Using partner airlines can help accrue points on United's MileagePlus

Frequent airline travelers are often looking for new ways to accrue miles for flying to save money on future trips.

One expert has shared an idea to more efficiently handle this task.

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American Airlines  (AAL) - Get Free Report has its AAdvantage program to earn miles for flying, shopping, dining, car rentals and hotels. The accrued miles can be used for flights, upgrades, vacations, premium drinks and other rewards.

Southwest Airlines  (LUV) - Get Free Report calls its plans for passengers Rapid Rewards.

Delta Air Lines  (DAL) - Get Free Report has its SkyMiles for similar savings.

On United Airlines  (UAL) - Get Free Report, MileagePlus offers travelers the opportunity to earn Premier qualifying points (PQPs) to requalify for status allowing passengers to access benefits.

Kyle Olsen, writing for The Points Guy, suggests a way to more efficiently gather credit to help cut future costs and increase benefits.

Using partner flights to add PQPs

Star Alliance is a network of international airlines with 26 members that tries to offer smooth connections around the globe.

United Airlines is part of this group and it has a different and more lucrative way to accrue PQPs when MileagePlus members use the partner airlines.

"Normally, you earn 1 PQP per base dollar you spend on airfare. So if you're trying to earn the 24,000 PQPs required using the PQP-only path for Premier 1K status this year, that's $24,000 in pre-tax airfare on United," wrote Olsen. 

He then plainly spelled out the advantage United travelers can use to boost their points.

"But MileagePlus members can earn PQPs with any Star Alliance member, and if they're issued by the partner airline, you'll accrue mileage based on the fare class and flight distance instead of the price of your ticket," Olsen explained. "This means a $1,000 long-haul business-class ticket with Lufthansa could accrue 1,500 PQPs, depending on the flight's length."

That's a significantly empowering opportunity.

"In my opinion, the ability to earn generous amounts of PQPs on partner flights is the best-kept secret in the friendly skies," Olsen wrote. "And it isn't as hard as you might think."

Similar to many airlines, United no longer takes into account a member's distance flown on its own flights for attaining elite status.

But with its Star Alliance partners, PQPs are based on length of flight, the fare class one is traveling in and which airline is used.

Olsen took some time to explain the specifics.

The base mileage is relatively simple, calculated by the distance you fly. Generally, the farther you fly, the more PQPs you'll earn. However, different fare classes earn different amounts of miles. Discounted economy flights might earn less than the total distance of the flight, while business-class tickets might earn more than the total distance.

Remember that the cost of your partner ticket is not directly linked to your final PQP accrual. This means if you find a full-fare economy ticket from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) on one day for $1,500 and another day for $5,000, it will earn the same amount of redeemable United miles and PQPs because the distance doesn't change.

In other words, this approach is advantageous for low-cost, long-haul partner award flights.

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