Earn United 1K Without Flying, Get Lounge Access, And $1,000+ In Credits With These New Chase United Cards – View from the Wing

The Chase United cards are out with a total refresh today. I already covered changes to United Airlines club lounge access and how those are designed to make the credit cards much more relatively attractive than buying a club membership.

Here’s a comprehensive look at the changes to the full suite of United co-brands. Broadly speaking, annual fees are up, there are a whole bunch of new benefits that align with the kind of ‘coupon booking’ we’ve seen from American Express, but I like a lot of the value that they’re offering. And it’s now possible to earn top United status from credit card spending alone.

Changes To The Main Consumer Card, United Explorer

The The New United^SM Explorer Card has a ‘debut offer’ of 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

Sometimes the biggest offers for this card don’t waive the first year annual fee, but right now we don’t just have an historically outsized bonus offer but it also comes with a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year. After that, the annual fee is $150. So what makes it worth $150 – or around 50% more than before?

You’ve still got free first checked bag, priority boarding, and two annual lounge passes each year at card renewal. Now the card comes with over $400 in partner credits each year.

• Up to $60 a year in rideshare credits, which you need to register for annually and come in the form of a $5 monthly statement credit against eligible purchases paid on the card. This is a clever way to get you to make your card primary for rideshare.

  

• $100 in hotel booking credits, coming in the form of twice annual $50 statement credits on hotels booked through United and paid with the card. I care too much about hotel points, status recognition and elite night credit to book this way but occasionally I do stay in non-chain hotels where this could make sense.
• $50 in United TravelBank funds, in the form of two $25 credits against Avis or Budget rentals paid on the card. It’s valid for United travel and expires one year after deposit. If you rent from Avis anyway this is a nice add-on, and the United card’s collision damage waiver makes it a good choice for payment to begin with.

  

• $100 in statement credits against flights booked on JSX with the card. United owns a stake in JetBlue, and you can earn MileagePlus miles on your ticket purchases, too. If I lived in Dallas I’d fly them as often as possible. If I were in New York I’d fly to Florida out of Westchester. JSX is just a fantastic experience out of private terminals; all first class seats; free Starlink wifi.

  

• 3 months of free Instacart+ membership, and then 25% off thereafter – plus, $10 in monthly statement credits against Instacart purchases paid with the card – through December 31, 2027.

In addition, $10,000 in spend in a calendar year on the card earns $100 in United TravelBank cash (expires one year from deposit date) which is like an additional 1% return on spend on top of miles earned with the card. Spending $20,000 in a calendar year on the card earns a 10,000 mile award discount. That’s like an extra half mile per dollar earned.

On the other hand, the annual United Club passes require that the primary cardmember or an additional card user on the account be present. You can’t just gift these. And the benefit of upgrades on award tickets for cardmembers ends with this card on August 1 – you’d need to upgrade to one of the more premium cards to keep it.

Overall there’s a lot more value than the fee increase, leveraging merchant-funded offers. That’s the Amex play that I generally find annoying but the value of these offers is so much greater than the increased card cost that I think I forgive it?

The Club Card Becomes The Must Have Way To Access United Lounges – Albeit For A Price

The New United Club^SM Card annual fee goes up from $525 to $695. That’s a heavy lift. But they’ve also made it must-have for anyone looking to access United Clubs. If you’re a frequent flyer who uses the lounge (and you don’t get access from a partner airline’s elite status) then you’re going to want this card.

It currently has a ‘debut offer’ to earn 95,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. It comes with free first and second checked bags and Premier Access. $20,000 spend on the card in a calendar year earns a 10,000-mile award flight discount and that can be earned twice each year.

However, the card has provided full United Club membership the past with two guests or one adult and all dependent children under 21. And it came with access to Star Alliance partner lounges.

United’s club membership structure is changing, and the card’s club access changes with it. Starting with cards that renew August 1 and later, only one guest will come with the card and dependent children have to be under 18. So will access to Star Alliance partner lounges.

United Premier Golds and higher, and those who spend $50,000 or more on the card in a calendar year, get the premium membership that will cost $1,000 to $1,400 per year (depending on status) if purchased separately. (The price of a basic club membership, that doesn’t come with guests at all like this card does, goes up to $750 per year – again, the card is the value way to purchase access.)

The premium club membership comes with 2 guests, or 1 plus dependent children under 18, and brings back Star Alliance partner lounges.

You’ll want a free authorized user card on the account if you earn this premium membership through status or spend, because that’ll unlock 4 single use club passes that can be used for guests or by the authorized user. Simply put, buying lounge memberships is no longer reasonable. Get the card if you can (or status with a partner frequent flyer program).

They’ve also unlocked the ability to earn unlimited 1K with spend alone through the card. First, there’s an annual deposit of 1,500 qualifying points starting in 2026. Then earn 1 qualifying point per $15 spent, up to 28,000 qualifying points. Don’t actually spend $420,000 for status – though if you generate that spend anyway it’s a nice perk (contrast: $200,000 in card spend even on American’s no annual fee co-brand earns Executive Platinum status).

Statement credits include:

• $200 statement credit against Renowned Hotels and Resorts spend on the card.
• $100 TravelBank cash – $50 per Avis or Budget rental, earned up to twice per year.
• $200 in annual statement credits against flights booked on JSX with the card. Anyone living in a city JSX serves should like this a lot.

  

• Complimentary Instacart – plus, two $10 monthly statement credits against Instacart purchases paid with the card, so up to $240 annually – through December 31, 2027.

The card’s club access isn’t as generous, and the card is more expensive. But buying separately what this card bundles would be a mistake. And that’s a ton of value in merchant-funded offers from Chase and United partners like Instacart and JSX. You’re looking at around $1,000 in value from credits if you take advantage of them, plus saving on lounge access so that $170 annual fee increase goes down a bit easier.

Mid-Tier Card Becomes Quite Expensive, But Worth It?

The The New United Quest^SM Card has a ‘debut offer’ to 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.

Each account anniversary year you’ll receive a $200 United travel credit on opening the card and after each cardmember anniversary, as well as a 10,000-mile award flight discount. Then, after spending $20,000 each calendar year, you’ll earn a 10,000-mile award flight discount. $40,000 spend earns 2 global Economy Plus seat upgrades – real value for someone without United Gold or better, but a lot of spend to hit this.

Plus, each year cardmembers will receive 1,000 premier qualifying points (awarded within 6 to 8 weeks after February 1 each year, starting in 2026).

And cardmembers will earn 1 qualifying point for every $20 spent, up to 18,000 annual PQPs – a doubling of the previous cap and enough to earn MileagePlus Premier Platinum.

Statement credits:

• $100 Rideshare credits – statement credit up to $8 per month, $12 in December. Annual registration required.
• $150 statement credit annually for purchases with Renowned Hotels and Resorts paid on the card. That’s Chase’s branded premium hotel collection for United co-brand cards, in some sense like Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts.
• $80 TravelBank cash – $40 per Avis or Budget rental, earned up to twice per year.

  

• $150 in annual statement credits against flights booked on JSX with the card. I really wish JSX would return to Austin.

  

• 3 months of free Instacart+ membership, and then 50% off thereafter – plus, $10 and $5 in monthly statement credits against Instacart purchases paid with the card, so up to $180 annually – through December 31, 2027.

The only real negative here? The card’s annual fee jumps 40% from $250 to $350. So is all of this worth an extra $100? On the one hand, I still anchor on the idea that a card at this price point ought to include lounge access or real premium benefits and not just rebates. On the other hand, the package of coupons here really adds up, so I think the value here is strong.

United Business Card Big Bonus

The New United^SM Business Card has a ‘debut offer’ to earn 125,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. The card has a $150 Annual Fee.

You’ve got your first checked bag free, and two annual club passes, plus priority boarding. These one-time use lounge passes will be restricted to when a cardmember or authorized user on the account are present. And you’ll receive a $125 United travel credit after making 5 United flight purchases of $100 or more each calendar year using the card.

They even encourage you to have both a business and personal United card because you’ll receive receive a 5,000-mile “better together” bonus each anniversary when you have this card and a personal Chase United credit card. And the card now earns 1 qualifying point per $20 spent, up to 4,000 qualifying points ($80,000 spend) each year) – an increase from the old 1,000 qualifying point cap.

This is a very nice bonus. And it has an annual fee increase like the personal explorer card does. They take a similar approach to statement credits to sell you on it.

• $100 rideshare credits – $8 in monthly statement credits January through November and $12 in December against purchases made on the card. Annual registration required.
• $100 in statement credits for hotel bookings – $50 up to twice per year on hotels booked through United and paid with the card.
• $50 in United TravelBank cash for Avis or Budget rentals paid with the card, $25 up to twice per year.
• $25 in statement credits for United FareLock purchases made with the card.
• $100 in statement credits against flights booked on JSX with the card.

  

• 3 months of free Instacart+ membership, and then 25% off thereafter – plus, $10 in monthly statement credits against Instacart purchases paid with the card – through December 31, 2027.

That’s a bundle of very rich offers that cover the annual fee increase many times over. So, again, I don’t love the trend towards higher fees and chasing coupons – but there’s enough value here to be worth it.

I Don’t Love Changes To The Entry-Level Card, Though

The New United Gateway^SM Card is the no annual fee United cobrand card and it has a ‘debut offer’ to earn 30,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

Even without an annual fee, ongoing earn is generous at 2x miles on United® purchases; 2x miles at gas stations, on local transit and commuting; 1x mile on all other purchases. It also has no foreign transaction fees. That’s all pretty good at the price point, and you can now earn 2 checked bags after you spend $10,000 in a calendar year.

However, this card loses access to extra cardholder award inventory for United flights with MileagePlus, and loses cardmember award discounts, unless the cardmember spends at least $10,000 in a calendar year. There were plenty of people sockdrawering this card for the redemption benefits.

Overall, I Have To Hand It To United And Chase

I don’t like higher annual fees. But I have to give United and Chase credit here. They’ve made the cards make sense for the sort of travel who can qualify for them. Their customers are likely to lean in despite the higher cost. And they’re promoting bigger bonuses to entice adoption.

The The New United^SM Business Card‘s 125,000 point offer is huge. The The New United Club^SM Card becomes indispensable for regular flyers. And an 80,000 mile offer with $0 annual fee for the first year with The New United^SM Explorer Card? That’s really high.

And once you have these cards, the credits will make you want to keep them. But what about spend? I didn’t even go over the earning categories, because frankly they’re almost beside the point. You’ll earn more and more valuable miles elsewhere. The reason to spend on a United card is credit towards status – and the cards do more there than they used to.

So they’re leaning in where they need to in order to encourage card adoption, keep it in wallets, and generate spend from United loyalists.