United Airlines offers several credit cards through it’s partner Chase  that return points in their Mileage Plus system.  United, like virtually all airlines, offers some bonuses beyond a mile per dollar spent.   I have always found that formula a little arbitrary anyways.  Why not use a kilometer like most of the world, or better yet, a nautical mile, like pilots themselves use?

How Does United Stack Up?

As we have previously seen, Delta Airlines offers reward cards through it’s partner, American Express, that offer a range of rewards that go beyond mere mileage.   Delta’s offerings include such benefits as companion tickets, fee waivers, and generous allotments of valuable elite qualifying miles.  United, on the other hand has fewer worthwhile offerings.   Let’s see how they compare.   United’s basic Visa Signature Card offers a generous 30,000 mile bonus when you spend your first $250, according to United’s website.   They also offer up a couple other goodies.  Specifically, you are promised “one $25 United Discount Travel Certificate and one One-way, 1,000 mile, One-class Upgrade Certificate,” the actual value of which I will discuss in another post.

Moving Up To Metal Cards

Their Gold Visa card also offers an initial 25,000 MileagePlus bonus, as well as double miles on United purchases, a feature offered on almost all airline cards that is not available on the base United/Chase card.  They also offer you 2,500 bonus miles on your anniversary, but still no elite qualifying miles

You have to step up their Platinum card in order to get “up to” 15,000 elite qualifying miles.   Any reasonably savvy consumer has by now realized that the words “up to” are the ultimate weasel words in any offer.   In this case, only 5,000 of the miles are earned after the first purchase, with another 5,000 coming after a fairly large $35,000 annual spending on the card.  The remainder are granted only as you purchase up to $5,000 tickets on United’s web site.   This is a real problem for people who travel for corporations who purchase tickets through a travel agent, or those who travel on itineraries not supported by United’s fairly arcane web site.   Anyone forced to purchase tickets at an airport ticket counter or over the telephone are out of luck as well.  Only their companion travel certificate seems to be worth the $140 annual fee, but again there are pitfalls to that offer as well.

Let The Buyer Beware

Yes, you can earn miles from United’s reward cards, and if you try hard, and pay a monthly fee, you will earn some elite qualifiying miles.   This card works for those who spend money on United’s website, and hence are major United frequent fliers.  Their platinum card is nice if you are within 5,000 miles of earning elite status.  Even then, United forces you to jump through some pretty frustrating hoops in order to earn and utilize your rewards.   No matter what you do, United fails to offer perks like lounge access, priority standby, or fee waivers like the premium Delta/Amex cards.   Finally, if you are not forced to be a United customer by virtue of residing at one of their hubs, you may want to consider their infamous reputation before attempting to earn rewards with their branded cards.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 11:13 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.