Redeem your miles and expiring PlusPoints with confirmed United Polaris upgrade space on these routes
Editor's Note
When we first ran this article in January, MileagePlus members loved seeing routes they could confirm upgrades on using PlusPoints and miles, so we've updated it.
For context, United Airlines repeatedly extended PlusPoints (the airline’s upgrade currency) during the early days of the pandemic. By extending PlusPoints earned back in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the demand for PlusPoints upgrades on United’s flights is higher than ever. It’s common to find upgrade waitlists with over 30 customers on peak international flights. So, some Premier members struggle to redeem their PlusPoints before the extended PlusPoints expire on July 31.
United offers three types of Polaris business-class PlusPoints upgrades on its long-haul flights:
- Confirmable upgrades (indicated by the PZ fare class).
- Waitlist upgrades (when the PZ fare class isn’t available).
- Skip-the-waitlist upgrades (only for Premier 1K members on select flights).
So, since you generally can’t rely on a waitlisted upgrade and with the significant shortcomings of the skip-the-waitlist option, we recommend redeeming PlusPoints when there’s confirmable Polaris upgrade space.
As you’d expect, confirmable upgrade space is harder to come by, but it's still available on some routes. On the following flights, there are at least four seats in the PZ fare class at the time of writing (meaning you can confirm an upgrade from economy or Premium Plus to Polaris business class). We only searched for routes that include a Polaris cabin. You might find upgrade space on shorter-haul international flights to destinations in Central America and Canada, but those flights do not operate a Polaris-marketed cabin.
With that out of the way, here are the flights where you can confirm a Polaris upgrade at the time of writing. Upgrade availability constantly changes, so these dates may not be accurate when you’re reading.
Related: My last-minute trick for confirming United first class upgrades
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
London Heathrow (LHR)
- April 24, 25, 26 and 29.
- May 1, 2, 12 and 27.
- July 17.
- August 14 and 28.
- October 9, 23, 24, 30 and 31.
- November 6, 13, 27 and 29.
- December 11, 30 and 31.
- January 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29.
- February 5, 6, 12 and 19.
Related: United unveils 3 ‘new’ destinations, 6 additional transatlantic flights for summer 2023
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Amsterdam (AMS)
- April 24.
Brussels (BRU)
- December 30.
Dublin (DUB)
- April 25.
Edinburgh (EDI)
- May 27.
Frankfurt (FRA)
- April 24.
- July 4 and 25.
Geneva (GVA)
- April 24, 25 and 26.
Johannesburg (JNB)
- April 27.
Lima (LIM)
- April 24, 25, 27 and 30.
- May 1.
- August 26.
London-Heathrow
- April 24, 25, 26, 28 and 29.
- May 6, 9 and 29.
- August 7.
- October 30 and 31.
- November 20, 27, 28 and 29.
- December 11 and 30.
- January 1.
- February 5, 6 and 20.
Munich (MUC)
- April 25.
New Delhi (DEL)
- April 24.
Sao Paulo (GRU)
- April 25.
- May 2.
Tokyo-Narita (NRT)
- April 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30.
Zurich (ZRH)
- April 25.
- January 29.
- February 5.
Related: United Airlines orders up to 200 Boeing 787s, setting stage for wide-body fleet renewal
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Dublin
- May 7.
Frankfurt
- July 17 and 24.
- August 7 and 21.
Geneva
- April 24 and 26.
- May 1, 3 and 9.
Lagos (LOS)
- Widespread upgrade space.
London-Heathrow
- April 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29.
- May 2, 6, 11, 12 and 13.
- July 27.
- October 30 and 31.
- November 20, 21, 23, 27, 28 and 30.
- December 7 and 28.
- January 2.
- February 6.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
- April 24.
Sao Paulo
- April 24 and 26.
- May 2.
Tokyo-Haneda (HND)
- April 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30.
- May 1 and 2.
Related: How to get maximum value from the United MileagePlus program
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Amsterdam
- April 28.
Brussels
- July 7.
- August 12 and 19.
Frankfurt
- July 4 and 25.
London
- April 25, 26, 28, 29 and 30.
- May 1 and 23.
- July 4 and 11.
- February 6.
Munich
- July 3.
Sao Paulo
- April 25, 26 and 27.
- May 2, 3, 8, 10 and 15.
Tokyo-Haneda
- April 24, 25, 29 and 30.
- May 1.
Related: The ultimate guide to earning elite status with United cards
Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Buenos Aires (EZE)
- April 26 and 27.
Lima
- April 24, 25, 26 and 27.
- May 2, 3 and 9.
London
- April 25.
Munich
- April 25.
Rio de Janeiro (GIG)
- May 9.
Santiago, Chile (SCL)
- April 25 and 27.
- June 2.
Tokyo-Narita
- April 25, 27, 28 and 30.
Related: 6 strategies I’m using to close the gap to top-tier United 1K elite status this year
Denver International Airport (DEN)
London
- April 27.
Tokyo-Narita
- April 25, 29 and 30.
- May 2.
Related: United’s best-kept elite status secret: How to earn PQPs faster with partner flights
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Melbourne, Australia (MEL)
- April 24.
- May 8.
London
- April 25.
Sydney, Australia (SYD)
- April 25.
Tokyo-Haneda
- April 25, 27, 28, 29 and 30.
- May 3.
Related: Why I consider my United miles to be worth 5 cents apiece
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Amsterdam
- April 25.
Auckland (AKL)
- April 25 and 27.
- May 2, 6, 9, 13, 16, 20, 23 and 30.
- June 6 and 20.
Melbourne
- April 24, 25 and 26.
- May 8.
Munich
- April 26.
Seoul Incheon (ICN)
- April 24.
Sydney
- April 24, 25 and 26.
Tahiti (PPT)
- April 25, 28, 29 and 30.
- May 4, 6, 7, 14, 20 and 23.
Tel Aviv (TLV)
- April 25.
- May 8.
- July 17 and 31.
- August 7.
- November 27.
Tokyo-Haneda
- April 24, 26, 27 and 30.
Tokyo-Narita
- April 24, 25, 26, 27 and 30.
Related: What is United Airlines elite status worth?
Searching for upgrade space
To search for upgrade space, sign in to your MileagePlus account. Then, select “Advanced search.”
Enter your search criteria on the next screen, keeping the cabin in economy/premium economy. Expand the “Upgrades, certificates, and promotion codes” menu. Open the “Upgrade type” dropdown and select “PlusPoints upgrades.”
On the next page, you’ll see which upgrades are confirmed and waitlisted, and you can select your flight accordingly.
Related: The ultimate guide to getting upgraded on United Airlines
How to book these upgrades
As with most long-haul flights, you’ll probably want to book these flights as round trips (or multicity flights returning to the same region) to avoid inflated one-way cash fares. United charges the following number of PlusPoints per person for a one-way upgrade to Polaris business class on long-haul flights:
- Discount economy (S, T, L, K and G fares) to Polaris: 80 PlusPoints.
- Economy to Polaris (Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V and W fares): 40 PlusPoints.
- Premium economy to Polaris: 30 PlusPoints.
Occasionally, you’ll find the price difference between premium economy and regular economy to be quite small — like this example on a flight from SFO to Frankfurt, where the premium economy fare is slightly less expensive than the W fare and just $100 more than the discount economy fare.
Make sure to check the fares closely, since you can sometimes save a ton of PlusPoints by booking premium economy and upgrading to Polaris.
Related: Why Premium Plus and higher fare classes are the secret to United upgrades
Bottom line
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to redeem your PlusPoints for Polaris confirmable upgrades before they expire on July 31.
Give United a call if you cannot apply a PlusPoints upgrade online. In my experience, United’s Premier Platinum and 1K phone representatives are well-versed in PlusPoints and should be able to process your upgrade quickly.
As a reminder, Premier Platinum members receive 40 PlusPoints each year, while Premier 1K members receive 320 PlusPoints yearly (40 upon qualifying for Platinum and 280 upon qualifying for Premier 1K). Premier 1K members also receive 20 additional PlusPoints for every 2,000 Premier qualifying points earned beyond the Premier 1K status requirement.
TPG featured card
Rewards
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 3X | Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com. |
| 2X | Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases. |
Intro offer
Annual Fee
Recommended Credit
Why We Chose It
There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)Pros
- 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.
Rewards Rate
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 3X | Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com. |
| 2X | Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases. |
Intro Offer
You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.As High As 100,000 points. Find Out Your Offer.Annual Fee
$325Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.Excellent to Good
Why We Chose It
There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)Pros
- 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.