The New United Quest℠ Card review: Credits abound United loyalists

Quick highlights

• Rewards rate: 3x miles on United® purchases. 2x miles on dining, select streaming services & all other travel. 1x mile on all other purchases. Plus, receive a $200 United® travel credit and 10,000-mile award flight discount on each account anniversary (terms apply), as well as earn up to 18,000 Premier qualifying points.
• Welcome offer: Earn 70,000 bonus miles and 1,000 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
• Annual fee: $350
• Purchase intro APR: None
• Balance transfer intro APR: None
• Regular APR: 20.49% - 28.99% Variable

Current welcome offer

The New United Quest card currently offers a welcome offer of 70,000 bonus miles and 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open. Considering we found the average price of domestic economy round-trip awards in United’s busiest markets to be around 13,000 miles, the bonus could be worth over seven flights. The actual value you get may vary based on your home airport, the class of service you are booking in and whether you are booking at peak or off-peak seasons. However, we estimate this bonus may be worth about $900, based on Bankrate's latest valuation of 0.9 cents per United MileagePlus mile on average. 

Compared to similar airline credit cards, The New United Quest Card offers a solid welcome offer, making this a great card to consider if you anticipate spending $4,000 within three months of opening your card. Several other cards only offer 50,000 miles for a minimum spend between $2,000 and $2,500. Granted, you’ll need to spend a bit more to earn the United Quest card bonus, but if you’re already anticipating a high level of spending, the United Quest Card’s welcome bonus can be achievable.

However, before you apply, make sure you have a plan to use the MileagePlus miles towards award flights after you earn them. If you don’t live near an airport served by United or have to use more miles for a flight, you may want to carefully consider how to choose the best travel rewards card for your future plans.

Rewards rate

While earning extra miles for spending with the airline is common on cards for that specific airline, the United Quest Card stands out for three bonus categories: all travel outside of United Airlines, dining and eligible delivery services and select streaming services. The categories make this card completely unique, potentially making it the best United Airlines credit card for the most loyal customers.

How you earn

The New United Quest Card is the only card offering cardholders 3X miles on United purchases. Anytime you use the card to purchase United airfare, seat upgrades, in-flight food, beverages or Wi-Fi and other United fees, you could earn one base mile plus two bonus miles per $1 spent.

On the ground, there are three ways to earn bonus miles for everyday spending. All other travel purchases — including airfare on other airlines — restaurants and select streaming services qualify to earn 2X miles.

If you are spending only in the bonus categories, this card could potentially offer you more miles than similar travel rewards cards. However, it may not be the best for everyday spending, because other purchases earn only 1X mile. You may want to consider splitting your spending between cards with different bonus categories, giving you the best return for your dollar. 

How to redeem

Travel rewards work by using miles to buy flights (excluding taxes and fees) or upgrades to business or first class on flights purchased with cash. The best way to use United MileagePlus miles is for travel rewards aboard United Airlines and its Star Alliance partners. You could also use the miles for other rewards like merchandise and gift cards, but your return is often much smaller than on travel rewards.

While United MileagePlus miles can help you see the world at a low overall price, the value of your miles is based on several different factors. For instance, it may vary based on the availability of reward flights, the price of flights in miles, the cash price or if you are booking international travel on one of United’s Star Alliance partners. “Saver” awards are the cheapest award flights available but come with the most restrictions, while “Everyday” award flights cost more but are commonly available.

According to Bankrate's current point and mile valuations, United MileagePlus miles are valued at roughly 0.9 cents on average when used for flights. Because United doesn’t use a fixed award chart for flights, the actual value can fluctuate, depending on how far ahead you book your flight.

You could also trade in your miles for a variety of non-travel rewards, including magazine subscriptions, gift certificates, tickets to theater performances or flowers and gift baskets from FTD. However, these redemptions are the least valued rewards at anywhere between 0.5 and 0.8 cents per mile each.

What truly makes the United Quest Card a “must-have” for United customers are the many perks exclusive to this card. While the power to earn miles is good, the true value comes from the anniversary flight credits, free checked bags and trusted traveler program fee credit.

$200 Annual United Travel Credit

Every year you keep the New United Quest open, you will automatically receive a $200 travel credit towards United flights. The annual credit must be used within the year and can be used with miles you have earned. Luckily, it does not require a minimum spend to earn. Considering the card carries an annual fee of $350, this can go a long way in helping offset that fee.

1 Premier Qualifying Point for every $20 you spend on purchases

You can also earn 1 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for every $20 you spend on the card for up to 18,000 PQPs. With this perk, you can achieve elite status even faster and unlock additional savings and perks.

10,000-mile anniversary award flight discount after spending $20,000 per year

After the first year, cardholders booking award travel qualify to get a mileage discount when booking eligible award travel. This offer is worth up to 10,000 miles.

Using the projected value of United Miles based on our latest points and miles valuations, this annual 10,000 miles bonus is worth roughly $90. Combined with the $200 annual United purchase credit, cardholders — before any rewards calculations for spending — reap the benefits of at least $290 in cardholder perks from these two offers. This number is just short of the card’s $350 annual fee.

2 global Economy Plus^® seat upgrades after spending $40,000 each calendar year

You can earn two credits that can be redeemed to upgrade an Economy seat on an eligible global flight to an Economy Plus seat. These upgrades are available after you spend $40,000 or more in a calendar year on your United Quest Card.

First and second checked bags free

While most credit cards offer only one free checked bag for the cardholder and companion, the United Quest card doubles the value for frequent flyers. The primary cardholder and one companion traveling on the same reservation can each receive their first and second checked bag for free when flying on United-operated flights. If both flyers take advantage of the offer, each way it could equal a total value of $360 per flight.

Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit

Once every four years, the primary cardholder can get a fee credit of up to $120 for enrolling in either TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS trusted traveler programs. To qualify, the cardholder must use their United Quest card to pay for the enrollment fee, which will be returned as a statement credit.

Travel insurance benefits

What would a travel credit card be without travel insurance? When using your United Quest card to pay for your airfare, travelers can qualify for certain protection benefits, including baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement, trip cancellation or interruption insurance and travel accident insurance.

One of the best perks of the United Quest Card is how it can help you avoid fees. Although it comes with a relatively high annual fee, this card can help you get out of other charges as you travel.

• Annual fee: The New United Quest card comes with a $350 annual fee, which is in line with other mid-tier airline credit cards. But the card also comes with an annual $200 United travel credit, saving you money on your first airline purchase. If you fly with United on a regular basis, your yearly savings could add up well beyond  $350 .
• APR: Because it is a rewards card, the United Quest Card does not offer an introductory APR for purchases or balance transfers. Everyone will have a purchase APR between 20.49% - 28.99% Variable.
• Foreign transaction fee: The New United Quest Card has zero foreign transaction fees when using the card abroad. You can use the card anywhere Visa is accepted around the world without worrying about extra charges added to your purchase.
• Balance transfer fee: Although there is no introductory balance transfer APR, you may still transfer a balance to the United Quest Card. The fee is either $5 or 5 percent of the amount of each transfer (whichever is greater), and will share the same APR for purchases.
• Cash advance fee: If you choose to get a cash advance from your card, you will pay the greater of $10 or 5 percent of the amount of each transaction. Cash advances are subject to an APR of 29.24 percent.
• Penalty fees: If you submit your payment late or have a payment returned, you could face charges of up to $40 per incident. You could also face the penalty APR of up to 29.99 percent indefinitely.

While many different rewards cards would work well with the United Quest card, the optimal pairings depend on how you want to earn rewards with travel credit cards and your overall goals.

Each of the three major airlines offer miles-earning credit cards, but with different benefits and different annual fees. Your best overall value depends on which airline you fly the most, the overall benefits and the introductory offer.

With a variety of credits available to cardholders, it’s rather easy to get value in excess of the annual fee from The New United Quest Card. Between the $200 annual United travel credit when buying airfare direct from the airline, the two free checked bags for you and one other person and the generous bonus categories, it’s easy to see why the card is one of the best for regular United flyers. This card offers great value if:

• United is your primary airline for U.S. travel. 
• Book more than one award trip every year.
• You want more flexibility in your trips and aren’t necessarily loyal to one airline.

For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card, please click here.

*The information about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, the New United Quest℠ Card, and Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.