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We always love when banks issue new travel credit cards. Even if they’re not stunning deals, it’s still great when our options for collecting miles and points increase.
The United Quest℠ Card, however, is a good deal. It’s actually a no-brainer deal — and I haven’t said that about a new card in quite a while. The card’s ongoing benefits beat all other United credit cards in nearly every category — and its sign-up bonus is one of the best airline credit card bonuses at the moment.
Here’s a quick rundown of this new card.
New United Quest Card — is it right for you?
Welcome bonus
The United Quest Card comes with up to 100,000 bonus miles after meeting tiered spending requirements:
- 80,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening
- 20,000 more bonus miles after spending $10,000 on purchases within the first six months of account opening
We estimate that United miles are worth an average of 1.3 cents each. That means a 100,000-mile bonus equates to $1,300 in travel on United Airlines! Of course, it’s possible to get significantly more value than that, if you know the best way to use United miles. For example, I spent 130,000 miles a few years ago to fly to Africa and Switzerland in lie-flat business class seats, and I received a value of over $10,000. That translates to a value over 7.5 cents each!
Personally, I’d be happy with achieving 80,000 bonus miles — even if you don’t go for the full 100,000-point bonus, you’ll still get a lot of miles. Read our guide to United stopovers and the United Excursionist Perk to see how powerful United miles can be.
Ongoing benefits
The United Quest Card is absolutely worth trying out at the very least. That bonus well makes up for the card’s $250 annual fee — but what about keeping it around with a price tag like that?
Here are the unique benefits that make me think it is:
- $125 annual “United purchase credit” – Each year, you’ll receive a $125 credit valid for spend with United. I know, you probably don’t make a habit out of spending money with United (especially after earning that welcome bonus), but if you buy $125 in United flights each year, your $250 annual fee is effectively cut in half.
- Two 5,000-mile award flight credits annually – Every cardmember year, you’ll receive two 5,000 mile credits towards award flights. Specifically, Chase says “starting with your first anniversary, you’ll automatically get 5,000 miles back in your MileagePlus® account after you take a United®– or United Express-operated award flight booked with your miles.” That’s equivalent to receiving 10,000 United miles each year. And remember, because we estimate United miles to be worth 1.3 cents each, this is like getting $130 in value each year.
- Two free checked bags for you and a companion – This benefit was previously only available on the United Club℠ Infinite Card and the United Club℠ Business Card, both with extra-high annual fees ($525 an $450, respectively). It’s great to see a far less expensive card receive this same benefit — and it can save you and a travel buddy up to $320 per round-trip.
- Earn towards United elite status – With the United Quest℠ Card, you can earn up to 3,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) each year to help you earn United elite status. 3,000 PQPs will get you very close to United Silver status, and other lower annual fee United cards earn PQPs at a lower rate. You’ll earn 500 PQPs for every $12,000 in spend during a calendar year with the Quest card.
Of course, you’ll also get a list of other standard benefits that probably won’t move the needle that much for you, including no foreign transaction fees, priority boarding and up to $100 statement credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry (many other travel credit cards carry this benefit).
The card also touts an earning rate of:
- 3 miles per dollar spent with United
- 2 miles per dollar spent on travel, dining, and select streaming services
- 1 mile per dollar on everything else
However, there are still better cards to use for your spending, even if you want to collect United Airlines miles. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns 3 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on travel and dining — and you can transfer those points instantly to United at a 1:1 ratio. Not only is this a better return than the United Quest Card, but the points are more flexible. You can buy travel through the Chase Travel Portal at a rate of 1.5 cents each, or you can transfer them to a variety of valuable airline and hotel partners.
Read our post on the best way to use Chase points to see what I mean.
Bottom line
The United Quest Card is the newest member of the United credit card family. It comes with up to 100,000 bonus miles after meeting tiered spending requirements. And it’s got excellent ongoing benefits, such as:
- $125 annually in United credit
- Two 5,000-mile award flight credits each year
- Up to two free checked bags for you and a companion
- Up to $100 statement credit for TSA PreCheck and Global Entry
This is one of the best new cards in recent memory, and definitely worth trying out for at least a year. Its 100,000-point bonus can net you $1,300+ in United flights (or with United’s Star Alliance airline partners), after all!
- Apply for the United Quest Card
Let us know what you think of this new card. And subscribe to our newsletter for more credit card alerts like this delivered to your inbox once per day. We’ll evaluate them and let you know if they’re worthwhile.