Point values · Airline miles

What are United miles worth?

Credit Upside values United miles at a conservative 1.25¢ per point — the same mid-range number the optimizer uses to score your spending. That's about 1.25× a penny — a United mile is worth more than a 1¢ cash-back point.

Updated 2026-09-16

1.25¢ per United point
50,000 points is about $625 at our value.

What you actually get depends on how you redeem. A great redemption can beat this; cashing out often pays less.

How we get to 1.25¢

United miles are miles in a single airline's program. We use a single conservative mid-range value — not the best-case redemption a points blog might quote — because the optimizer has to be honest about what you'll typically get, not what's theoretically possible. Your own redemptions can beat it (a well-timed transfer) or trail it (a low-value cash-out). Full methodology →

Cards that earn United miles

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United miles don't transfer out — they're spent inside one program. That's the trade-off against a flexible currency: fewer places to use them, so the 1.25¢ has to earn its keep on its own. Compare transfer reach across programs →

Is a United mile better than cash?

At 1.25¢, yes on paper — but only if you redeem near that value. A 1.25¢ point that you cash out at 1¢ is just a 1¢ point. The only way to know for your wallet is to score real spending — which is what the app does, applying this value to every charge.

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Want the ranked version? Best cards that earn United miles puts all 6 of them in order by real cents back per dollar — the printed rate times this 1.25¢ value.

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Which card should this spending actually be on? The demo re-scores a year of realistic spending against every card in a wallet — free, no signup. See it on sample data →

Valued near it: Chase Ultimate Rewards (1.25¢) · Avios (1.30¢) · Capital One miles (1.30¢) · Flying Blue (1.20¢) · JetBlue TrueBlue (1.30¢)

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