United Upgrades Its Upgrade System for Frequent Flyers

Big changes are coming to the way in which elite travelers on United Airlines use airline upgrades. Later this year, the Chicago-based carrier is moving to an accrual-based system called PointsPlus that charges passengers points for regional or domestic upgrades. Interestingly, the points system is almost exactly like the certificate system that United uses. Instead of earning two regional and six global upgrades when reaching 100,000 annual traveled miles per year, for example, now travelers get 280 points. In most cases it costs 40 points for an international upgrade from economy to business and 20 points for a domestic upgrade — so the allocated points cleanly match the former upgrade system. Why the change then? In part, it's because of the flexibility afforded by the system. By using points, travelers can deci