Best credit cards for United Airlines flyers of October 2024

Whether you only fly United Airlines occasionally or are a Premier 1K member, it can make sense to get a United credit card. United cards can unlock useful perks like free checked bags, priority boarding and United Club access, all while helping you earn valuable miles you can use to fly almost anywhere in the world.

From co-branded cards to travel cards that earn flexible rewards you can transfer to United, there’s a card for every United flyer. To help you choose the right one, CNBC Select evaluated the best credit cards for United flyers based on rewards, travel perks and fees. (See our methodology for more information on how we made this list.)

Who’s this for? The United℠ Explorer Card is a great fit if you want a more comfortable travel experience but don’t want to pay a high annual fee.

Standout benefits: The United Explorer comes with a free first checked bag – a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip (terms apply) on United flights for you and a companion (when you pay using the card). You’ll also get two free one-time United Club airport lounge passes annually (worth $59 each) for your anniversary.

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Who’s this for? The United Club℠ Infinite Card is an excellent option for anyone who wants unlimited United lounge access as its annual fee is cheaper than a United Club membership.

Standout benefits: The United Club Infinite Card gets you a United Club membership with unlimited United lounge visits for you and two guests (or one adult and dependent children under 21). This can cost up to $650 per year (depending on your United elite status level).

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Who’s this for? The United Quest℠ Card is a good fit if you are a United loyalist and aren’t interested in United Club access.

Standout benefits: With this card, you can earn up to $125 in purchase credits each year for United purchases you make with your United Quest Card. You’ll also get up to 10,000 miles in award flight credit each year when you book United awards flights (5,000 back up to two times per card anniversary year). Terms apply.

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Who’s this for? Small business owners who want additional perks when flying with United, will appreciate what the United℠ Business Card offers.

Standout benefits: You’ll get 5,000 bonus miles every card anniversary if you have a United Business Card and a personal United card. You’ll also get two free United Club one-time passes every year and one free checked bag on United flights for you and a companion (when you pay for the flight with your card).

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Who’s this for? If you don’t travel enough to justify paying an annual fee, the United Gateway℠ Card is a great option because you’ll still get useful perks.

Standout benefits: This card (and all other eligible United cards) gets you 25% back on in-flight food, beverage and Wi-Fi purchases, as well as United Club premium drink purchases. You’ll also get a 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months from account opening (then, a variable 21.49% to 28.49% APR applies).

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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is an excellent beginner travel credit card that’s also a great option for earning United miles.

Rewards

• 5X points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
• 5X points per dollar on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025
• 5X points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases of $150+ (max earning of 25,000 points through March 31, 2025)
• 3X points per dollar on dining
• 3X points per dollar on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
• 3X points per dollar on select streaming services
• 2X points per dollar on all other travel purchases
• 1X points per dollar on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Get up to $1,050 in Chase Travel^SM value. Earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year.

Annual fee

$95

Notable perks

Every card anniversary, you’ll get a 10% points boost based on your spending for the previous year. You can also take advantage of up to $50 in Chase Travel Hotel credit for hotels you book through Chase Travel℠.

This card is also loaded with useful insurance perks, such as primary rental car insurance, trip delay reimbursement, purchase protection, extended warranty protection, trip cancellation/interruption insurance and more.

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The United℠ Explorer Card is worth it for most people who fly United at least twice a year.

Rewards

• 2X miles per dollar spent on United purchases
• 2X miles per dollar spent dining, including eligible delivery services
• 2X miles per dollar spent on hotel stays
• 1X miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

Annual fee

$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95

Notable perks

When traveling with United, you’ll get free first and second checked bags – a savings of up to $360 per roundtrip (terms apply), as long as you pay for the flight with the card (award flights qualify for this perk if you pay the taxes/fees with your card). You’ll also get priority boarding and 25% back on eligible inflight and United Club premium drink purchases. Every calendar year, you can earn up to 1,000 Premier qualifying points (PQP) at a rate of 25 PQP for every $500 you spend on the card.

This card also has no foreign transaction fees and up to $100 in Global Entry®, NEXUS or TSA PreCheck® application fee credits (terms apply).

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If you want to regularly relax in a United lounge, the United Club℠ Infinite Card is an excellent option.

Rewards

• 4X miles per dollar spent on United® purchases
• 2X miles per dollar spent on all other travel purchases
• 2X miles per dollar spent on dining, including eligible delivery services
• 1X miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

Annual fee

$525

Notable perks

This card comes with a long list of premium benefits, including United Club membership. You and a companion get two free checked bags each on United flights when you pay for the flight with your card (terms apply). You also get Premier Access, which includes priority check-in, boarding, baggage handling and security screening, when this service is available.

If you want to earn elite status without flying, you can earn up to 10,000 PQP every calendar year (25 PQP for every $500 you spend on the card). It can save you on your next award flight as well because you get 10% off United flights within the continental U.S. and Canada. When you use the card to pay for your Global Entry®, NEXUS or TSA PreCheck^® application, you can receive up to $100 in fee credit.

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The United Quest℠ Card is loaded with perks, but significantly cheaper than the other United cards with premium benefits.

Rewards

• 3X miles per dollar spent on United^® purchases
• 2X miles per dollar spent on dining, including eligible delivery services
• 2X miles per dollar spent on select streaming services
• 2X miles per dollar spent on all other travel
• 1X miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 60,000 bonus miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

Annual fee

$250

Notable perks

The United Quest Card is great for boosting your United elite status. In addition to the PQPs you can earn from the intro bonus, you’ll get 25 PQPs for every $500 you spend on the card (up to 6,000 PQP per calendar year).

The card’s other benefits make it easy to justify paying its annual fee. You’ll get up to $100 in Global Entry®, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS application fee credit, up to $125 in purchase credits for United purchases and up to 10,000 miles in award flight credits every year (5,000 miles back for up to two United award flights each account anniversary year).

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With a low annual fee and useful perks, the United℠ Business Card can be a good fit if you travel with United for business.

Rewards

• 2X miles per dollar spent on United® purchases
• 2X miles per dollar spent on dining, including eligible delivery services
• 2X miles per dollar spent at gas stations
• 2X miles per dollar spent at office supply stores
• 2X miles per dollar spent on local transit and commuting
• 1X miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

Annual fee

$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99

Notable perks

The United Business Card offers free employee cards, priority boarding and a free checked bag for you and a companion on United flights (when you pay for the flight with the card). You can also earn a $100 United travel credit every account anniversary year after you make seven United purchases of $100 or more.

Anyone with both a United personal credit card and a United Business Card gets a 5,000-mile bonus every account anniversary year. You can also earn up to 1,000 PQP every calendar year (25 PQP per $500 you spend) and every year you’ll get two one-time United Club passes.

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The United Gateway℠ Card is an entry-level card with no annual fee and a solid intro-APR offer.

Rewards

• 2X miles per dollar spent on United® purchases
• 2X miles per dollar spent at gas stations
• 2X miles per dollar spent on local transit and commuting
• 1X miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

Annual fee

$0

Notable perks

This card has no foreign transaction fees and a range of valuable protections, including purchase protection, extended warranty protection, trip cancellation/interruption insurance and car rental coverage. You’ll also get 25% back as a statement credit on purchases of food, beverages and Wi-Fi on board United-operated flights and on Club premium drinks when you pay with your Gateway Card.

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United Airlines operates a dynamic award chart, which makes it difficult to pin a value on MileagePlus miles. That said, experts typically value United miles at around 1.3 cents per point. However, how you redeem your points changes the value.

You can use United miles for shopping redemptions including gift cards and merchandise. You’ll typically get less than one cent per in value for these redemptions and sometimes it’s less than 0.5 cents per mile. When you use United miles to pay for United Club membership, in-flight Wi-Fi or a TSA PreCheck application, you’ll do better with a value closer to 0.7 to one cent per point.

Your best option is typically redeeming miles for award flights with United Airlines or one of its many partner airlines, including the Star Alliance network.

To get the most out of your United miles, you’ll want to use them to book flights. United doesn’t have a fixed award chart, so what you pay for a specific route changes depending on the day and time of the flight. One advantage of the United MilePlus program is that it doesn’t pass on award fuel surcharges, so the taxes and fees you pay for award flights are less than other Star Alliance programs.

Book award flights

United’s cheapest awards are known as saver awards. Booking saver awards is a great way to stretch your miles further, however, the availability of these awards can be limited. United cardholders have the advantage of having access to more saver award seats, so having a United card helps improve the value of your miles.

You can book domestic economy saver awards for as little as 5,000 to 15,000 miles one-way per person. International economy saver awards to regions such as Europe, Oceania and Asia typically cost anywhere from 30,000 to 55,000 miles per person each way.

If you want to boost your miles to the extreme, try to save enough to book an international business-class saver award. These awards can cost thousands of dollars but only cost you 88,000 to 110,000 miles each way per person. For example, at the time of writing, you can book a one-way one-stop SWISS business-class flight from Newark to Zurich for 88,000 United miles plus $5.60 in taxes. The cash price for this same flight is $3,148, which is a value of 3.57 cents per mile.

Take advantage of the excursionist perk

United allows a free one-way flight on eligible awards through its Excursionist Perk. To qualify, the free one-way flight needs to start and end in the same region, it also needs to take place in a different region than the one your trip started in. The Excursionist Perk flight must also be in the same cabin/award tier or lower than the preceding flight.

So you could book a round-trip flight from New York to Europe where you arrive in Paris and return from London with a one-way flight from Paris to London in between. If eligible, that one-way flight wouldn’t cost any additional miles under the Excursionist Perk program.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best United credit cards.

To determine which cards offer the best value for United flyers, CNBC Select analyzed over 250 major credit cards issued through FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions that are widely available in the U.S.  

We compared each card on a range of features, including rewards, annual fees, welcome bonuses, introductory and standard APR and balance transfer fees and foreign transaction fees. We also considered additional perks (e.g., ongoing travel or merchant statement credits), cardholder protections (e.g., purchase protection, $0 liability protection and travel insurance), the application process when available (e.g., is there a credit pull or required credit score) and how easy it is to redeem points (e.g., are rewards are tied to a specific brand; if transferable, to how many/which partners, can you redeem for straight cash back). 
 
We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.  

For the cards that offered a rewards program, we considered consumer spending data forecasts from location intelligence firm Esri to determine where U.S. consumers are spending the most money, like on dining and travel. We used this to help determine what bonus categories are most useful for consumers. Since the value of a point or mile varies based on what they can be redeemed for, we also considered things like transferability and the ability to redeem for cash-back. 

When choosing the best United cards, we focused on cards that earn United miles or earn rewards that can be transferred to United. We also considered benefits that are specific to United travel.

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