The United Club Infinite Card recently added a number of valuable perks. We hadn’t previously reported on this additions, but it is worth being aware if you either have the card or fly United often and has missed discussion of these changes.
Current Offer & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
80K Miles ⓘ Affiliate 80k miles after $5k spend in first 3 months$525 Annual Fee This card is available to you if you do not have any United Club card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus for any United Club card in the past 24 months. Recent better offer: Expired 1/27/23: 100K after $5K spend FM Mini Review: While pricey, the Chase United Club Infinite Card is a great choice for those who want a United club membership and other perks like a 10% discount on saver awards. . Earning rate: ✦ 4X United ✦ 2X dining & travel Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Earn up to 8,000 PQPs per year: 50 PQPs per $500 spend Noteworthy perks: ✦ United Club membership ✦ Unlocks complimentary elite upgrades on award tickets, including companions on the same reservation ✦ 10% discount on saver level economy awards within the continental US and Canada ✦ Up to $100 for Global Entry, TSA Precheck or Nexus fee credit ✦ Priority check-in, security screening, baggage handling, and boarding ✦ Free 1st and 2nd checked bags ✦ Hertz President's Circle Elite Status ✦ Primary auto rental collision damage waiver |
New Benefits
10% discount on economy awards
Effective immediately upon the announcement at the end of September, United Club Infinite cardholders get 10% off on saver-level economy class award tickets within the continental US and Canada. That’s a nice benefit that could add up if you regularly redeem United miles for those qualifying saver-level economy class tickets.
To get this discount, a cardholder just needs to log in at United.com before searching and the discounted pricing will automatically be displayed.
IHG Benefits
File this under “really weird”: United Club Infinite cardholders now get IHG Platinum status. Additionally, the card will come with a $75 statement credit for purchases at IHG properties between 1/1/22 and 12/31/2022.
While that may not seem odd to you if you’re not very familiar with United and their partnerships, what makes this particularly weird is the fact that United has a long-established partnership with Marriott Bonvoy. For years now, there has been a standing 10% transfer bonus from Marriott to United miles (on top of the normal transfer ratio) and high-level Marriott elite members (Titanium and Ambassador) get United Premier Silver elite status. That makes this tie-in with IHG particularly strange: one would think that United would have looked first at enhancing reciprocal benefits with Marriott.
That said, the issuer here is Chase and ultimately the benefits that Chase can offer likely depends largely on its own partnerships. Given that Amex and Chase have a complicated agreement over the Marriott credit cards, maybe it just wasn’t possible to do something in conjunction with Marriott. Still, IHG feels like an odd fit.
Complimentary companion upgrades on award tickets
While United Club Infinite cardholders have previously qualified for complimentary upgrades on award tickets, United is now expanding that benefit to companions on the same reservation. That’s a nice perk as an upgrade might matter more to you when you are traveling with family, so the ability to get an additional person or two upgraded with you would be very helpful.
Coming in 2022: Earn up to 4,000 PQPs through credit card spend
The United Club Infinite card offers 500 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) per $12K spend on the card in a calendar year. Currently, there is a limit of 3,000 PQPs per year earned via card spend. Beginning in 2022, cardholders will be eligible to earn up to 4,000 PQPs through spend.
Personally, I find this addition kind of dull given that maxing out 4,000 PQPs would require $96K spend. I would think there are far more valuable strategies for $96K credit card spend than United Premier Silver or halfway to Gold, but some with very high spend capacity may disagree.
10,000 miles for signing up for CLEAR
The final perk added is 10,000 United miles for signing up for CLEAR by June 30, 2022. That’s nice considering the fact that you can also get a reduced rate of $119 for CLEAR. On the other hand, if you have an Amex Platinum card (or were targeted for the Amex Offer on other cards), you can get the full purchase price of CLEAR back (potentially for two people in a family). Furthermore, for a brief time United recently offered a $100 United Travel Bank credit when signing up for CLEAR through United Mileage Plus. You could have used your Amex Platinum card and gotten CLEAR for free plus $100 in United credit, so this offer doesn’t seem wildly exciting.
If you don’t have access to the Amex paths, getting CLEAR and 10,000 United miles for $119 probably isn’t a bad deal.
Bottom line
The nice thing about all of the above enhancements is that they come without any increase in the annual fee. It’s great to see an immediate benefit like the 10% discount on saver economy domestic flights and overall I expect that many cardholders will find some decent value in these benefits. The IHG credit is totally unexpected and adds to a card that is already a strong value for anyone who would otherwise consider paying for a United Club membership. Overall, these are nice adds.
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You forgot Avis presidents club tier which has already scored me discounts and free upgrades
Did they bring Avis presidents club back
Yes they did.
How would we find and activate this benefit? I can’t find any link about it in our cardholder’s chase.com profile…?
To answer my own question, registration link is here: https://promo.united.com/offers/ihgstatus . My cardholder’s IHG profile was upgraded instantly.
Looks like there’s no additional registration needed for the $75 credit, we need to just use the card.
I just got approved for the card but see no mention of the IHG benefit in the infor received , nor the 10% back on United economy….
Here it is: Travel Benefits | United Club Visa Infinite Card | Chase.com
More and more CLEAR offers are just eroding the value of this service. I haven’t seen increased traffic on the CLEAR lanes yet and I guess it would take quite a few people to clog up the lane…
Can I pay for Clear with Amex Green and receive 10k UA miles?
The reciprocal benefits with Marriott go the other way as well. I’m Gold for life on United and get Marriott gold.
The upgrades won’t be much of a perk because you’re never gonna get one. As a Gold, I rarely of ever get upgraded and frequently sit next to Platinums and 1Ks who don’t get them either. The upgrade list on United flights is a mile long and you’ll be at the bottom.
Re “File this under “really weird”: United Club Infinite cardholders now get IHG Platinum status.” … It is not as weird as you might think, as the United Club card used to provide Hyatt Discoverist status (it is too bad that I didn’t realize how awesome Hyatt is before this was removed (which is right about the time that I got the Hyatt card).
Also, are these new benefits only on the Consumer Card, or do they apply to Business card also
Lastly, I just looked on the Chase website for this card, and there is no mention of any of the above benefits … so, where can I verify?
@Nick Reyes How do you know when you’re getting saver availability since united has pulled it’s award chart? I’d like to see Luke Bondar squirm when you hit him with that one.
Does it still make sense to hold onto the Presidential Plus vs the new products. I used to fly United more, but shifted to Delta due to living closer to Delta hubs now. I will be moving back out to a United hub in about 1-2 years and wasn’t sure if I should keep the card or change. I do take advantage of the Hertz Presidential Plus when renting (maybe 4-7 times a year).
All I can say is that I totally regret letting go of Presidential Plus years ago. I’d give my right arm to have it back.
Forced product change for legacy United Chase Club card. No retention offer when I called.