Earn by flying United The natural way to earn United miles by flying with the carrier or one of its partners. However, the exact way that you earn United miles depends on several factors: the airline operating the flight, how you booked the flight and your fare class, to name a few. Let’s take a closer look. United has changed how you earn miles when flying on United-operated flights. Instead of earning based on miles flown, you now earn MileagePlus miles based on your ticket’s base price (minus taxes). You’ll also earn additional miles if you have MileagePlus elite status — the higher your status, the more miles you earn. Here’s how many miles you’ll earn per dollar spent based on your level of status: No status – 5 miles Silver – 7 miles Gold – 8 miles Platinum – 9 miles Premier 1K – 11 miles Here’s an example of how this works. If you buy a one-way United ticket from Chicago-O’Hare’Hare (ORD) to Des Moines (DSM) with a base fare of $210 and $30 in taxes, you’ll earn 1,050 mile...