United tried to stick it to Delta last year by announcing it wouldn't change the requirements for earning status with the airline. It's not making the same promise for 2025.
The Chicago-based airline unveiled a handful of changes to its Premier status program on Tuesday, most notably increasing the thresholds to achieve Premier status in 2025, for 2026 and beyond. And United is changing how you can earn towards status with a co-branded United credit card, making spending on its most expensive cards more important – a similar move to the one Delta made in its unpopular overhaul of its Medallion status program last year.
But there's some good news, too: United will continue to give current status-holders a head start to re-qualify for status in 2025.
Read on for what you need to know about earning United status next year, for 2026 and beyond.
Higher Thresholds to Earn United Status
From low-level Silver to top United 1K, United flyers can earn Premier status through either a combination of flying (Premier Qualifying Flights, or PQFs) and spending with United (Premier Qualifying Points, or PQPs), or just by spending outright. Meet those requirements next year, and you'll keep the perks of status all the way through 2025 and 2026 – expiring Jan. 31, 2027.
But United is raising those thresholds you need to hit to earn each tier of status. Here are the new requirements to earn status in 2025, for 2026.
| Premier Status Tiers | 2024 PQP and PQF Thresholds | 2025 PQP and PQF Thresholds | 2024 PQP Thresholds | 2025 PQP Thresholds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier Silver | 12 PQFs + 4,000 PQPs | 15 PQFs + 5,000 PQPs | 5,000 PQPs | 6,000 PQPs |
| Premier Gold | 24 PQFs + 8,000 PQPs | 30 PQFs + 10,000 PQPs | 10,000 PQPs | 12,000 PQPs |
| Premier Platinum | 36 PQFs + 12,000 PQPs | 45 PQFs + 15,000 PQPs | 15,000 PQPs | 18,000 PQPs |
| Premier 1K | 54 PQFs + 18,000 PQPs | 60 PQFs + 22,000 PQPs | 24,000 PQPs | 28,000 PQPs |
Under the new threshold requirements, you'd need to spend at least $6,000 with United, or $5,000 and take 15 United flights in 2025 to earn even the lowest United Premier Silver status – and as much as $28,000 to earn top-tier 1K status.
To qualify for status through PQPs alone, you'll also need to take at least four United or United Express flights before the end of the year – that's not changing.
Loyal Flyers Get Head Start Towards Earning Status
Already got United status? You'll get a leg up on earning it again early next year.
United says it will continue to dole out bonus Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) to travelers who earned status this past year. Exactly how many of these head-start PQPs you'll get depends how far up the Premier ladder you've climbed.
And surprisingly, United actually increased the bonus PQPs you'll get in 2025 to account for the new, higher thresholds for earning status.
- Premier Silver members now get 300 PQPs
- Premier Gold members get 600 PQPs
- Premier Platinum members get 900 PQPs
- Premier 1K members get 1,400 PQPs
Those starting PQPs are still a fraction of what it takes to re-earn status, but it's better than nothing.
Earn PQPs Faster with United's Top Credit Cards
Premier Qualifying Points are the most critical building block of earning status with United … and with a threshold of 6,000 PQPs for even low-level Silver, you need a lot of them to earn status.
Spending with United is the easiest way to rack them up, naturally. Spend $1 with United, you get 1 PQP. Now, United is taking a page out of Delta's book, offering a more lucrative way to add to your stash by spending on the most expensive United co-branded credit cards.
- You'll earn 1 PQP for every $15 you spend on the top-tier *united club infinite* or the United Club℠ Business Card
- For all other eligible United cards like the *united explorer* or the *united quest*, you'll earn 1 PQP per $20 spent
That's a slight improvement over the old system, where you'd earn a chunk of 25 PQPs for every $500 you spent on select United cards. But it makes holding the $525-a-year United Infinite card even more important if you want to earn United status.
Still, you'll need to spend at least $90,000 on the United Club Infinite card to earn even the lowest Silver status.
Unlike with Delta or American, though, you can't earn United status exclusively through credit card spending. The airline limits how many PQPs you can earn on card spend, although that number is increasingly slightly, too:
- United Quest card is now capped at 9,000 PQPs
- United Club Infinite card is now capped at 15,000 PQPs
- United Club Business card is now capped at 15,000 PQPs
If you're planning to earn status by spending big on the *united explorer*, you'll need a new strategy. The maximum amount of PQPs earned through spending with that card is still limited to 1,000.
More Ways to Redeem PlusPoints
Starting in mid-2025, PlusPoints earned upon achieving Premier Platinum and Premier 1K status will become even more versatile. In addition to using PlusPoints to request seat and cabin upgrades, you’ll also be able to redeem PlusPoints for new perks, such as:
- Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) or Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF)
- TravelBank cash
- Bonus miles
- Gifting Premier status to other MileagePlus members
These new redemption options will be available with PlusPoints earned during the 2025 qualification year.
Bottom Line
United is changing how passengers earn Premier status in 2025, including increasing the requirements to hit each level and making spending on its most expensive co-branded cards more important for earning status.
The airline's changes haven't gone as far as competitors like Delta, but after promising travelers the requirements to earn status would remain the same in 2024, United isn't doing the same for 2025.