The New United Club℠ Card review: Premium travel perks for loyal United flyers
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Snapshot
4.3
Bottom line
Intro offer
Earn 95,000 bonus miles
Rewards rate
1x - 4x
Annual fee
$695
Regular APR
20.49% - 28.99% Variable
4.2
Cardholder rating
Extra perks
Online tools
Rewards value
Customer service
4.3
Bankrate score
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The New United Club℠ Card overview
The New United Club℠ Card comes with premium travel perks and complimentary United Club airport lounge access, making it beneficial for frequent United flyers. The laundry list of benefits to improve the overall United flight experience and numerous travel and shopping protections provides plenty of value for frequent travelers.
However, others may find it difficult to justify the cost. The New United Club card charges a hefty $695 annual fee and has relatively low rewards rates, which might not provide enough value if you aren’t loyal to United or are more budget-conscious.
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Rewards
- 4X miles on United purchases
- 2X miles on travel and dining purchases
- 1X miles on all other purchases
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Welcome offer
- Earn 95,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in the first three months
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
Rates and fees
- Annual fee: $695
- Foreign transaction fee: None
- Regular APR: 20.49 percent to 28.99 percent
- Cash advance APR: 29.24 percent
- Penalty APR: Up to 29.99 percent
- Chase Pay Over TimeSM Fee: Monthly fee of up to 1.72 percent of the amount of each eligible purchase transaction or amount you select to pay over time with no interest
- Balance transfer fee: 5 percent of the amount of each transfer (minimum $5)
- Cash advance fee: 5 percent of the amount of each transfer (minimum $10)
- Late/returned payment fee: Up to $40
Expert Appraisal: Unimpressive
See our expert analysis -
Other cardholder perks
- Complimentary United Club℠ membership for you and eligible travel companions
- 10 percent discount on United Economy Saver Awards within the continental U.S. and Canada
- Earn a 10,000-mile award flight discount after $20,000 in purchases - up to two times each calendar year
- Two free checked bags for you and one eligible companion
- 25 percent back as a statement credit for in-flight United purchases
- Complimentary Premier Upgrades on select United- and United Express-operated flights, subject to availability
- Earn up to 15,000 Premier qualifying points towards elite status
- Up to $120 statement credit for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS every 4 years
- IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status (registration required)
- Avis President's Club® status (enrollment required)
- Premier Access® travel services
- Renowned Hotels and Resorts property credits and benefits
- Visa Infinite® benefits and trip protection
Expert Appraisal: Exceptional
See our expert analysis
New United Club℠ Card pros and cons
Pros
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You can earn a substantial amount of miles quickly with the card’s welcome offer.
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United Club membership costs significantly more than the annual fee.
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You’ll get excellent travel perks to enhance your flying experience.
Cons
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If you aren’t a regular United Airlines traveler, you may struggle to get value from this card.
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The card’s rewards rates are mediocre compared to other premium cards.
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You might not always get the best value when redeeming your miles for award flights.
Why you might want the New United Club℠ Card
Frequent United flyers will love the numerous perks of the New United Club Card, which comes with a solid welcome offer to boost your mileage balance.
Perks: Excellent benefits for United loyalists
The New United Club Card is loaded with perks — excellent elite United Airlines travel benefits, Chase’s outstanding trip protection and Visa Infinite cardholder perks. The more you use these features, the easier it will be to offset the card’s annual fee.
Welcome offer: Outstanding limited-time offer
You can earn 95,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. This welcome offer is worth about $10,555 based on the Bankrate’s valuations, which give United miles a value of around 0.9 cents per mile. This bonus beats out welcome offers from many premium travel cards, especially airline cards.
Why you might want a different travel card
If you need more flexibility from your rewards, then you might prefer a different premium travel card. Also, you might need to rely on this card's perks to offset the high annual fee, so another card could be less hassle.
Rewards: Mediocre rates and inflexible redemptions
The New United Club Card is an airline rewards credit card that earns United MileagePlus miles. Your points don’t expire as long as your account remains open. However, your rewards are limited to what you can book through United — meaning United flights and any of its Star Alliance partner award flights that you can book through United or their agents. Your best bet for maximum value is to look for Saver Awards. These are capacity-controlled but provide much better bang for your buck than the standard Everyday Awards. Using your miles for anything other than flights generally will be a reduction in value.
While you’ll get decent rates on United purchases, other rewards rates are mediocre compared to what you can get on many other cards. You’ll only earn 2X on dining and non-United travel purchases and 1X on all other purchases. Considering the lack of flexibility with redeeming miles, the card isn’t a great option for general spending. Coupled with the high annual fee, you may not get proper value from this card unless you are fully utilizing the perks offered.
Rates & fees: High annual fee
The $695 annual fee is high but comparable to the annual fee of many top premium travel cards. You’ll need to rely on your perks to help counter the relatively low rewards rates. Spending your way to earning enough rewards to offset the fee would not be the best strategy, as that could be spent on any number of cards earning higher rewards rates.
Like many premium travel cards, the The New United Club Card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees and doesn’t come with an intro APR offer. The current variable APR is comparable to rival cards and sits slightly above the current average credit card interest rate if you qualify for the lowest APR.
We tried it: Here’s what our experts say
Bankrate contributor Erica Sandberg, a financial specialist on our Expert Review Board, thinks this credit card is a standout pick for travelers who plan to take advantage of the card’s many features.
The New United Club Card is an excellent airline card for the frequent United flyer who wants to rack up rewards and enjoy a VIP airport experience.
— Erica SandbergBankrate Financial Expert Review Board member
How the New United Club℠ Card compares to other travel cards
If you’re a frequent traveler who likes premium perks and always flies United, this card is likely a good choice. But if you aren’t loyal to United, a premium travel card with more flexible redemption options might be better suited for you.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Debut Offer: Earn 95,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Rewards rate
4x miles on United® purchases. 2x miles on dining and all other travel. 1x mile on all other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Rewards rate
Earn 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠. Earn 5x total points on flights through Chase Travel℠. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining. Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
Rewards rate
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year. Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Who is the New United Club℠ Card right for?
The New United Club card has a very distinct target audience — United frequent flyers. Anyone who prefers flying United will find this card worthwhile and take advantage of its perks.
Frequent United flyers
Frequent United flyers are best suited to benefit from this card. United loyalists can earn high rewards on United Airlines purchases and enjoy an enhanced travel experience. And regular use of benefits like United Club access, free checked baggage and discounted award flights can quickly offset the card’s high cost.
Bankrate’s Take — Is the New United Club worth it?
If you want to maximize rewards on your purchases, the New United Club probably isn’t for you. The rewards rates are mediocre compared to rival premium cards. However, frequent United Airlines flyers prioritizing a seamless flying experience will likely find the Club Infinite the best option for rewarding their loyalty.
*The information about the New United Club℠ Card, New United Gateway℠ Card, New United Quest℠ Card, United Club℠ Business Card and the New United℠ Explorer Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
How we rated this card
We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.
Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest).
We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review:
Frequently asked questions
What cardholders think
The New United Club℠ Card
In May 2024, Bankrate collaborated with third-party SliceMR to survey 6160 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are based on individual cardholder’s product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. Users received an incentive for their feedback. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own reviews of these cards.
Community Reviews
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.
