United Airlines launches 8,000 mile one-way Star Alliance flight redemptions

One of the key reasons that there is no obvious reason to ditch Avios for another oneworld, SkyTeam or Star Alliance frequent flyer programme is the good value redemptions available in Europe.

9,000 Avios plus £35 for a British Airways return redemption in Economy up to 650 miles is excellent value.  You should be able to get 1p per Avios much of the time.

Most other frequent flyer schemes treat Europe as one zone.  This can work out well for longer flights, where London to Athens is priced at the same as London to Amsterdam, but for most people it means you’re getting a bad deal. 

A standard return redemption using Lufthansa Miles & More miles from London to Frankfurt costs a laughable 35,000 miles plus £85 in taxes and charges.  In Economy.  Alternatively, you could use a ludicrous 50,000 miles return and pay no taxes.  Yeah, right.

United Airlines has done something very interesting

The US airline United, part of Star Alliance, has just made a number of changes to its MileagePlus loyalty scheme.

It generally isn’t very pleasant for MileagePlus members.  We tend not to cover the scheme much on Head for Points but if you want to know what is changing then this article from a US site covers it.

Here is the interesting bit though.

United has a launched a new award level.  For flights outside the US, you will pay just 8,000 miles for a non-stop Economy one-way redemption of up to 800 miles.

800 miles covers quite a lot of ground.  Importantly, it covers the countries covered by the main Star Alliance airlines in Europe – Lufthansa (Germany), SWISS, Austrian and Brussels Airlines.

It won’t, however, get you as far as Lisbon (on TAP) or Zagreb (on Croatia Airlines) or Ljubljana (on Adria) or Warsaw (on LOT).  These remain at 15,000 miles.  There is no deal on Business Class redemptions which remain at 30,000 miles in most cases.

Unfortunately, UK taxes and charges still make these tickets pricey.  For example, for return Economy trips :

London to Frankfurt – 16,000 miles plus £93

London to Vienna -16,000 miles plus £93

You also have the option to book intra-Europe travel, of course (eg Geneva to Budapest) where you should get better value on the ‘taxes and charges’ element.

You can also use these 8,000 mile redemptions elsewhere in the world for short flights on Star Alliance airlines, as long as you are not in the US.  For example, Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City is 8,000 miles plus $25 return on Singapore Airlines.  Johannesburg to Cape Town on South African Airways is also an 8,000 mile one-way redemption.

Earning United Airlines miles is tricky, however

One snag is that United Airlines miles are not easy to earn:

The UK credit card has just been withdrawn

You cannot transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to United

You can transfer Starwood Preferred Guest points to United (and go from Amex to Starwood) BUT Starwood has a very poor transfer rate to United of 2:1 instead of the usual 1:1

It is really only an option if you are crediting Star Alliance flights into United Airlines.

These new 8,000 mile United Airlines one-way redemptions are not going to have British Airways worried.  However, it is good to see another airline addressing the value problems around short-haul redemptions as low cost carriers continue to force down short-haul fares.

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How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review