Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.When I went to bed Tuesday night, my United Airlines MileagePlus account had a balance of 10 Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs) and eight Regional Premier Upgrades (RPUs) — now, both have been merged into one PlusPoints total, just as the carrier promised.Also as expected, my four Regional Premier Upgrades set to expire on Jan. 31, 2020, still have that same expiration as PlusPoints, but now they’re also worth the equivalent of two round-trip Polaris upgrades — which is exactly the reason I’ve been hanging onto them rather than letting them go for a domestic or regional flight.Now, I’ll be able to redeem my PlusPoints balance for United and partner upgrades as follows:Economy to domestic first/regional business: 20 PlusPointsEconomy to Premium Plus: 20 PlusPointsPremium Plus to Polaris: 30 PlusPointsEconomy to Polaris (Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W): 40 PlusPointsEconomy to ANA business (G, E, Y, B): 40 PlusPointsBusiness to ANA first (J, C, D): 40 PlusPointsEconomy to Copa business: 40 PlusPointsEconomy to Lufthansa business (G, E, Y, B, M, U, H, Q): 40 PlusPointsBusiness to Lufthansa first (J, C, D): 40 PlusPointsEconomy to Polaris (S, T, L, K, G): 80 PlusPointsEconomy to Polaris (“skip waitlist”): TBD PlusPointsMeanwhile, Premier Platinum, 1K and Global Services members will earn PlusPoints at the following rates:40 upon reaching Platinum280 upon reaching 1K or GS20 for each subsequent 3,000 PQPs (1K and GS only)Upgrades to Premium Plus require fewer points than Polaris. (Photo by Zach Honig/The Points Guy)Stay tuned for a detailed guide to upgrading flights using PlusPoints, coming later this morning.
