Six Reasons NOT to Use United’s Co-Branded Credit Cards

To continue our series on earning points through high-value credit card offers, let’s review:

• Part One: FCF highlighted 21 credit cards that allow you to earn points that can be transferred into miles on airlines that offer the most lucrative premium travel opportunities.
• Part Two: We reviewed elite status earning credit cards.
• Part Three: We discussed six reasons NOT to use American co-branded credit cards.
• Part Four: We talked about eight reasons NOT to use Delta’s co-branded credit cards.

This month we’ll dive into Part Five and highlight the pitfalls of using co-branded United credit cards.

The short answer: You’re going to miss out on some desirable destinations and First Class travel with United-centric cards and/or pay up to 45,000 miles MORE than you would for the same United flight—more details on this below to help you avoid spending miles you don’t have to.

Let’s first look at the destinations that are off the table with a United co-branded credit card:

1. Dreaming about travel to Australia in First Class? United no longer offers a First Class cabin on the route; the best you can get is Business Class. On the other hand, Qantas, a Citi partner, intermittently offers free First Class opportunities (example for Melbourne and Sydney).
2. How about Asia First Class? Again, United does not offer First Class any longer to Asia; the best you can get is Business. So, your option is redeem miles to book First Class with one of United’s partners, which will cost you dearly—220,000 for flights to Japan on partner All Nippon, for example, 240,000 to North Asia, and 280,000 for Central and South Asia. However: All Nippon, an Amex Card points partner, often has First Class mileage availability—and for less than what United usually charges for Business Class—and only charges 150,000 miles, which is 70,000 fewer miles than United charges. Yes, 150,000 miles for free First Class award tickets. For details, go here; or consider First Class on Singapore Airlines, an Amex Rewards and Chase partner.
3. Want to fly on United, but at a much lower mileage rate? You’re out of luck with a United card. Instead, save up to 45,000 miles for travel to Asia and Europe when booking a United flight with partner All Nippon miles, accessible with partner Amex Rewards.
4. Long to fly Emirates and enjoy those coveted showers in the sky? You can’t do that either with a United co-branded credit card because United is not a partner with Emirates. But you can transfer Amex Rewards points to Emirates—see details here.
5. Want to earn points faster? Sorry, but United’s co-branded cards won’t multiply your earnings like other cards will. For example, swipe other cards and get 5X (American Express Platinum card) points for airline tickets and hotels, 4X (American Express Gold card) points for dining or supermarkets, or 3X (Chase Sapphire Reserve) points on travel and dining.
6. Wish you could get transfer bonuses? A United co-branded card won’t help. But Amex Membership Rewards, unlike most other programs, periodically offers great bonuses—up to 40%—with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Reasons You Might Want a United Card

As you can probably tell throughout this series, benefits vary by card, and the kind of card you’ll want to carry varies on your needs. So, depending on the card you have, here is a list of some advantages to having a United card:

• Increased access to economy award flights, for people who do not mind flying economy class.
• If you are a United elite status member, some cards offer a waiver for Premier Qualifying Dollars (PQDs) requirements That said, you ought to immediately STOP using the card after you reach these thresholds.
• No close-in award booking fees on United tickets.

Let’s also not forget that United is a Star Alliance member, just like All Nippon and Singapore, so technically you could get awards with these airlines using United miles. But keep in mind that the operating airline redemption is often better than redeeming via a partner like United because partner award space is not always the same—this is especially true for First Class partner awards on Singapore, which we don’t usually see United miles.