United Credit Cards Unveil Major Changes: Higher Fees, More Perks
Many new benefits come in the form of annual credits for specific purchases.
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Chase is making sweeping changes across its extensive lineup of consumer and business United credit cards starting on March 24, 2025. With one exception, the annual fees are going up significantly, but cardholders can chip away at those higher fees if they're able to use the cards’ new perks, which include valuable statement credits and the ability to unlock additional extras if you reach certain spending minimums.
For new cardholders who apply on or after March 24, all of these changes are effective immediately. Existing cardholders will also get the new benefits at that time, but will begin to pay the higher annual fees when renewing their cards on or after Aug. 1, 2025. The exception to this is The New United℠ Explorer Card, where the new benefits start immediately, but the new annual fee will change on or after Jan. 1, 2026.
In general, these changes mean you’ll need to spend money to make some money back — part of the growing “coupon book” trend started by other premium rewards cards, including a few issued by American Express. If you were going to make purchases at those specific merchants anyway, getting an annual credit is a nice bonus. But if you weren’t, you simply may not get as much value out of these cards.
Here’s a look at what’s changing for the United consumer credit cards.
The New United Gateway℠ Card
Annual fee: $0, which is not changing.
Welcome bonus: Debut Offer: Earn 30,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Previously, the bonus was 20,000 miles after spending $1,000 in three months.
New benefit: Earn two free checked bags per year when you spend $10,000. (Previously, the card had no checked-bag benefit at all.)
The New United℠ Explorer Card
Annual fee: $0 intro for the first year, then $150. This is an increase from $0 for the first year, then $95.
Welcome bonus: Debut Offer: Earn 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. The bonus before this was 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 in three months.
New benefits:
Earn a 10,000-mile discount on award flights when you spend $20,000 in a calendar year.
Earn a $100 United travel credit when you spend $10,000 in a calendar year. This is in the form of United TravelBank cash, which can be used to book United flights on its own, or combined with other forms of payment.
Up to $100 in credits each year on purchases with United Hotels, in the form of two $50 statement credits after booking prepaid hotel stays.
Up to $60 in credits each year for ridesharing services, in the form of $5 monthly statement credits.
Up to $50 in United travel credits each year for car rentals through Avis or Budget, in the form of two $25 allotments of TravelBank cash.
Up to $100 in credits each year for bookings with JSX, a public charter flight service.
Up to $120 in credits each year for grocery delivery with Instacart ($10 per month), plus three free months of Instacart+ membership (after that, you get 25% off the monthly membership). Terms apply. This benefit ends on Dec. 31, 2027.
Other changes:
Earn 5 miles per dollar when booking prepaid hotel reservations through United Hotels. Before, you earned 4 miles per dollar this way.
You’ll still get two annual passes to United Club airport lounges, but now the primary cardholder or an authorized user must be present when using the passes. Until now, you could give the passes to anyone and you didn’t need to be traveling with them.
The New United Quest℠ Card
Annual fee: $350, up from $250.
Welcome bonus: Debut Offer: Earn 90,000 bonus miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Before, the bonus was 60,000 miles and 500 premier qualifying points (PQPs) after you spent $4,000 in the first three months. PQPs help you reach Premier status with United.
New benefits:
Get a 10,000-mile discount on award flights beginning on your card anniversary. You can also earn another 10,000-mile discount when you spend $20,000 each year.
Get $200 in TravelBank cash on your card anniversary.
Earn two Economy Plus seat upgrades per year when you spend $40,000.
Up to $150 in credits each year on prepaid hotel stays booked through Renowned Hotels and Resorts.
Up to $100 in credits each year for ridesharing services, in the form of $8 monthly statement credits (and $12 in December).
Up to $80 in United travel credits each year for car rentals through Avis or Budget, in the form of two $40 allotments of TravelBank cash.
Up to $150 in credits each year for charter flight bookings with JSX.
Up to $180 in credits each year for grocery delivery with Instacart (one $10 and one $5 credit per month), plus three free months of Instacart+ membership (after that, you get 50% off the monthly membership). Terms apply. This benefit ends on Dec. 31, 2027.
Other changes:
Earn 5 miles per dollar when booking prepaid hotel reservations through Renowned Hotels and Resorts.
Earn 1,000 PQPs each year starting in 2026.
Earn 1 PQP each time you spend $20, up to 18,000 PQPs per year.
The New United Club℠ Card
Annual fee: $695, up from $525.
Welcome offer: Debut Offer: Earn 95,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. The bonus used to be 80,000 miles after spending $5,000 in three months.
New benefits:
Get up to a 20,000-mile discount on award flights beginning on your card anniversary (in the form of a 10,000-mile discount when you spend $20,000 each year, up to two times per year).
Up to $200 in credits each year on prepaid hotel stays booked through Renowned Hotels and Resorts.
Up to $150 in credits each year for ridesharing services, in the form of $12 monthly statement credits ($18 in December).
Up to $100 in United travel credits each year for car rentals through Avis or Budget, in the form of two $50 allotments of TravelBank cash.
Up to $200 in credits each year for charter flight bookings with JSX.
Up to $240 in credits each year for grocery delivery with Instacart (two $10 credits per month), plus a free Instacart+ membership. Terms apply. This benefit ends on Dec. 31, 2027.
Other changes:
Earn 5 miles per dollar when booking prepaid hotel reservations through Renowned Hotels and Resorts.
Earn 1,500 PQPs each year starting in 2026.
Earn 1 PQP each time you spend $15, up to 28,000 PQPs per year.
Membership to United Club airport lounges is still included. If you reach Premier Gold status or spend $50,000 in a year, you’ll get United Club All Access membership, which includes the ability to bring two adult guests to a lounge (instead of just one), plus four United Club passes per year when you have an authorized user on your account (the primary cardholder or an authorized user must be present when the passes are used). You can also visit Star Alliance lounges.
Should you get a United credit card?
As is typical for airline cards, loyal United flyers stand to benefit the most from a United credit card. If your usual spending would unlock many of the cards’ benefits, even better.
But if you wouldn’t use the various credits offered on most of these cards — or if you just find that a long list of perks takes too much work to juggle (or you don’t fly United often) — consider a more flexible general travel rewards card.
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