Nonstop flights to Greenland. Free onboard Starlink Wi-Fi. Spiffy seatback screens.
What does it all have in common?
Loyalty.
In recent years, United Airlines has poured billions of dollars into fresh onboard amenities and new products it sees as key to standing out in the highly competitive airline industry.
Those inflight screens you can connect your Bluetooth headphones to? They’re a convenient feature few other airlines offer, executives would tell you.
Need access to inflight internet? Sign up for the United MileagePlus program and surf away.
Have miles to burn? That flight to an exotic destination like Nuuk, Greenland, or Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, could be the perfect redemption — but you’ll get there faster if you pick up one of its cobranded credit cards, the thinking goes.
United Airlines pilots commemorate the carrier’s launch of Nuuk, Greenland, service. SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY
This race to lock in customers — and United’s “make money to spend money” approach — has certainly paid off for the Chicago-based carrier.
In recent years, United has consistently ranked near the top of the U.S. airline industry’s profits, trailing only perennial leader Delta Air Lines.
Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts
By signing up, you will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
In 2025, the carrier also climbed to second in TPG’s Best Airlines Report, bolstered by its global route network and loyalty program.
Up next? It appears United has something big up its sleeve.
Landing gear in the kitchen? Touring United’s renovated Chicago headquarters in the Willis Tower
‘Really big ideas’ for MileagePlus
Earlier this fall, United executives teased a grand vision, of sorts, for the future of its MileagePlus program.
“We have some really big ideas on the loyalty program,” CEO Scott Kirby said while speaking during the company’s earnings call in October.
Cue the United loyalist wondering about the future of their miles, Premier status perks and United Club access.
But for now, United isn’t offering specifics beyond a prediction that sure perked up plenty of ears on Wall Street.
ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
Loyalty is king … and a moneymaker
By 2030, Kirby said, United expects to double the profits it pulls in from its loyalty program.
“I think we’re just beginning to realize the full potential of the loyalty program,” he said. “And there’s a lot of runway there.”
That would be astronomical growth for an already booming business.
Five years ago, when United used MileagePlus as collateral to secure debt financing during the down days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the carrier estimated the value of its loyalty program at roughly $20 billion.
And airline loyalty programs — along with the cobranded credit cards that help power them — have only surged in popularity and membership since then.
What MileagePlus maneuver could possibly make United so much cash in the next five years?
The answer, as it so often is in the airline industry, likely surrounds credit cards, said Conor Cunningham, industry analyst at New York-based Melius Research.
ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
Turning credit cards into even more of a cash cow
United’s current deal with JP Morgan Chase, inked just before the pandemic, was slated to run until 2029.
And the airline, Cunningham said, has long watched with envy as its Atlanta-based competitor has raked in eye-popping profits through its own card tie-up with American Express, which is set to bring Delta $8 billion in 2025.
“I think that part of the advantage that Delta has is that American Express is obviously very intertwined with them. And United has less of that with Chase right now,” Cunningham told TPG.
Delta and Amex collaborate closely in a number of areas, from their cobranded credit card lineup to their lounge networks: Delta’s Sky Clubs and Amex’s Centurion Lounge portfolio. And it’s a safe bet United could look to strike a more lucrative deal with its banking partner.
Delta Sky Club at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY
Could that mean new cobranded cards or cardholder benefits? Only time will tell.
A loyalty ‘ecosystem’
Beyond that, Cunningham expects United to wade more deeply into creating a true loyalty “ecosystem” — a term airlines use to describe a setup where customers earn and redeem miles (and perks) both when they’re flying and when they’re not.
For years, TPG has preached the importance of earning miles and status through smart everyday spending and treating your rewards as a valuable currency.
But airlines have gone even further in recent years, expanding well beyond the bounds of what we once knew as “frequent flyer programs.”
Today, airlines offer mileage redemptions on everything from vacation homes and car rentals to high-end experiences like celebrity chef dinners and courtside seats at NBA games.
At the same time, passengers increasingly have been able to leverage their airline memberships for more access or value with nonairline consumer brands.
For instance, Delta flyers can get Paramount Plus access inflight and for a short time after landing. American Airlines passengers can claim two months of Apple Music by flying.
United, for its part, has an onboard tie-up with Spotify — and just announced a new loyalty arrangement with Lyft that will soon open up MileagePlus redemptions on rides.
United’s first-class seats on an Airbus A321neo. SEAN CUDAHY/THE POINTS GUY
“It’s just this whole thought process around loyalty being more than just an airline redemption and whatnot,” Cunningham said. “To me … there are further things [United] can do over the long-term that could drive value for you as a consumer.”
A race to win ‘brand-loyal’ customers
United is far from the only airline ramping up investment in alluring new products meant to win customers’ business.
Recent years have seen lower-cost airlines rapidly add higher-end seats, ponder lounges and beef up credit card perks.
Meanwhile, American — seeing the moves of Delta and United — has rushed to invest in new customer-facing products over the past year that, it hopes, will close a glaring financial gap with its two top rivals.
‘I think we’re going to win’: United CEO strikes bullish tone on battling rivals, facing industry’s challenges
United executives, though, believe the carrier has already seized an insurmountable advantage over every U.S. airline but Delta — a lead that, in Kirby’s oft-repeated words, is “structural, permanent and irreversible.”
How true that ultimately rings remains to be seen — but United’s latest comments around loyalty, however vague, suggest no letting up on the airline’s relentless push to be at the top of customers’ minds when they book a flight … or swipe their credit card.
“We’re going to be working very hard to make sure consumers fully understand the distinction between our [loyalty] program and the alternatives. And the rewards, and the value, that can be achieved at United,” chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said this fall before stopping well short of offering specifics. “I think that’s enough of a hint for now.”
Related reading:
