New United Airlines Quest credit card with 100,000 mile sign-up bonus

Today, Chase released the new United Quest credit card with a tremendous 100,000-mile sign-up bonus.  You get 80,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months, and another 20,000 miles after spending an additional $5,000 within the first 6 months.  So $10,000 in spending within 6 months will get you the 100k bonus.  I value United miles at a penny a piece, the the sign-up bonus is worth around $1,000.  This limited-time sign-up offer ends on June 2, 2021.


Quest card benefits

In addition to the generous 100k sign-up bonus, the new Quest card comes with the following annual credits to help offset the $250 annual fee:
  • $125 annual United Airlines purchase credit
  • Up to 10,000 award miles back on United-operated award flight redemptions annually - receive 5,000 award miles back per award redemption, up to twice annually
The $125 is automatically credited back to your credit card for United purchases, whether it be a single flight purchase or several <$125 purchases.  This should be easy to earn as long as you fly on a paid United flight at least once per year.  The 10,000 award miles does require at least 2 United metal redemptions per year, which should be doable for most when travel starts picking back up.  Valuing United miles at 1 cent per piece, the $125 annual credit and 10,000 award miles would be worth around $225 annually.

Get up to $125 and 10,000 award miles back annually flying with United with the Quest card

In addition to the annual credits, the Quest card also offers the following benefits, which could be invaluable for many:
  • Complimentary first and second checked bag for you and a companion on the same reservation
  • Priority boarding for you and your companions on the same reservation
  • 25% back on United in-flight purchases
  • Complimentary upgrades on award tickets if you’re a Premier member
  • Expanded access to MileagePlus award flight availability
  • Up to a $100 Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check credit once every four years
  • Ability to earn up to 3,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for spending on the card; earn 500 PQPs for every $12,000 spent on purchases
  • No foreign exchange transaction fees
Priority boarding is a welcome benefit when flying on United, especially since finding overhead space can be a war once travel picks back up.  And you'll be able to lessen your carry on load entirely should you choose to check bags with the generous 2 free checked bags.  Domestically for non-elite members, United charges $35 for the first checked bag and $45 for the second checked bag, so you could leverage up to $80 value per flight if you're checking bags, and $160 with a companion also checking bags.


Quest card earnings potential

The new Quest card will earn the following United miles on purchases:
  • 3x on United purchases
  • 2x on select streaming services and all dining and travel purchases
  • 1x on all other purchases
While not having the broadest bonus spending categories, this is still amongst the best we typically see for airline credit cards, which typically only get 2x miles for their respective airline purchases and 1x on everything else.


Who can get the new Quest card?

You can have the Quest card as long as you've never had it before, which shouldn't be anyone since the card is brand new.  The nice thing is that you can hold the Quest card along with any of the other United credit cards.  But like most Chase cards, the Quest card does fall under Chase's 5/24 rule, which means that you won't be eligible if you've signed up for over 5 consumer credit cards in the past 24 months from any and all financial institutions.


Bottom line

The Quest card is a welcome addition to United Airlines' line of credit cards, particularly with the generous 100k sign-up offer.  The $250 annual fee may seem high, but can be easily offset if you purchase a United flight just once a year and redeem miles for United-operated flights twice a year.  You'll also be treated to other valuable benefits including free checked bags, priority boarding, and more.

From all of us at Flying for Fitness, please stay healthy during this trying time.  We hope you enjoyed this post.  Please consider visiting one of our sponsors by clicking on the advertisements.  Our sponsors pay us for customer visits and help us to keep the lights on.  Thanks!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Park Hyatt Sydney review

Image
For our trip to Australia's east coast, we started off with a 4-night stay in Sydney.  We decided to stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney as it has been consistently rated as one of the best Hyatt luxury properties worldwide.  The hotel, located in the heart of Sydney Harbor at the Rocks, is famous for its stunning views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Price As a category 8 hotel, the Park Hyatt Sydney is Hyatt's most expensive award category ranging from 35k-45k points per night.  Fortunately, since we were traveling during Australia's "slower" winter season, we were able to get off-peak rates of 35k for most of our nights in a standard 1 King Bed room. Seeing how the hotel's standard rooms were over $700 a night during our stay, this was a pretty good redemption value at well over 2 cents per point.  This hotel is also known for releasing tons of free night award space, even during peak travel times.  This is atypical for many Hyatt top-tier hotels such as t...
Read more

Citi temporarily adds American Airlines as a mileage transfer partner!

Image
In a surprise move, Citi has added American Airlines as a transfer partner for their ThankYou Points (TYP) earning credit cards.  What's especially intriguing is that even no annual fee cards that normally don't offer transfers to loyalty programs are eligible for this new and temporary partnership, albeit at a lower transfer ratio.  Citi's premium line of cards, including the Prestige and the Premier, both have 1:1 transfer capability with AAdvantage miles (1,000 TYP = 1,000 AAdvantage miles).  Whereas no annual fee cards, including the ThankYou Preferred and the Rewards+, get a 2:1 transfer ratio (1,000 TYP = 500 AAdvantage miles).  This transfer partnership is valid from July 18 through November 13, though one could speculate that it could be extended. American Airlines AAdvantage program was the only loyalty program out of the three U.S. legacy carriers that didn't have a 1:1 transfer partner with any credit card accounts.  Delta has long been a transfer par...
Read more

Chase Freedom Q3 5x categories announced, plus get an extra 10% on Pay Youself Back feature

Image
Chase has announced their 3rd quarter (Q3) 5x categories for thee Freedom Flex and old Freedom cards: Grocery Stores (excluding Target® & Walmart®): Just in time for grilling season, Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex cardmembers can earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases to cook-up their favorite recipes all summer long. Select Streaming Services: Monthly music and TV streaming subscriptions can add up fast – this quarter, Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex cardmembers can earn 5% cash back on individual purchases and subscriptions. Q3 runs from July 1 through September 30, 2021, and registration (required) is open today through September 14, 2021.  The 5x is limited to up to $1,500 in total purchases for the quarter.  But if you have both the Freedom Flex and the old Chase Freedom, you could purchase up to $1,500 per card for a total of $3,000. Activation link For many of us who signed up for the Freedom Flex when it was first released last year, the 5x grocery store cate...
Read more