account with the rewards program that partners with United. (You can't convert points and miles through the MileagePlus website.) After logging in, you’ll see links to convert or transfer miles and points. For example, you’d sign up for or log into your Marriott and United RewardsPlus account. When you sign up for a RewardsPlus account, you'll enter your membership numbers for both programs. This membership links your accounts with both programs. After logging in, you'll see separate links to transfer miles to points and to convert points to miles. Select your desired option, enter the amount you want to transfer, and click submit. For other partner programs, such as Hyatt, log into your account and look for a convert points and miles link. Select United as your preferred air carrier (if you didn't when you created your account), provide your MileagePlus number, and enter how many points you'd like to convert.

Transfer points and miles to take advantage of bonuses. Transfers are convenient if you’re just a bit short of an award. Some partnerships award bonuses for making transfers and purchasing vacation packages, so they can be a great way to earn extra points or miles. For example, suppose you have 175,000 Marriott Rewards points. A 7-day package that includes hotel accommodations and 50,000 award miles for airfare costs 200,000 points. Make up the difference by transferring 25,000 United miles to your RewardsPlus account at a 1-to-1 ratio. The points should transfer immediately, then you can book the vacation package. Since you’re converting your miles to purchase a partnered vacation package, you’ll also earn 5,000 bonus miles, or 10 percent of the award miles included in the package. If there's an issue with a transfer between United miles and Marriott points, call RewardsPlus customer service at 1-801-468-4000 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Check the partner program's policy if you want to transfer points. Each company has a unique points transfer policy. If you converted miles to points and now want to transfer your points to someone else, check with the partner program. For example, you can transfer a maximum of 50,000 Marriott points per year to another member for $10 per transaction. If you're a Hyatt member, you can transfer your points to any other member for free. You need to log into your account and fill out a points transfer request form.