Airline Credit Cards Updated Comparison: free versions

It’s been a while since I did a credit card post, so I decided to go through and update the rankings for the US legacy carriers’ cards. I did the club card edition when American completely revamped its club card, and in that update, I also changed how the scoring system worked, so I’m going to update everything to the new system. We’ll start with the free versions like before.

There’s a second reason for switching to credit cards for a bit. I discovered a problem in the blog’s media management, and I need to go back and manually fix pretty much every post in 2024. That’s been taking some time.

In this updated ranking, each card will get rated in each category out of 5 points, rather than just assigning scores of 3, 2, 1 based on ranking because not every win or loss in every category is equivalent. The winner in each category will get the maximum 5 points.

This article will cover all the free credit cards: the American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp card, the Delta SkyMiles Blue card, and the United Gateway card.  I’m also going to be giving them points to rank them against each other. It’s worth noting that Barclays also offers the Aviator (colorless) card. However, that card is absolutely terrible and not even worth rating, but leave a comment if you want me to do an article about that card.

I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card.  All information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.

Welcome Offers

The free credit cards have the lowest welcome offers of the various airline co-branded cards.  American’s MileUp card offers 15 000 miles after spending $500 in 3 months (worth ~$195).  Delta’s Blue card offers 10 000 miles after spending $1 000 in 6 months (worth $110).  United’s Gateway card offers 20 000 miles after spending $1 000 in 3 months (worth $220).

Welcome offers change frequently over time. As far as I can tell, these are relatively typical welcome offers for these cards. The values differ because each airline’s miles have a different value (American > United >= Delta), so United wins off its strong bonus.

United’s Gateway card earns 5 points.  American isn’t far behind and so will get 3 points, but Delta’s Blue card’s weak welcome offer only earns it 1 point.

Miles earnings

These free cards have relatively limited point earning opportunities.  The American card offers 2x miles on American and at grocery stores.  The United card offers 2x miles on United, gas stations, local transit, and commuting. The Delta card offers 2x miles on Delta and dining.  All cards offer 1 mile/$ on everything else.

The winner here really depends on what you spend your money on.  All the cards offer 2x on their respective airline and 1x on most everything else. The differentiating factor is grocery stores (American) vs gas stations, local transit, and commuting (United), and dining (Delta).

I’m going to say that United and American tie for first because American’s card has the advantage of grocery stores being a bit less common than the (local) travel categories on United’s card, but United’s categories could be bigger spend categories for a lot of people (5 points each). Delta gets 3 points here because cards giving bonuses for dining are a dime a dozen and better options are easy to come by.

Elite earnings

Only the American Airlines MileUp card earns points toward status. Like other American Airlines credit cards, it earns 1 loyalty point per $1 spent (in any category). As the only card here that offers elite credit, this card gets 5 points and the others 0.

Benefits

The American card offers a 25% savings on inflight food and beverage on American but has a 3% foreign transaction fee.

The Delta card offers 20% back on inflight food/beverages on Delta.

The United card offers 25% back on United inflight food/beverages and on ‘premium’ (alcoholic) drinks in the United Club.

All cards offer the same basic benefit of giving a discount on inflight purchases. United takes it a step further in offering a discount in United Clubs (5 points). Delta cheaps out a little bit and only offers 20% back (3 points). American’s offer is almost on par with United’s, but the foreign transaction fee is unfortunate (2 points).

The Delta card has the weakest discount (1 point), and the United card has the strongest (3 points).  The American card’s inflight benefit is the same as the United one, but it’s a travel card with a foreign transaction fee, which is annoying (1 point).

How to use the points

The main use for earning airlines points is to redeem them for flights on the respective airline.  In general, American has the best redemption opportunities because they still use an award chart, rather than dynamic pricing, for redemptions on partners.  United is generally the next best because of its Star Alliance partners, but United has really been devaluing its miles recently and has lost a big step.  Delta’s miles are generally worth the least, and this card doesn’t offer a 15% discount on award tickets like the other Delta credit cards.

In terms of redeeming the miles, American comes first (5 points), and at this point, I’d say that United and Delta tie with 3 points each.

Which of these cards is/are right for you?

These cards are all pretty good for someone new to the travel credit card game who want to earn some miles on their preferred airline. I think the Delta card is the weakest offering overall and unlikely to be worth getting as a new account, but is a great option to downgrade to. United’s card has a strong value proposition, but really misses out on offering a path to status on United. American’s card offers a very well-rounded experience, including a more unique bonus category and the same elite earnings as most of American’s other card options.

The final ranking was: American’s MileUp card (20/25), United’s Gateway card (18/25), and then Delta’s Blue card (10/25)