✈️ United PlusPoints, explained

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 7 seconds

🤠 Howdy, partner. Welcome back to Daily Drop — where we wrangle redemptions, rustle up upgrades, and ride into the sunset with elite status.

Here’s what we’ve rustled up today:

• 💰 How to get compensated when things go south

• ✈️ United PlusPoints, explained

• 🏨 50% transfer bonus to this underrated program

💰 How to get compensated when things go south

If you’ve ever had a hotel stay or flight that felt more Wild West than luxury getaway, you’re not alone. The good news? You can often get compensated — you just have to ask.

Take my recent stay at the Intercontinental Bandung, for example.

I was there for three nights, and… let’s just say it didn’t exactly go as planned:

• My IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite Status wasn’t recognized

• The lounge served me raw chicken (yep 😬)

• The air conditioning and TV didn’t work

• And a staff member dropped a plate onto my laptop, leaving a lovely dent and scratch

Instead of throwing a fit at checkout, I did something I recommend to anyone: I asked for the general manager’s card and followed up with a polite, detailed email.

What did I get in return?

A sincere apology and 20,000 IHG One Rewards points, which is enough for two nights at a comparable hotel in the region.

And this doesn’t just apply to hotels…

A few months ago, I booked a business-class window seat on Cathay Pacific, only to be reassigned at check-in without explanation. Not the end of the world, but I didn’t get the seat I paid for.

So I submitted a quick online claim.

18,000 Asia Miles later, I am nearly two-thirds of the way to a one-way flight from the U.S. West Coast to Asia (which costs just 27,000 miles in economy). And since I can top off my Asia Miles by transferring points, I’m already planning that next trip.

Moral of the story: Don’t be afraid to speak up when your experience doesn’t match what was promised.

Here’s how to do it right:

• ✔️ Stay calm

• ✔️ Be specific

• ✔️ Include photos or receipts if you can

• ✔️ Ask for a fair resolution (points, refund, voucher, etc.)

It won’t always work, but when it does, you might just walk away with your next trip partially paid for.

✈️ United PlusPoints, explained

If you’ve got United elite status (or are working toward it), you’ve probably heard of PlusPoints — the upgrade currency for Premier Platinum and Premier 1K members.

They’ve been around for a while, but United just rolled out some big updates that give your PlusPoints a lot more flexibility.

How to earn PlusPoints

• Premier Platinum: 40 PlusPoints when you qualify

• Premier 1K: 280 more, for a total of 320 PlusPoints

• Bonus: 20 additional PlusPoints for every 3,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) earned beyond 22,000 PQPs in a calendar year

⚠️ Heads Up: PQPs earned from credit card spending do not count toward this post-22k threshold.

How upgrades work

PlusPoints are most often used to upgrade from economy to a higher cabin, whether you’re flying domestically or internationally.

Here’s an example from a recent United itinerary:

Chicago (ORD) → Newark (EWR) → London (LHR)

• ORD–EWR (domestic): Upgrade from Economy to United First = 20 PlusPoints

• EWR–LHR (international): Upgrade from Economy to Polaris Business = 40 PlusPoints

• But: If both segments are upgraded, you’re only charged for the higher-priced one — in this case, 40 PlusPoints total.

What’s new: The PlusPoints Exchange

You can now also redeem eligible PlusPoints for:

• PQPs and PQFs (Premier Qualifying Flights) to help requalify for status

• MileagePlus miles

• TravelBank credits

• Gifting Premier status to a friend or family member

Bottom line

Upgrades will always be the best bang for your PlusPoint buck — especially for Polaris on long-haul international flights. But these new options give you a backup plan if you’re already flying up front or can’t find upgrade space.

And hey, gifting Premier Silver to a travel buddy might just earn you a round of airport beers. 🍻

🏨 50% transfer bonus to this underrated program

What if I told you that you could trade 1,000 of your hard-earned bank points for... 500 points? 😒

Sounds like a ripoff, right? Okay, what if it were 750 points? Still not sold?

Let me introduce you to the 50% transfer bonus from ThankYou points to Accor Live Limitless.

We usually see Accor bonuses like this once or twice a year. And while they might sound rough on paper, they can be surprisingly valuable in practice.

Fixed value = real flexibility

Accor uses a fixed-rate redemption model, meaning:

• 2,000 points = €40, no matter what

• Valid at any property, any date, any rate

• Redeemable even for charges on your hotel bill (hello, spa day)

That means no annoying blackout dates, no complicated award charts, no guesswork.

Example:

Say you are traveling to Copenhagen next month. A room at this Ibis hotel runs for around $180 per night.

You’d need:

• 7,885 Accor points to cover the stay

• That’s about 10,513 ThankYou points with the 50% bonus

• Which gets you a solid 1.77 cents per point in value (if you're bad at math like me, just use Daily Drop’s Cent-Per-Point Calculator to figure it out)

Not earth-shattering — but genuinely good, especially for cash-priced hotels in Europe and Asia (and basically everywhere else in the world, since Accor has so many hotels).

Bottom line

No, you’re not gaming the system for a $2,000 night at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives.

But if you’ve got ThankYou points lying around and you’re planning a Europe or Asia trip soon, this is a simple, no-nonsense way to turn them into free stays — or a few fancy room service orders.

That’s a wrap for today, partner. Before you go, I have a personal question…

Catch you tomorrow ❤️

6.9175° S, 107.6191° E

With contributions by Tiffany Eastham, McKay Moffitt, and Benji Stawski