does it cost money to use miles to upgrade to business class on united
United uses a zone-based pricing chart to determine the cost of upgrade awards in both miles and cash co-pays. It runs on the same system that prices out award flights, but if you click on the tab for âUpgrade Awardsâ youâll get the cost to upgrade a normal paid ticket. Note that you cannot use a mileage upgrade to upgrade an award ticket. Example prices are 20,000 to 15,000 miles + a $75 co-pay to upgrade most domestic economy class tickets to first class. The $75 co-pay is waived for Premier members of any status.