- United Gateway℠ Card, Limited time offer ends 1/29/25: Earn 30,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000, plus 5,000 bonus miles for adding a free authorized user in 3 months, plus 12 months 0% APR on purchases.
- United℠ Explorer Card, Limited time offer ends 1/29/25: Earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000, plus 5,000 bonus miles for adding a free authorized user in 3 months, plus $0 intro annual fee.
- United Quest℠ Card, Limited time offer ends 1/29/25: Earn 70,000 bonus miles+500 PQPs after spending $4,000, plus 5,000 bonus miles for adding a free authorized user in 3 months.
- United Club℠ Infinite Card, Limited time offer ends 1/29/25: Earn 90,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000, plus 5,000 bonus miles for adding a free authorized user in 3 months.
- Chase United℠ Business Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in 3 months, plus $0 intro annual fee.
- Chase United Business Club Card (Click on apply now to reach this card application), Earn 50,000 miles+1,000 PQPs after spending $5,000 in 3 months.
United card offers
United has limited time offers available on their consumer credit cards through 1/19/25. The United cards have some of the best perks for travelers out of all the airline cards, making them a must have for anyone flying on United. All of these United cards offer expanded saver award availability, an incredible perk that no other airline card offers! Plus you can pay yourself back for the annual fee at an excellent value of up to 1.75 cents per mile!
United no longer includes any checked bags on their basic economy fares to Europe and Israel, but you can still get 1 or 2 free checked bags for you and for a companion with the cards below. That compares favorably to American, which doesn’t provide any free bags internationally with their cards, and to Delta, which doesn’t have any cards that provide 2 free checked bags.
While you normally have to use your card to pay for the flight to get the free bags, that requirement is waived for the first 90 days of cardmembership!
It’s not worth spending on United cards unless you’re gunning for elite status, but there’s no reason not to take advantage of signup offers and card benefits.
While United miles are not as valuable as they used to be, they never expire, there are never fuel surcharges, and there are some advantages to using miles over cash or bank points.
Plus, United blocks a lot of saver award space from partners, so it is helpful to have a stash of United miles.
When you use cash or bank points you won’t get benefits like free bags for using your United card, whereas with miles you can put the taxes on your credit card to get those benefits.
Plus, you can cancel award tickets for free and get back all of your miles and taxes. That’s a huge peace of mind that is hard to calculate and accurately value when comparing the value of a mileage ticket to a cash ticket or to booking awards with partner airlines that don’t have free cancellations.
- United Gateway℠ Card
- Limited time offer ends 1/29: Earn 30,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000, plus 5,000 bonus miles for adding a free authorized user, in the first 3 months of card membership, plus 12 months 0% APR on purchases.
- This card previously offered 20,000 bonus miles.
- No annual fee.
- Earn 2 miles per dollar on United purchases, gas stations, transit and commuting, including ride share services, taxicabs, train tickets, tolls, and mass transit.
- 1 year free DoorDash membership, plus $10 off quarterly on grocery, convenience, or other non-restaurant orders from DoorDash.
- United℠ Explorer Card
- Limited time offer ends 1/29: Earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000, plus 5,000 bonus miles for adding a free authorized user, in the first 3 months of card membership.
- This card previously offered 50,000 bonus miles.
- $0 intro annual fee, then $95. You can redeem 6,600 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.5 cents per mile towards refunding the annual fee on this card!
- Earn 2 miles per dollar on hotels and dining as well as on United purchases.
- Cardholders get Global Entry/PreCheck/NEXUS for free.
- A free checked bag worldwide for the cardholder and a companion, even on basic economy fares.
- A free carry-on bag for the cardholder and companions, even on basic economy fares.
- Priority boarding for the cardholder and companions, even on basic economy fares.
- The ability to use online checkin and get a boarding pass in advance on basic economy fares. United does not allow online checkin on basic economy fares unless you have elite status or a United card with free bags.
- 2 free United Club passes every year for being a cardmember.
- Primary rental car CDW insurance in every country (domestic rental coverage is secondary for NY residents).
- Cardholders with United elite status get free upgrades on coach award tickets on upgrade eligible routes for the cardholder with status and a companion!
- 2024: Earn 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 2025: Earn 1 PQPs for every $20 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 1 year free DoorDash membership, plus $10 off quarterly on grocery, convenience, or other non-restaurant orders from DoorDash.
- United Quest℠ Card
- Limited time offer ends 1/29/25: Earn 70,000 bonus miles and 500 PQPs after you spend $4,000 on purchases, plus 5,000 bonus miles for adding a free authorized user, in the first 3 months of card membership.
- This card previously offered 60,000 bonus miles.
- $250 annual fee. You can redeem 15,625 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.6 cents per mile towards refunding this card’s annual fee!
- Earn 3 miles per dollar on United purchases.
- Earn 2 miles per dollar on travel, dining, and streaming
- Cardholders get Global Entry/PreCheck/NEXUS for free.
- Get a rebate up to $125 every cardmembership year, equal to the amount spent on United tickets, upgrades, seat assignment fees, WiFi, inflight food and beverages, baggage fees, or other United charges. This will also work for United Travel Bank funding valid for future United flights with a minimum 5 year validity!
- Get a rebate of 5,000 miles, up to 2 times per cardmembership year starting with your first card anniversary, for a total of up to 10,000 miles per year, when the primary cardholder flies on an award that includes at least 1 United flight segment. You’ll get the 5,000 mile rebate even if the award cost less than 5,000 miles! You’ll want to redeem 2 one-way awards as those will each trigger a 5,000 mile rebate.
- 2 free checked bags worldwide for the cardholder and a companion, even on basic economy fares. A value of up to $680 round-trip!
- A free carry-on bag for the cardholder and companions, even on basic economy fares.
- Priority boarding for the cardholder and companions, even on basic economy fares.
- The ability to use online checkin and get a boarding pass in advance on basic economy fares. United does not allow online checkin on basic economy fares unless you have elite status or a United card with free bags.
- Primary rental car CDW insurance in every country (domestic rental coverage is secondary for NY residents).
- Cardholders with United elite status get free upgrades on coach award tickets on upgrade eligible routes for the cardholder with status and a companion!
- 2024: Earn 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 6,000 PQPs for $120,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 2025: Earn 1 PQPs for every $20 spent, up to a maximum of 9,000 PQPs for $180,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 1 year free DoorDash membership, plus $10 off quarterly on grocery, convenience, or other non-restaurant orders from DoorDash.
- United Club℠ Infinite Card
- Limited time offer ends 1/29/25: Earn 90,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000, plus 5,000 bonus miles for adding a free authorized user, in the first 3 months of card membership.
- This card previously offered 80,000 bonus miles.
- This card has a hefty $525 annual fee, though that’s cheaper than even top-tier United elite members pay for a Club membership, which is included with the card.
- You can redeem 30,000 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.75 cents per mile towards refunding this card’s annual fee!
- Full United Club membership: Cardholders get a full United Club membership. You can bring your entire family, or you and 2 guests, to enter over 1,000 United and partner lounges and Star Alliance lounges worldwide when flying United or Star Alliance airlines. Club membership normally costs $650 per year.
- 4 miles per dollar on United purchases, including tickets, upgrades, WiFi, inflight food and drinks.
- 2 miles per dollar on all other travel and dining and 1 mile per dollar elsewhere.
- Cardholders get Global Entry/PreCheck/NEXUS for free.
- 2 free checked bags worldwide for the cardholder and a companion, even on basic economy fares. A value of up to $680 round-trip!
- IHG Platinum elite status which gives free internet, 50% bonus points, upgrades, welcome amenity, late checkout, and more. Plus your IHG points will never expire if you have status.
- $75 IHG Annual Credit which gives up to $75 per calendar year in statement credits as reimbursement for IHG Hotels and Resorts purchases.
- Avis President’s Club Status.
- Instant discount on select United awards: Cardholders get a 10% instant discount on saver awards within the US48 and Canada. This applies to X class (saver awards available to everyone) and XN class (expanded saver awards available only for United cardholders) flights.
- Cardholders with United elite status get free upgrades on coach award tickets on upgrade eligible routes for the cardholder with status and a companion!
- A free carry-on bag for the cardholder and companions, even on basic economy fares.
- Premier Access: Priority check-in, security screening, boarding, and baggage handling privileges.
- The ability to use online checkin and get a boarding pass in advance on basic economy fares. United does not allow online checkin on basic economy fares unless you have elite status or a United card with free bags.
- Primary rental car CDW insurance in every country (domestic rental coverage is secondary for NY residents).
- 2024: Earn 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 10,000 PQPs for $200,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 2025: Earn 1 PQPs for every $15 spent, up to a maximum of 15,000 PQPs for $225,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 1 year free DoorDash membership, plus $10 off quarterly on grocery, convenience, or other non-restaurant orders from DoorDash.
- Chase United Business Card
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months of card membership.
- $0 intro annual fee, then $99. You can redeem 6,600 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.5 cents per mile towards refunding this card’s annual fee!
- A free checked bag worldwide for the cardholder and a companion, even on basic economy fares.
- 2 miles per dollar on United, restaurants, gas stations, office supply stores, local transit, taxis, tolls, mass transit, and ride share services.
- 5,000 bonus miles every card anniversary if you have this United business card and any United consumer card.
- $100 annual statement credit if you make 7 United purchases of $100 or more on the card.
- 25% statement credit for food, beverage, and WiFi purchases on United flights.
- A free carry-on bag for the cardholder and companions, even on basic economy fares.
- Priority boarding for the cardholder and companions, even on basic economy fares.
- The ability to use online checkin and get a boarding pass in advance on basic economy fares. United does not allow online checkin on basic economy fares unless you have elite status or a United card with free bags.
- 2 free United Club passes every year for being a cardmember.
- Primary rental car CDW insurance in the US when renting for business purposes and in every other country for any rental purpose.
- Cardholders with United elite status get free upgrades on coach award tickets on upgrade eligible routes for the cardholder with status and a companion!
- 2024: Earn 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 2025: Earn 1 PQPs for every $20 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 1 year free DoorDash membership, plus $10 off quarterly on grocery, convenience, or other non-restaurant orders from DoorDash.
- Chase United Business Club Card (Click on apply now to reach this card application)
- Earn 50,000 bonus miles plus 1,000 PQPs after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months of card membership.
- This card previously offered 50,000 bonus miles.
- This card has a hefty $450 annual fee, though that’s cheaper than even top-tier United elite members pay for a Club membership, which is included with the card. You can redeem 25,714 United miles to pay for the card’s annual fee thanks to a value of 1.75 cents per mile towards refunding the annual fee!
- Full United Club membership: Cardholders get a full United Club membership. You can bring your entire family, or you and 2 guests, to enter over 1,000 United and partner lounges and Star Alliance lounges worldwide when flying United or Star Alliance airlines. Club membership normally costs $650 per year.
- Earn 1.5 miles per dollar everywhere and 2 miles per dollar on United purchases.
- 2 free checked bags worldwide for the cardholder and a companion, even on basic economy fares. A value of up to $680 round-trip!
- A free carry-on bag for the cardholder and companions, even on basic economy fares.
- Premier Access: Priority check-in, security screening, boarding, and baggage handling privileges.
- Primary rental car CDW insurance in the US when renting for business purposes and in every other country for any rental purpose.
- Avis President’s Club Status.
- The ability to use online checkin and get a boarding pass in advance on basic economy fares. United does not allow online checkin on basic economy fares unless you have elite status or a United card with free bags.
- Cardholders with United elite status get free upgrades on coach award tickets on upgrade eligible routes for the cardholder with status and a companion!
- 2024: Earn 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 2025: Earn 1 PQPs for every $15 spent, up to a maximum of 15,000 PQPs for $225,000 spending. PQPs from multiple cards stack together with no limits!
- 1 year free DoorDash membership, plus $10 off quarterly on grocery, convenience, or other non-restaurant orders from DoorDash.
Comparison chart
| United Gateway | United Explorer | United Quest | United Club Infinite | United Business | United Club Business |
| Annual Fee | None | $0 Intro annual fee, then $95 (or use 6,333 miles) | $250 (or use 15,625 miles) | $525 (or use 30,000 miles) | $0 Intro annual fee, then $99 (or use 6,600 miles) | $450 (or use 25,714 miles) |
| Annual credit on United tickets and fees | $0 | $0 | $125 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Access to expanded saver and standard award space | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| United Club | No | 2 annual one-time passes | No | Full membership | 2 annual one-time passes | Full membership |
| Annual anniversary credit | None | None | Up to 2 rebates of 5K miles each when you redeem for a United award | None | 5K miles if you also hold any United Consumer card.
$100 United credit for making 7 United flight purchases of $100. | None |
| Foreign transaction fees | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| 25% back on in-flight purchases. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| First checked bag fee waiver for cardholder and companion, even on basic economy | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Second checked bag fee waiver for cardholder and companion, even on basic economy | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Free full size carry-on bag on basic economy for cardholder and companions | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Priority boarding for cardholder and companions, even on basic economy | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Premier Access Checkin, baggage handling, security, and boarding | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Allows the use of online checkin on basic economy for cardholder and companions | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Miles per dollar on everyday purchases | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Miles per dollar on United purchases | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Miles per dollar on restaurant purchases | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Miles per dollar on gas | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Miles per dollar on transit, commuting, and rise sharing | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Miles per dollar on hotels | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Miles per dollar on office supply stores | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Miles per dollar on streaming | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Miles per dollar on car rentals | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Roadside Assistance | No | No | 4 free incidents per year | 4 free incidents per year | 4 free incidents per year | 4 free incidents per year |
| Return protection | No | No | No | $500/item, up to $1,000/year. | No | $500/item, up to $1,000/year. |
| Purchase protection | 120 days theft or damage coverage, up to $500 | 120 days theft or damage coverage, up to $10K. | 120 days theft or damage coverage, up to $10K. | 120 days theft or damage coverage, up to $10K. | 120 days theft or damage coverage, up to $10K. | 120 days theft or damage coverage, up to $10K. |
| Extended warranty | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year |
| Car Rental CDW Insurance | Secondary | Primary (domestic rentals secondary for NY residents) | Primary (domestic rentals secondary for NY residents) | Primary (domestic rentals secondary for NY residents) | Primary for business purposes only | Primary for business purposes only |
| Global Entry/Pre-Check credit | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Baggage Delay insurance | No | $100/day up to 3 days | $100/day up to 3 days | $100/day up to 3 days | $100/day up to 3 days | $100/day up to 3 days |
| Lost Baggage insurance | No | $3,000/passenger | $3,000/passenger | $3,000/passenger | $3,000/passenger | $3,000/passenger |
| Trip Delay Insurance | No | $500 trip delay insurance coverage/ticket on 12+ hour delays | $500 trip delay insurance coverage/ticket on 12+ hour delays | $500 trip delay insurance coverage/ticket on 12+ hour delays | $500 trip delay insurance coverage/ticket on 12+ hour delays | $500 trip delay insurance coverage/ticket on 12+ hour delays |
| Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance | $1.5K/person and $6K/trip. | $1.5K/person and $6K/trip. | $1.5K/person and $6K/trip. | $10K/person and $20K/trip. | $1.5K/person and $6K/trip. | $10K/person and $20K/trip. |
| IHG Platinum Status | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| IHG $75 annual credit | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Avis Presidents Club Status | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2024 PQPs from spending | No | 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending | 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 6,000 PQPs for $120,000 spending | 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 10,000 PQPs for $200,000 spending | 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending | 25 PQPs for every $500 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending |
| 2025 PQPs from spending | No | 1 PQP for every $20 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending | 1 PQP for every $20 spent, up to a maximum of 9,000 PQPs for $180,000 spending | 1 PQP for every $15 spent, up to a maximum of 15,000 PQPs for $225,000 spending | 1 PQP for every $20 spent, up to a maximum of 1,000 PQPs for $20,000 spending | 1 PQP for every $15 spent, up to a maximum of 15,000 PQPs for $225,000 spending |
| Premier upgrades with a companion upgrade on award tickets | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Instant discount on select United saver awards | No | No | No | 10% discount | No | No |
Welcome bonus terms
You can receive the bonus on each of these cards if you haven’t received a bonus on the same exact card in the past 24 months and don’t currently have the same exact card.
If you do have the exact same card you can change to another United card, wait 3-4 days, and apply for that card again.
5/24
While all Chase cards are typically subject to 5/24 restrictions, there have been many reports of that not being enforced for United cards. If you apply for a United card and are over 5/24, please let us know what happens!
In general, 5/24 means that you won’t be approved for a Chase card if you have been approved for 5 or more consumer credit cards in the past 24 months. Read more about that here.
Spend Threshold
You can pay your federal taxes for a 1.82% fee. If you overpay your taxes you can request a refund or apply it to your next year’s taxes.
My local natural gas company allows me to prepay up to $1,000 on a credit card for a $1.65 flat fee. That’s a great way to earn miles and help meet a spend threshold. My electricity supplier allows me to pay with a credit card for free as long as I am enrolled in autopay.
Card convertibility
You can change a consumer card between all 4 United consumer card products:
You can change a business card between both United business card products:
Pay yourself back for the annual fee
You can redeem United miles to pay yourself back for the annual fee at a rate of 1.5-1.75 cents per mile!
You can pay back all or part of the annual fee at that rate.
You have 90 days from when the fee is billed to pay yourself back and you can do so even after paying the annual fee.
You can use miles from the card’s signup bonus or you can transfer points from Ultimate Rewards to United to pay back the annual fee.
Card benefits
In addition to the benefits listed above, all 6 cards offer:
United Cards As Part Of A Chase Quinfecta Strategy
All of the United cards have unique benefits, so which should you get?
That depends on which benefits you value and how much they would cost you otherwise.
It’s worth noting that you can get the signup bonus for each United card as long as you didn’t get the bonus for that exact card within the past 24 months and don’t currently have that exact card.
If you have a United consumer card you can change to any currently offered United consumer card and if you have a United business card you can change to any currently offered United business card. After waiting 3-4 days you can apply for that card again.
It certainly makes sense to have a United card on top of a Chase Quinfecta strategy as just having the card makes your points more valuable. That consists of:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card for mileage transfers and bonus value on points.
- A no-fee Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card or Chase Freedom Unlimited®for 1.5 points per dollar everywhere.
- A no-fee Ink Business Cash® Credit Card for 5 points per dollar on wireless and office supply stores, including gift cards to stores like Amazon and hundreds more.
- A no-fee Freedom Flex for 5 points per dollar in rotating categories.
- Having a United card on top of the cards above creates a Chase Quinfecta as your United miles (and by extension your Chase points) become more valuable thanks to expanded award availability.
Expanded United award ticket availability
The reason the United cards are the best airline cards you can get isn’t for the spending benefits, it’s for the perks. And they are awesome.
The United cards are the only airline card that offers expanded award ticket availability.
All of these cards offer this benefit.
This increases the value of your miles significantly and in turn makes the Chase Quadfecta/Quinfecta spending strategy even more valuable.
Cardholders have access to significantly expanded saver coach award availability (XN class), last seat standard coach award availability (YN class), and last seat standard business/first class award availability (JN class).
For example from earlier this year, if you were not a United cardholder, there were no dates with saver award space nonstop from Tel Aviv to Newark in July 2024:
If you were a United cardholder, there were many dates with saver award space and discounted saver award space:
This availability differential applies to all domestic and international routes and makes it crucial to be a United cardholder.
Discounted partner award ticket pricing
In September, United dropped the 10% surcharge for United cardholders to fly on partner airlines in coach or business class.
That means a non-cardholder will pay 44K miles in coach or 88K miles in business class to fly a partner airline to Europe or the Middle East, but cardholders will pay just 40K miles in coach or 80K miles in business class for the same flights!
A non-cardholder will pay 60.5K miles in coach or 110K miles in business class to fly a partner airline to Japan or the Australia, but cardholders will pay just 55K miles in coach or 100K miles in business class for the same flights!
Discounted United awards for cardholders
United often runs promotions offering additional discounts on United award flights, exclusively for cardholders.
Expanded Plan B availability
As you have better access to saver coach awards you’ll also have better ability to do Plan B awards.
Plan B allows you to redeem for saver business class awards when there’s only saver coach available! Read more about Plan B in this post.
No airline besides United offers a Plan B style award redemption.
Here Is United’s Hidden Award Chart
United no longer publishes a saver award chart, but I have compiled those rates in the chart below:
| From the US48 to | United flights | Partner flights |
| US48 | 5K-15K Coach
30K Business | |
| Alaska | 13K-20K Coach
30K Business | |
| Canada | 9K-15K Coach
30K Business | 17.5K Coach flights under 1.5K miles distance
22.5K Coach flights over 1.5K miles distance
45K Business flights under 1.5K miles distance
65K Coach flights over 1.5K miles distance |
| Hawaii | 10K-28K Coach
50K Business | |
| Mexico and Caribbean | 5K-20K Coach
35K Business | 20K Coach (Cardholders)
22K Coach
35K Business (Cardholders)
38.5K Business |
| Central America | 10K-20K Coach
35K Business | 20K Coach (Cardholders)
22K Coach
35K Business (Cardholders)
38.5K Business |
| Northern South America | 20K-30K Coach
55K Business | 30K Coach (Cardholders)
33K Coach
55K Business (Cardholders)
60.5K Business |
| Southern South America | 35K-45K Coach
80K Business | 45K Coach (Cardholders)
49.5K Coach
80K Business (Cardholders)
88K Business |
| Europe | 24K-40K Coach
80K Business | 40K Coach (Cardholders)
44K Coach
80K Business (Cardholders)
88K Business
140K First |
| Northern Africa | 34K-45K Coach
80K Business | 45K Coach (Cardholders)
49.5K Coach
80K Business (Cardholders)
88K Business
140K First |
| Central/Southern Africa | 45K Coach
80K Business | 45K Coach (Cardholders)
49.5K Coach
80K Business (Cardholders)
88K Business
165K First |
| Middle East | 34K-40K Coach
80K Business | 40K Coach (Cardholders)
44K Coach
80K Business (Cardholders)
88K Business
165K First |
| Central Asia | 31K-45K Coach
80K Business | 45K Coach (Cardholders)
49.5K Coach
80K Business (Cardholders)
88K Business
220K First |
| South Asia | 55K Coach
100K Business | 55K Coach (Cardholder)
60.5K Coach
100K Business (Cardholder)
110K Business
220K First |
| North Asia | 49K-55K Coach
100K Business | 55K Coach (Cardholders)
60.K Coach
100K Business (Cardholders)
110K Business
220K First |
| Japan | 55K Coach
100K Business | 55K Coach (Cardholder)
60.5K Coach
100K Business (Cardholder)
110K Business
220K First |
| Oceania | 45K Coach
85K Business | 45K Coach (Cardholders)
49.5K Coach
85K Business (Cardholders)
93.5K Business
220K First |
| Australia and New Zealand | 55K Coach
100K Business | 55K Coach (Cardholder)
60.5K Coach
100K Business (Cardholder)
110K Business
220K First |
Excursionist Perk
While American and Delta have eliminated free stopovers, United continues to offer a free excursionist perk as described in this post. Just use the multi-city award search on United.com to piece it together.
You can read this post for more about hacking excursionist perks.
A round-trip to 2 Hawaiian Islands is just 50,000 miles round-trip thanks to the free excursionist perk:
Or you can stopover in NYC and LA when flying from Tel Aviv to the US:
You can also hack the excursionist perk for even more value.
You can use the multi-city search to book 2 flights within a single region and then you can book a free one-way within any other region sandwiched in between your flights.
For example if you book a round-trip from Cleveland to Chicago for 6,240 miles you can add in a free Excursionist Perk flight anywhere else in the world in between your flights, such as onboard the United Island Hopper from Palau to Kosrae via Guam, Chuuk, and Pohnpei, a flight that costs $598 or 12.5K miles on its own:
Or if you book a one-way flight from Cleveland to Chicago and then Chicago to Kansas City for 6,240 miles you can add in a free Excursionist Perk flight anywhere else in the world in between your flights, such as Johannesburg to the Seychelles, a flight that costs $473 or 19.5K miles on its own.
Or save 90,000 miles with the perk.
Economy:
Business class:
Excursionist perk pricing:
Business card information
Some of these are business cards, but you may already have a business that needs a card to keep track of expenses. For example if your name is Joe Smith and you sell items online, or if you have any other side business and want a credit card to better keep track of business expenditures you can open a business credit card for “Joe Smith” as the business. You don’t need to file any messy government paperwork to be allowed to do that. Just be sure to select “Sole Proprietorship” as the business type and just use your social security number in the Tax Identification Number field.
It’s important to just write your own name as the business name if you are just applying for your own small business as a Sole Proprietorship that doesn’t have any business paperwork.
If you’re like me and you run more than one business, you can signup for multiple of the same card for each business to manage each businesses expenses separately.
Business cards from most banks, including Chase business cards, do not get added to your 5/24 count of recently opened cards. That’s because business cards from most banks don’t show up on your personal credit report and the 5/24 count is based off of your personal credit report. That means that applying for Chase business cards won’t “hurt” your 5/24 count.
Another benefit of business cards not reporting on your personal credit report is that when you spend money on personal cards your credit score will be hurt even if you pay your bill on time. A whopping 30% of your credit score is based on credit utilization. You can pay off your card bill before your statement is generated to avoid that, but that takes effort and laying out money well before you have to. Additionally it’s good to have the statement close with a couple dollars to show the card is active and being paid every month. On an business cards from banks like AMEX and Chase it’s just not reported, so you can wait until the money is due without it having a negative effect on your score. That also means if you close the card, it won’t have an effect on your credit score.
Dan’s quick thoughts
United has made having their cards pretty critical in order to unlock benefits when flying on United or redeeming miles for travel on United or partner airlines.
It’s rarely worth spending big on United cards, as spending on Chase Ultimate Rewards cards is more lucrative and points can be transferred to United on demand as needed.
As for which card is the way to go, that will depend on the situation as arguments can be made for each of the cards being the most worthwhile, depending on your situation.
Here is a summary comparing what the currently available United cards have to offer:
- If you just want expanded award availability, go for the no-fee United Gateway Card. However, you should get a premium consumer card with a higher signup bonus and downgrade the card after your first year as the higher signup bonus will more than offset the first year’s annual fee. Plus you can redeem miles to directly cover the annual fee and still come out ahead.
- If you also want to be able to get a free bag and bypass onerous basic economy restrictions, go for the United Explorer Card or United Business Card.
- If you will be able to take advantage of the Quest card’s $125 and 10,000 mile rebates, then the United Quest Card will effectively be cheaper than the Explorer card, plus you’ll get 2 free bags to boot!
- If you want United Club access, or want to earn PQP at the highest earning rates and caps, go for the United Club℠ Infinite Card or United Business Club Card.
Will you signup for any of these cards? Which United cards do you have?
