The Chase United quest card has seen a 40% increase in the annual fee. A number of credits and benefits have been added that can certainly be worth more than the cost of the fee increase, but the big spend bonus available at $40,000 in purchases seems like a pretty small carrot to encourage ongoing spend.
United Quest Card New Offer & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
90K Miles + 500 PQPs ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 90K miles and 500 PQPs after $4K spend in the first 3 months (Offer Expires 5/7/2025)$350 Annual Fee This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: 5X Renowned Hotels & Resorts for United Cardmembers ✦ 3X United ✦ 2X restaurants including eligible delivery services ✦ 2X on all other travel ✦ 2X select streaming Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Earn up to 18,000 PQPs per calendar year: 1 PQP per $20 spend ✦ Earn an additional 10,000-mile award flight discount after $20K in purchases in a calendar year ✦ Earn 2 Economy Plus seat upgrades after $40K in purchases in a calendar year Noteworthy perks: Up to $200 in statement credits for United purchases each cardmember year - terms apply ✦ Up to $150 in statement credits per cardmember for Renowned Hotels and Resorts ✦ 10K award flight discount per cardmember year ✦ First and second checked bag free for cardholder and one companion when you purchase your tickets with the card and include your Mileage Plus number ✦ Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or Nexus reimbursement ✦ Up to $100 in rideshare credits per year (up $8 per month January to November and up to $12 in December, re-enrollment is required annually) ✦ Up to $80 in Travel Credit for Avis or Budget car rentals per cardmember year ✦ One $10 and one $5 Instacart credit per month when you have Instacart+ membership ✦ Up to $150 statement credit for purchases with JSX ✦ 25% back on United inflight or Club Premium drink purchases |
What’s changing?
At a high level:
- Annual fee increased to $350 (was $250)
- Changed:
- Now $200 United TravelBank credit per cardmember year (was $125)
- Now receive a single 10,000-mile award flight discount annually (was previously two 5K rebates, but it is now a single 10K discount)
- Big spend bonuses:
- Earn up to 18,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) at a rate of 1 PQP per $20 spent (previously a maximum of 9,000 PQPs annually)
- Earn an additional 10,000-mile award flight discount after $20K in purchases in a calendar year
- Earn 2 Economy Plus seat upgrades after $40K in purchases in a calendar year
- Coupon-like additions:
- Up to $150 in statement credits per cardmember for Renowned Hotels and Resorts for United® Cardmembers when you book and pay for your stay with your card
- Up to $100 in rideshare credits per year (up $8 per month January to November and up to $12 in December, re-enrollment is required annually)
- Up to $80 in Travel Credit for Avis or Budget car rentals per cardmember year. This is up to $40 on your first and second rentals of a minimum of 2 days booked through cars.united.com and paid for with your MileagePlus Explorer card.
- One $10 and one $5 Instacart credit per month when you have Instacart+ membership
- Up to $150 statement credit for purchases with JSX each cardmember year.
Analysis of the changes
The TravelBank credit has increased, though since it is a credit restricted to use on United that can’t be used for award taxes or partner travel, and since it expires after 12 months, it isn’t quite the same as cash. The award flight discount is potentially more useful as a single 10K discount rather than two 5K rebates. Further, a discount is more valuable to me than a rebate since a rebate requires having enough miles for the full redemption up front whereas a discount reduces the number of miles necessary. Renowned Hotels looks like a competitor to things like Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts or Capital One Premier Collection (though I don’t know much about it since you must have a qualifying card to log in and search). If you’ll use those three benefits to the maximum, the value probably outweighs the increase in annual fee.
However, the couponification here does start to increase the annoyance factor at the increased price point.
I find the rideshare credits in particular to be irksome. For starters, like with the Explorer card, you’ll need to re-enroll annually to receive the Quest card’s rideshare credits. But additionally, whereas the rideshare benefit on the Explorer card is active starting the day after enrollment, terms on the Quest card aren’t as clear. In one place, it says that you won’t begin receiving the Quest card’s rideshare credit until the month after enrollment. It later says that purchases will qualify in the month enrollment is completed. See the official benefit terms for more (bold is mine for emphasis):
Earn up to $8 back as a statement credit each month from January to November and up to $12 back as a statement credit in December when you pay for rideshare purchases using your United QuestSM Card. That means you can earn up to a maximum accumulation of $100 in statement credits each calendar year. You must enroll each calendar year to receive this benefit. You will receive this benefit starting the month after enrollment, continuing each month through the end of the calendar year. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for statement credit(s) to post to your account. Eligible purchases will qualify for this benefit the month enrollment is completed and each month thereafter. Statement credit(s) will be issued for the calendar month in which the transaction posts to your account. Delays by the rideshare service could extend the transaction date beyond the calendar month end date and will be allocated toward the following month’s credit amount. To qualify for this statement credit, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. If your credit card account is closed at any time, United and Chase reserve the right to remove any statement credits that were not posted to your account. For important information about Chase rewards categories, see chase.com/RewardsCategoryFAQs.
If the benefit begins the month after enrollment, it would seem impossible for long-term cardholders to receive the benefit in January since they will need to re-enroll every January and then receive the benefit beginning the month after enrollment (February).
Big spenders may appreciate the additional 10,000-mile flight award discount at $20K in purchases, though I can’t imagine that two upgrades to Economy Plus are going to motivate anyone to spend $40K in purchases on this card. That isn’t to say that nobody will spend that much: the card now offers 1 Premier Qualifying Point (PQP) per $20 spent on up to $360,000 in purchases annually (the previous limit was 9K PQPs, which would have required $180K in purchases, but you can now earn up to 18K PQPs). For those unfamiliar, PQPs are United’s metric for earning elite status.
The Avis, JSX, and Instacart credits will be useful to some, but with the usual caveats: The Avis/Budget credit requires booking through United for 2 days or more and comes in the form of TravelBank credit rather than statement credit; the JSX credit might be useful for those located in the western US, but the limited route network makes for a limited use case.
Overall, this card is certainly worth considering for a good intro bonus and its first-year benefits. It will be a long-term keeper for those who are able to make good use of the credits, but you’ll need to be willing to track and use all of those credits for the card to make sense over the long-haul.
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Initial messages to both United and Chase have not yielded an answer. I currently have two award bookings for the upcoming months and usually would expect to get the 5000 point rebates. I just got an email saying that all the new benefits are active. However, my renewal date isn’t until October. So did I miss out on the 5000 point rebates and don’t get the 10,000 point rebate until renewal?
My understanding is that credits in the United Travel Bank last for 5 years? That is what it says on the United site. Am I missing something? TravelBank | United Airlines
Regular purchases of TravelBank are valid for five years. In the case of these credit cards though, they’ll add to your TravelBank balance automatically without you needing to make a purchase which is why it can expire sooner.
You are missing the 1k PQP annual bonus every February. For United loyalists, that plus $200 Travelbank for a $350 AF is a bargain.
Did I read correctly that guest won’t be allowed unless you meet the $50k spend or was that just for full network of lounges?
I get an amazing Avis AWD from work for personal rentals. It’s about 50% off. Is there a way to make this work booking through cars.united.com and get both my work AWD and the UA discount?
I was wondering the same – I get amazing deals thru USAA AWD – the United link for rental does allow you to enter wizard number and AWD (there is a coupon code slot).
I did try to do pickup from my closest Avis (have rented from them in the past
a rear-end Accident and also when we bought a car thru Avis during C19 ( the one that was totalled).
But the location that the promo was across town (even PDX is closer than this Avis location).
Was checking for a June rental as we havr family coming into town and doing a road trip to coast and wanted a larger vehicle.
So my and P2 Quest card renews in December. Am I correct thinking that no AF change for me until then? Most likely I will cancel;, whereas P2 flies United solo quite a bit so she will keep hers and I and an AU on her card. The Travel Bank 12 month exp. and limited usefulness is particularly irksome.