United Airlines is making changes to its MileagePlus frequent flyer program, rewarding travelers who have a United Airlines credit card with more miles and exclusive flight discounts, according to the company.
The airline announced Thursday that customers with a United MileagePlus credit or debit card will be able to earn twice as many miles compared to non-cardholders, receive a discount of at least 10% on United award tickets and get access to the airline’s lowest priced award tickets, which had previously been only available to Platinum and 1K members.
The changes will take effect on April 2, United said. Non-cardholders should expect to earn less mileage than they usually do once the new reward system is in place, according to CNBC. General members will now have to hold a United card to earn miles when purchasing a Basic Economy ticket, United said.
“What I’m thinking about as we make these changes for United is to make sure that if you hold the credit card, you put it top of wallet, and then if you don’t hold the credit card, there’s a reason to get the credit card that seems incredibly compelling if you’d like to fly United Airlines and if you’d like to have that… trip to Tahiti or to Rome or wherever we may be able to take you,” United Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella told CNBC.
In addition to earning more miles on standard United tickets, cardholders will get more miles when they use an eligible United card to pay for their flight, the airline said. For example, a MileagePlus Gold member using their United Quest card to buy a ticket will earn 13 miles per dollar, more than double than non-cardholders, according to United.
Cardholders will also receive at least 10% on every United award flight, and Premier members using a United card will receive at least 15% off, United said.
This article originally published at United Airlines just made big changes to its reward programs for travelers who don’t use its credit card.
