United TravelBank Card: Closed to Applications, Replaced by United Gateway

Simple rewards earning

With a typical airline card, you earn frequent flyer miles or points with every purchase. You then redeem those rewards for free flights or seat upgrades. But frequent flyer programs can be exceedingly complicated. The number of miles you’ll need for a particular flight depends on an array of factors. On top of that, the flight you want might not have award seats available. And your preferred travel dates might be “blacked out” — that is, reserved for paying customers.

The United℠ TravelBank Card eliminates the whole idea of miles. Instead, you earn “TravelBank cash,” which is redeemable for travel with United on a simple dollar-for-dollar basis.

The card earns 2% back on United purchases and 1.5% back on everything else. A $500 United flight, for example, would earn $10 in TravelBank cash. A $500 purchase elsewhere would earn $7.50.

Simple rewards redemption

When booking a flight with United, you can pay some or all of the fare with your accumulated TravelBank cash rewards. Consider a ticket that costs $400. If you had at least $400 in TravelBank cash, you could use it to pay the entire fare. If you had only $50 in rewards accumulated, you could apply it to the fare and reduce the cost to $350.

No annual fee

Some travel credit cards have annual fees measured in hundreds of dollars, while the typical airline card often charges a fee of close to $100 per year. This card has an annual fee of $0.

Sign-up bonus

For a simple credit card with an annual fee of $0, it’s a pleasant surprise to have a sign-up bonus: $150 in United TravelBank cash after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

» MORE: NerdWallet's best airline cards

Perks

The United℠ TravelBank Card is light on flash compared with most travel cards, but it comes with minor perks:

• In-flight discount: 25% back as a statement credit on purchases of food, beverages and Wi-Fi onboard United-operated flights when you pay with the card.

• No foreign transaction fees: Travel cards generally don’t charge a fee — 3% is common — for making purchases abroad. This United card doesn’t, either. And it uses the Visa network, which is widely accepted abroad.

• Travel-related insurances: Trip cancellation/interruption insurance and secondary rental car insurance are nice-to-haves on an airline card.

• Purchase protection: Covers new purchases made with the card for 120 days against damage or theft, up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

How it compares with other United cards

The United℠ TravelBank Card is one of three co-branded consumer United Airlines credit cards. Its siblings pack more perks.

Here’s how they compare on key features:

Business owners, even those with side gigs, might consider the United℠ Business Card.

No checked bags or early boarding

At $35 per bag each way when you don't prepay, fees for first checked bags add up in a hurry, especially when you’re traveling with others on your itinerary. That’s why typical airline cards are so valuable. But this card has no checked-bag-fee waivers, so you’ll have to pay. And you won’t get boosted toward the front of the boarding line, because the card lacks a priority boarding perk. That could hurt you when looking for overhead bin space.

» MORE: Airline credit cards that offer free checked bags

The logical solution is the United℠ Explorer Card. It offers:

• 2 MileagePlus miles per dollar spent on purchases from United.

• 2 miles per dollar spent on restaurant purchases and hotel stays.

• 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.

• First checked bag free for you and a companion on your reservation, if you use the card to purchase your ticket.

• Two United Club one-time use passes per year.

• Global Entry/TSA Precheck statement credit every four years.

• 25% off in-flight purchases.

• Sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

It has an annual fee of $0 intro for the first year, then $95.

» MORE: Full review of the United℠ Explorer Card

No miles

You won’t earn United MileagePlus miles with this card. That keeps things simple, but you also lose the potential to reap outsize value by scoring a great awards seat — like a business-class international fare worth thousands of dollars — for relatively little spending.

Fewer benefits

Some airline cards give you perks at the airport. They might reimburse you the application cost of Global Entry or TSA Precheck to get through security lines quicker, or get you free or discounted passes to an airport lounge.

This card offers none of those.

» MORE: Cards that offer airport lounge access

Limited reward redemptions

Redeeming rewards is relatively simple, but you’re still locked into United Airlines. That's limiting compared with general travel credit cards, which allow you to apply rewards to a wide range of travel-related expenses.

An option for those looking to avoid an annual fee is the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card.

It offers:

• 1.5 points per dollar spent.

• 3 points per dollar spent on eligible travel booked through the Bank of America® Travel Center.

• A value of 1 cent per point when redeemed for travel credit and a little over half a cent per point for cash.

• A sign-up bonus.

The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card isn't tied to an airline or hotel chain. Book travel any way you want, with no restrictions and no blackout dates, and then use points to wipe out the cost on your statement. Bank of America® also has one of the broadest definitions of "travel" of any major issuers. You can use points to get credit for airfare, hotel stays, cruises, car rentals, campgrounds, art galleries, amusement parks, carnivals, circuses, aquariums and zoos.