Following up on the series of comparisons of the major US airlines’ credit cards, we’re jumping to the final airline’s top-tier card: The MileagePlus Club Card. This card competes with the Delta Reserve Card and the American Executive Card.
Starting in 2025, this card will offer the best earnings for United status based on credit card spend. If that’s something that’s important to you, this card is definitely worth a look!
This blog is just for entertainment purposes. 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. The information on this page has been collected independently, and all information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.
Welcome Offer
At the time of posting, the United Club card has an 90 000 bonus mile offer after spending $5 000 in 3 months. In general, United miles are worth around 1.2 ¢/pt. That makes this current welcome offer worth at least $1 080, which is alright for a $695 annual fee card, but better offers have been available before. United has devalued its miles several times in recent years, which is the cause of this low welcome offer valuation.
Earnings
The United Club Card has a decent earn rate: 5x miles/$ on Chase Renowned Hotel bookings, 4x miles/$ on United Airlines, 2x miles on dining and other travel, and 1x mile/$ on everything else.
These earning rates are only alright for a $695 annual fee card but are above average for a club card. The 4x miles/$ on UA purchases is an efficient way to earn UA miles (and almost as many as directly on a flight).
This card also earn 1 PQP per $15 spent on the card, which is enhanced compared to other United cards (which earn 1 PQP per $20).
Benefits
For its $695 annual fee, the main benefit this card offers is access to the United Club flying United or another Star Alliance carrier. Something of note is that having a United Club membership gives you access to partner (i.e. airline-owned) business class lounges around the world. I’ve never tried this out to confirm how it works, however.
The card offers a first and second checked bag free, premier access (priority boarding and check-in), and 25% back on food, beverage, and inflight Wi-Fi purchases.
The card also recently added several new credits to justify the increased annual fee: a $200 credit for Chase Renowned Hotel bookings, $12/month in rideshare credits, $20/month in Instacart credits, and a $200 JSX credit. You can also get $100 United Travel bank ‘cashback’ for rental car spending through United’s portal.
How to use the points
The main use for United Airlines miles is to redeem them for United Airlines, Star Alliance, and other partners’ flights. United Airlines has dynamic pricing for its own flights and some partner flights that involve the United States. Outside the United States, award prices appear to be fixed. However, United has recently raised the base (saver) cost of international award tickets multiple times, so the miles have lost a fair bit of value recently. United Airlines is a transfer partner of Chase, so the miles are relatively easy to come by.
The other type of point earned, PQP, is used for United status. Starting in 2025, you need: 6 000 PQP for Silver, 12 000 PQP for Gold, 18 000 PQP for Platinum, and 28 000 PQP for Premier 1K (which can be reduced with a sufficient number of qualifying flights).
Examples of using the card
These examples assume you spend all your airfare budget on United Airlines.
Spend per month
| Example A | Example B | Example C | Example D | |||||
| Groceries (1x) | $300 | 300 | $200 | 200 | $600 | 600 | $400 | 400 |
| Gas (1x) | $0 | 0 | $100 | 100 | $200 | 200 | $100 | 100 |
| Airfare (4x) | $700 | 2 800 | $200 | 800 | $0 | 0 | $400 | 1 600 |
| Hotels (2x) | $1 000 | 2 000 | $200 | 400 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 600 |
| Gen Travel (2x) | $400 | 800 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 600 | $100 | 200 |
| Dining (2x) | $600 | 1 200 | $300 | 600 | $300 | 600 | $0 | 0 |
| General (1x) | $1 000 | 1 000 | $500 | 500 | $500 | 500 | $400 | 400 |
| Total | $4 000 | 8 100 | $1 500 | 2 600 | $1 700 | 2 300 | $1 700 | 3 300 |
| Average points/$ | 2.03 | 1.73 | 1.35 | 1.94 |
The travel-focused earning structure means that the average points earned has a substantial range of 1.35 – 2.03 points/$, which is worth 1.62 – 2.44 ¢/$. That’s not a great return, but it’s good for a credit card that gives you airline club access. The range is dependent on how much and what portion of your budget each month is spent on United Airlines and other travel. For non-airline cards with a similar annual fee, you’d expect much higher returns, and you can earn United miles similarly efficiently with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Specific examples
| Card | United Airlines Economy class ($750) (% return) | Marriott Hotel night ($230/night) | Points values (United/Hotel) |
| No rewards card | 3 500 UM (5.6%) | 2 200 MP (7.7%) | $42.00 / $17.60 |
| General 2% cashback card ($0) | 3 500 UM + $15.00 (7.6%) | 2 200 MP + $4.60 (9.7%) | $57.00 / $22.20 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95) | 3 500 UM + 1 500 UR (8.6%) | 2 200 MP + 460 UR (10.7%) | $64.50 / $24.50 |
| Amex Green Card ($150) | 3 500 UM + 2 250 MR (9.8%) | 2 200 MP + 690 MR (11.9%) | $73.50 / $27.26 |
| United Club Card ($525) | 6 500 UM (10.4%) | 2 200 MP + 460 UM (10.1%) | $78.00 / $23.12 |
Is this the right type of credit card for you?
Even with the new credits offered, like the other Club cards, I think it really comes down to one aspect with this card: if you value United Club access and want the status boosts, this card will make a lot of sense for you. It’s still the cheapest way to get a United Club membership. In addition, the credits on the card should be easy enough to use, but paying an extra $170 for another set of coupon credits to keep track of just isn’t really worth it a lot of the time, especially if you already have other coupons to keep track of.
This card also has the biggest multiplier for earning UA miles from UA spend at 4x. If you don’t spend a lot on UA, you may be better off with a card like the Sapphire Preferred or Reserve that earns transferable points that can be turned into United miles at a 1:1 ratio.
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