Earn and redeem your United MileagePlus points for Eurowings Discover, a new European low cost carrier
Quick summary
Eurowings Discover is a new German low-cost carrier that is part of Lufthansa Group. The airline launched its inaugural flight at the end of July and is not wasting any time adding loyalty partners to its program.
Following Air Canada's lead in July, United Airlines has officially added Eurowings Discover as a loyalty partner, too. Let's take a closer look at the earning and redeeming rates.
Earn MileagePlus miles on Eurowings Discover flights
When purchasing Eurowings Discover flights, you can input your United MileagePlus frequent-flyer number at checkout to earn award miles and Premier-qualifying credits with United. This page appears on the "Travellers" page of checkout on Eurowings' website. You'll also want to make sure your MileagePlus number appears on your boarding pass to ensure you're earning miles.
If you purchased your ticket directly through United — either in-person, on the website or through United customer service — or your ticket number starts with "016," you'll earn MileagePlus miles based on your elite status level:
| MileagePlus status | Award miles earned (based on fare) |
|---|---|
| Member | 5 MileagePlus points per dollar spent |
| Premier Silver | 7 MileagePlus points per dollar spent |
| Premier Gold | 8 MileagePlus points per dollar spent |
| Premier Platinum | 9 MileagePlus points per dollar spent |
| Premier 1K | 11 MileagePlus points per dollar spent |
If you booked via an airline other than United, or your ticket number does not start with "016," you'll earn MileagePlus miles following this award chart:
| Class of service | Fare class | Award mile earnings (including fare class bonus) |
|---|---|---|
| Business | J, C, D | 200% |
| Discount business | Z | 150% |
| Deep discount business | P | 100% |
| Premium economy | G, E | 150% |
| Discount premium economy | N | 100% |
| Full-fare economy | Y, B | 150% |
| Economy | M, H, U | 100% |
| Discount economy | Q, V, W | 75% |
| Deep discount economy | S, T, L | 50% |
| Deepest discount economy | K | 25% |
| Ineligible for mileage credit | A, F, I, O, R, X | 0% |
You can find your ticket number and fare class on your confirmation email or flight receipt.
To take a quick example, the airline plans to operate seasonal flights from its hub at Frankfurt (FRA) to Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC). That flight clocks in at 5,218 miles each way. A ticket purchased through United would earn MileagePlus miles at a rate of 5 to 11 miles per dollar spent on airfare, depending on your elite status. If you purchased your ticket directly through Eurowings Discover and credited it to United MileagePlus, you'd earn between 0 to 20,872 award miles, depending on your fare code.
Interestingly enough, Eurowings Discover is a MileagePlus "Preferred" partner, meaning you earn Premier-Qualifying Points (PQPs) at a rate of the award miles earned divided by five (non-preferred partners earn PQPs as the mileage divided by six), so there could be some great value propositions to purchasing through Eurowings Discover and then crediting your flights to United for a run toward elite status.
Redeem MileagePlus miles for Eurowings Discover flights
You can now redeem your MileagePlus miles for Eurowings Discover flights, too. Just like you'd conduct any other United partner award search, you'll visit United's website, enter the desired flight dates and cities and search price by award travel. You should be able to find the flights and the number of points required to book the ticket.
For now, tickets appear to start at 6,500 miles each way on the airline's short hauls within Europe. Eurowings Discover's flights between the U.S. and Europe do not appear to be loaded onto the schedule yet, but should price out at 33,000 MileagePlus miles each way in economy and 66,000 miles in business class.
Bottom line
It's always a win when airlines add new loyalty partners to the mix, expanding award flight options for customers. Ultimately, it's no surprise that Eurowings Discover has partnered with United to earn and redeem miles since it's part of the Lufthansa Group, which is one of United's Star Alliance partners.