The United Club℠ Card review: Premium travel perks for loyal United flyers

Written by

Ryan Flanigan, CCC

Edited by

Reena Thomas, Ph.D.

Dec 2, 2025 / 4 min

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Snapshot

4.3

Bankrate rating

Bottom line

This card is a perfect companion for frequent United travelers, offering outstanding perks to benefit loyal customers. However, others may find better value with more flexible premium cards.

United Club℠ Card

Recommended credit score:740 - 850

Intro offer

Earn 90,000 bonus miles

Rewards rate

1x - 4x

Annual fee

$695

Regular APR

19.99% - 28.49% Variable

4.3

Bankrate score

Reward Details

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On This Page

The United Club℠ Card overview

The 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 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.

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 80,000 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: 19.99 percent to 28.49 percent

Cash advance APR: 28.74 percent

Penalty APR: Up to 29.99 percent

Chase Pay Over Time^SM 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 up to 20,000-miles in award flight discounts annually

Free first and second checked bags - a savings of up to $360 per roundtrip (terms apply)

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

United Club℠ Card pros and cons

Pros

You can earn a substantial amount of miles quickly with the card’s welcome offer.
United Club membership costs significantly more than the annual fee.
You’ll get excellent travel perks to enhance your flying experience.

Cons

If you aren’t a regular United Airlines traveler, you may struggle to get value from this card.
The card’s rewards rates are mediocre compared to other premium cards.
You might not always get the best value when redeeming your miles for award flights.

Why you might want the United Club℠ Card

Frequent United flyers will love the numerous perks of the United Club Card, which comes with a solid welcome offer to boost your mileage balance.

Perks: Excellent benefits for United loyalists

The 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.

The United Club's strength lies in its plethora of United Airlines perks and privileges, such as:
- United Club Membership: As long as you’re a cardholder, you'll automatically receive United Club membership, which gives you and eligible travel companions access to all United Club and Star Alliance-affiliated airport lounge locations worldwide. United Club membership costs up to $650 a year without the card, far more than the $525 annual fee.
- Complimentary Premier Access: You and your travel companions can enjoy priority check-in, boarding and baggage handling at airports where United Premier Access is available. Premier Access starts at $24.
- 25 percent back on in-flight purchases: You’ll get a statement credit when you use your card for United-operated in-flight purchases.
- Free checked baggage: As the primary cardholder, you and one eligible companion on the same reservation will each get two free checked bags on United-operated flights.
- Upgrades for award flights: If you have MileagePlus Premier status and you book an award flight for you and your companion, you may receive a complimentary Premier Upgrade on select flights (if available).
- MileagePlus program benefits: You can earn 1 Premier Qualifying Point (PQP) for every $15 in net purchases (including purchases made by authorized users) up to a maximum of 15,000 PQP in a calendar year. Base-level Premier Silver status requires 6,000 PQPs.
- 10 percent discount on booking United Economy Saver Awards: You’ll get a discount on United’s cheapest awards within the continental U.S. and Canada.
The United Club also comes with a statement credit of up to $120 when you use your card to pay for an application fee for either Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS once every four years. Although this perk is common on premium travel cards, this card’s offer is one of the few to offer NEXUS as an option.
The United Club comes with additional status and exclusive access to a variety of events and services, such as:
- Access to the Renowned Hotels and Resorts collection
- Complimentary IHG Rewards Platinum Elite status
- Complimentary Avis President’s Club status
- United card events from Chase
- United MileagePlus exclusive events
- Visa Infinite concierge services
Since the United Club card comes with the highest level of Visa benefits, it carries an outstanding set of travel and shopping protections. Its perks like trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement and return protection are some of the top protections available. Plus, you’ll also get primary auto rental coverage and Visa Infinite’s top-of-the-line concierge service for personalized assistance to help plan your itinerary.

Welcome offer: Solid reward value

You can earn 80,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. This welcome offer is worth about $720 based on the Bankrate’s valuations, which give United miles a value of around 0.9 cents per mile. This bonus is on par with most premium travel 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 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 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 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 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.

United Club℠ Card

Bankrate Score

4.3

Annual fee

$695

Intro offer

Earn 90,000 bonus miles

Rewards rate

1x - 4x

Recommended Credit Score

Excellent (740 – 850)

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Bankrate Score

4.8

See Rates & Fees

Apply now

on Chase's secure site

Annual fee

$795

Intro offer

125,000 bonus points

Rewards rate

1x - 8x

Recommended Credit Score

Excellent (740 – 850)

American Express Platinum Card®

Bankrate Score

4.8

See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply

Apply now

on American Express's secure site

Annual fee

$895

Intro offer

As High As 175,000 points. Find Out Your Offer.

Rewards rate

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is Chase’s premium travel card, offering industry-leading travel protection and added value when using Ultimate Rewards points through Chase Travel℠. Although the annual fee is slightly more than United Club℠ Card, you’ll have vastly more redemption options with Chase’s travel partners (including United) and a higher point value. Ultimate Rewards points are worth around 2.0 cents each according to our calculation, with the possibility of even more value with the right transfer redemption. You’ll also get higher rewards rates across the board (with the exception of United purchases).
However, if you’re a United loyalist who values United Club access highly, only the United Club℠ Card gives you complimentary access, while also matching the Sapphire Reserve’s trip protections.
If you’re interested in as many perks as you can get on a single card, there’s no better option than American Express Platinum Card®. While the annual fee is higher than the United Club, the potential value returned from utilizing the laundry list of benefits can far outweigh the cost. You’ll also have the superior rewards flexibility of the Membership Rewards program, although United is not one of its transfer partners. Neither card is great for spending outside of the airline category, but the United Club offers bonus points in a couple of additional categories absent from Amex Platinum. And even with all the lounge access offered by the Amex Platinum (access is limited to eligible Card Members), you won’t get United Club access. Your preference between these two cards is essentially as simple as whether you value United miles and United Club access or not.

Who is the United Club℠ Card right for?

The 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 United Club worth it?

If you want to maximize rewards on your purchases, the 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 United Club℠ Card, United Gateway℠ Card, United Quest℠ Card, United Club℠ Business Card and the 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

150+

cards rated

50+

rewards programs valued

1800

data points analyzed

40+

perks evaluated

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:

The primary criteria for a rewards or cash back card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.
To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The most recent BLS data estimates average total spending in 2023 was $77,280 per consumer. We then narrow our focus to which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards, subtracting expenditures like housing, vehicle purchases and education. This gives us a total “chargeable” annual spend of around $22,500.
Some of the major spending categories that contribute towards the annual spend include:
- Groceries: $6,000
- Dining out: $3,900
- Entertainment: $2,500
- Gas: $2,400
- Apparel and services: $2,000
Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 26 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.
This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases, as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value.
With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.
We also rate cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance.
To start, each rewards or cash back card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards or cash back cards.
We also score each card based on how its annual fee influences its overall value.
We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value, but if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score even if it carries a high annual fee.
With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against other cards in the category when you subtract its annual fee.
We rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards and factor this rating into a card’s overall score.
Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you redeem for some options versus others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners.
We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating.
We break down these tiers as follows:
- Tier 1 has less than standard card features (an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits.
- Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges.
- Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection.
- Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs.
- Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.

Frequently asked questions

The United Club℠ Card is the only card to provide unlimited access to United Clubs. Other United cards, like the United℠ Explorer Card* and United℠ Business Card, offer two single-use passes each year on your account anniversary.
Pricing is subject to your status level. People with Premier Gold status or lower are charged either $650 or 85,000 miles. Premier Platinum status members are charged either $600 or 80,000 miles, while Premier 1K members are charged $550 or 75,000 miles. No matter your status, buying a membership costs more than the $525 Club Infinite’s annual fee.
Other than the Club Infinite, there are five options currently available to choose from. They are:
- The United Gateway℠ Card* ($0 annual fee)
- The United℠ Explorer Card ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150)
- The United℠ Business Card ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150)
- The United Quest℠ Card* ($350 annual fee)
- United Club℠ Business Card* ($450 annual fee)

Compare the best airline credit cards

Written by

Ryan Flanigan, CCC

Former Writer, Credit Cards

The United Club℠ Card review: Premium travel perks for loyal United flyers

The Bankrate promise

Snapshot

United Club℠ Card

The United Club℠ Card overview

Rewards

Welcome offer

Rates and fees

Other cardholder perks

United Club℠ Card pros and cons

Pros

Cons

Why you might want the United Club℠ Card

Perks: Excellent benefits for United loyalists

United Airlines benefits

Annual statement credits

Additional status upgrades and exclusive access

Travel and purchase protections

Welcome offer: Solid reward value

Why you might want a different travel card

Rewards: Mediocre rates and inflexible redemptions

Rates & fees: High annual fee

We tried it: Here’s what our experts say

How the United Club℠ Card compares to other travel cards

United Club℠ Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

American Express Platinum Card®

United Club℠ Card vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve®

United Club℠ Card vs. American Express Platinum Card®

Who is the United Club℠ Card right for?

Frequent United flyers

Bankrate’s Take — Is the United Club worth it?

How we rated this card

Rewards value

Rates and fees

Flexibility

Perks

Frequently asked questions

What cards provide United Club access?

How much does United Club membership cost?

What other United cards are available?

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