One of the metrics you can use to earn United Premier status is Premier qualifying points.
You’ll usually earn PQPs through flights, but you can also earn them through select United Airlines credit cards. Best of all, you can stack PQPs from multiple United cards, which will become more useful in 2026. Here’s what you should know.
Requirements for United Premier status
United made some changes for 2025, making it harder than ever to earn status. To qualify for United Premier status valid through Jan. 31, 2027, you must take at least four United or United Express flights and meet one of the following requirements through your activity in 2025.
| Status tier | Requirements to qualify through PQPs alone | Requirements to qualify through PQPs and Premier qualifying flights |
|---|---|---|
| Premier Silver | 6,000 PQPs | 5,000 PQPs and 15 PQFs |
| Premier Gold | 12,000 PQPs | 10,000 PQPs and 30 PQFs |
| Premier Platinum | 18,000 PQPs | 15,000 PQPs and 45 PQFs |
| Premier 1K | 28,000 PQPs | 22,000 PQPs and 60 PQFs |
You can get Premier Silver status through United’s partnership with Marriott, and frequent travelers may be able to snag lifetime United status. But otherwise, you must requalify for United status each year to continue enjoying its benefits.
Related: United elite status is slipping further out of my reach — here’s what I’m doing as a result
Earning PQPs through United credit cards
Besides flights, you can also earn PQPs through United credit cards. United recently overhauled several cards, so now the earning rate for PQPs and the maximum number of PQPs you can earn vary based on card type as follows:
| Card | Earning rate | Maximum number of PQPs you can earn on this card within a calendar year |
|---|---|---|
| United Club℠ Card (see rates and fees) | 1 PQP per $15 | up to 28,000 PQPs |
| United Quest℠ Card (see rates and fees) | 1 PQP per $20 | up to 18,000 PQPs |
| United℠ Explorer Card (see rates and fees) | 1 PQP per $20 | up to 1,000 PQPs |
| United Club℠ Business Card | 1 PQP per $15 | up to 28,000 PQPs |
| United℠ Business Card (see rates and fees) | 1 PQP per $20 | up to 4,000 PQPs |
The information for the United Club Business Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
That's right: You could, in theory, earn Premier 1K status based solely on card spending with the United Club Card or the United Club Business Card. These two cards carry high annual fees but earn PQPs at the highest rates. So, if you decide to focus on earning PQPs through spending on a United card, you’ll want one of these two cards.
Starting in 2026, some United cards will offer card bonus PQPs each year to travelers who were cardmembers as of Dec. 31 of the prior year. Specifically, United Quest Card members will earn 1,000 card bonus PQPs each year, awarded within 8 weeks of February 1, while United Club Card and United Club Business Card members will earn 1,500 card bonus PQPs each year. Best of all, these card bonus PQPs will be stackable if you have multiple United cards.
Related: Is the United Club Card annual fee worth it?
Bottom line
You could earn all the PQPs needed for top-tier Premier 1K status from credit cards alone, but doing so would require a lot of spending. Not to mention, you likely won't get significant value from having United Premier status if you don’t fly with the airline enough to earn a decent chunk of PQPs from flying.
As such, I recommend earning most of your PQPs from flying and using one or more United credit cards to top off your PQP balance with spending (and, starting in 2026, card bonus PQPs). If you're interested in stacking card bonus PQPs in 2026 and beyond, ensure you have some combination of the United Quest Card, the United Club Card and the United Club Business Card in your wallet at the end of 2025.
