Best United Airlines credit cards
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If you’re a United Airlines flyer, you may be searching for the credit card that best serves your needs. There are plenty to choose from, after all.
United offers some of the best credit cards for travel. It’s important to know which perks you’ll get with each version — for example, only some United cards save you money on baggage fees or get you into United Club airport lounges.
All of the Chase United Airlines cards are affected by the Chase 5/24 rule. If you’re looking to earn United miles, it’s important to know your options. Here’s a rundown of what you’ll get with each card.
Best United Airlines credit cards
- United℠ Explorer Card: Best all-around United Airlines credit card
- United℠ Business Card: Best welcome bonus with a United Airlines credit card
- United Club℠ Card: Best premium personal card United Airlines credit card
- United Club Business Card: Best premium United Airlines business credit card
- United℠ TravelBank Card: Best no annual fee United Airlines credit card
| Card Name | Sign-Up Bonus | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| United℠ Explorer Card | 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. | $95 (waived for the first year) |
| United℠ Business Card | 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. | $99 (waived for the first year) |
How we choose the best United Airlines credit cards
Welcome bonus: The fastest way to a free vacation is by earning large welcome bonuses. Earning a single bonus could net you a round-trip coach flight to Asia, a lie-flat business class seat to Europe, or many other things. Rewards for everyday purchases: If you fly United Airlines with frequency, you’ll want a card that gives you a large return on United purchases — and United miles for everyday spending. If you choose one that earns rewards to match your daily spending patterns, it’s an especially great way to steadily accumulate points for your next trip. Perks and benefits: This is the true meat of a credit card. Ongoing perks like free checked bags, lounge access, priority boarding, etc. can save you hundreds and hundreds each year, not to mention enhance your travel experience.Chase United Explorer
Card bonus
With the United Explorer Card, you’ll earn 60,000 United Airlines miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. We estimate United miles value to be at least 1.3 cents each. That means you should easily receive $780 in United flights from this bonus.
Ongoing earnings
The United Explorer card also comes with:
- 2 United Airlines miles per dollar you spend on purchases from United Airlines
- 2 United Airlines miles per dollar spent at restaurants and hotels when you book directly
- 1 United Airlines mile per dollar you spend on everything else
Benefits and perks
The Chase United Explorer card comes with priority boarding and two one-time United Club lounge passes per cardmember year. Plus, you’ll get a $100 credit every four years for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership, which is a huge time saver at U.S. airport security checkpoints. Everyone on the MMS team has either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry (you can read about TSA PreCheck vs. Global Entry here).
Cardholders will also get priority boarding, free checked bags, access to more United Airlines award seats and more. Read our full post on Chase United Explorer credit card benefits.
Annual fee
There’s a $95 annual fee with this card, but it’s waived the first year.
Our take
This is my favorite airline credit card. It enhances every step of your travel experience with perks like waived checked bag fees and more award seat availability. The access to more award seats has come in handy more times than I can count. Being a United Explorer cardholder has not only made it easier to earn United miles but to use them too. I think this is an absolute must for United Airlines flyers. Read our Chase United Explorer review.
United℠ Business Card
Card bonus
Small-business owners can do business well with the United Business Card. You’ll earn 100,000 United Airlines miles after spending $10,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Ongoing earnings
With the United Business Card you’ll also get:
- 2 United Airlines miles per dollar on purchases from United
- 2 United Airlines miles per dollar on local transit and commuting
- 2 United Airlines miles per dollar at gas stations, office supply stores and restaurants
- 1 United Airlines mile per dollar you spend on everything else
Benefits and perks
Like the personal version of the United Explorer card, United Business cardholders get benefits like free checked bags for them and a traveling companion when they use the card to pay for their reservation, priority boarding, two one-time United Club lounge passes and more. And they get my favorite perk, access to more United Airlines award seats.
You’ll also receive a $100 United travel credit annually, after seven flight purchases of $100 or more. The card even comes with an annual bonus of 5,000 miles when you also hold a personal Chase United credit card
Annual fee
You’ll pay $95 per year to hold this card.
Our take
You won’t find a United card welcome bonus larger than this one. You can fly just about anywhere in the world with 100,000 miles. Although United recently moved to “dynamic pricing” for awards, you should have enough miles for three or four coach flights within the U.S., a one-way business-class ticket to Europe or even two round-trip coach flights to Hawaii.
You must have a small business to be eligible for this card but lots of folks qualify for a small business card without realizing it. If you earn income for performing a service like driving for Uber or selling goods on eBay, you could qualify. You’ll also need to be under Chase’s 5/24 limit to apply for the card, but Chase doesn’t report small-business cards to your personal credit report so the United Business credit card won’t add to your 5/24 count.
Read our full Chase United Business Card review.
Chase United Club Card
Card bonus
You’ll earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That’s generally enough for two round-trip flights within the U.S., and more than enough for a round-trip flight to fun destinations like Peru or Hawaii.
Ongoing earnings
With this card, you get:
- 2 United Airlines miles per dollar spent on United Airlines flights
- 1.5 United Airlines miles per dollar spent on other purchases
Benefits and perks
This card comes with a United Club membership (worth up to $550). If you enjoy United Airlines lounges and their free food and drinks when you fly, this is a great card to have. With the membership, you can access United Clubs and Star Alliance lounges. Plus, you can bring two guests for free (or one adult and dependent children under 21 years of age) to a United Club or one guest to a Star Alliance lounge.
Note that United Airlines lounge access restrictions state that you need to be flying United Airlines or one of its partners the same day to gain entry to United Clubs.
You’ll also get perks like first and second bags checked free when you pay for your ticket with the card (save up to $280 per round-trip flight), priority check-in and boarding and, of course, more access to available award seats.
Annual fee
This card has a $450 annual fee, which is not waived the first year. However, the savings from the checked baggage benefit and United Club membership can more than offset the annual fee if you fly United often.
Our take
The only glaring advantage this card has over the United Explorer Card is the United Club lounge access. There are other goodies but they’re not useful to everyone. A United Club membership costs significantly more than you’ll pay for this card’s annual fee, so opening this card is a way to get United Club access at a discount.
Chase United Club Business Card
Card bonus
There’s also a small-business version of the Chase United Club card with an identical welcome bonus. You’ll earn 100,000 bonus miles after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That’s worth $1,300 in United Airlines flights based on our United miles value estimation.
Ongoing earnings
Just like with the personal version of this card, United Club Business cardholders will earn:
- 2 United Airlines miles per dollar spent on United Airlines flights
- 1.5 United Airlines miles per dollar spent on other purchases
Benefits and perks
The rest of the perks are the same as the personal version mentioned above.
Annual fee
This card’s annual fee is $450.
Our take
Again, the main reason to get this card would be for the United Club access because membership costs more than you’ll pay for this card’s annual fee.
Chase United TravelBank Card
Card bonus
When you open this card, you’ll earn $150 in TravelBank cash after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. The rewards you earn with this card can only be used for flights on United Airlines, so this sign-up bonus will save you $150 off the cost of a United Airlines flight (not any partner airline flights).
Ongoing earnings
With this card, you’ll get:
- 2% back in TravelBank cash per dollar with United Airlines
- 1.5% back in TravelBank cash per dollar for all other purchases
Benefits and perks
- 25% off United Airlines onboard food and beverage purchases
- Rental car insurance (secondary coverage)
- Trip cancellation insurance
- No foreign transaction fees
- No annual fee
Annual fee
TheUnited TravelBank Card is the only no-annual-fee United Airlines card available to new applicants.
Our take
Read our Chase United TravelBank Card review and you’ll see why we don’t recommend this card — even if you frequently fly with United Airlines. You’d be far better off picking up one of the best cashback credit cards and using those rewards for anything (not just United Airlines flights).
However, if you have other Chase United cards that charge an annual fee and aren’t sure if you want to keep them for another year, you might be able to downgrade to this card instead of cancelling your card. That way you’ll save your credit line and history with Chase.
Other ways to earn United Airlines miles
Don’t forget, United Airlines is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner. This means you can transfer these flexible points directly to the airline if you have these popular credit cards:
These cards often have a better earning rate than United Airlines credit cards. Plus, if you have any of the Chase Ultimate Rewards cards mentioned above, you can combine points from these no-annual-fee Chase Ultimate Rewards cards and move them to United Airlines as well:
- Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card
- IInk Business Unlimited℠ Credit Card
- Chase Freedom®
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
Bottom line
Anyone looking for a United Airlines card has five options to choose from. Right now, your best option is the increased bonus on the United Explorer Business Card. You’ll earn up to 100,000 United Airlines miles after meeting tiered minimum spending requirements.
Let us know your favorite among the bunch. And subscribe to our newsletter for United Airlines travel tips and tricks to getting the most from your miles.
Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
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