I really like collecting transferable points and miles, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Capital One Miles and Citi Thankyou Rewards points. I like the flexibility of choosing when and where to transfer my rewards, especially when issuers offer juicy transfer bonuses.
Although I own some airline branded credit cards, such as the underrated Aeroplan® credit card, I am not interested in locking up an airline loyalty program.
I’m not a regular United Airlines flyer, and the United LileagePlus plan is not my default Star Alliance plan (which is an excellent Aeroplan plan from Air Canada), partly because I’m not close to the United Hub. So, apply for a joint credit card and invest in the MileagePlus program until now… until now.
In addition to the benefits of this card, the United Quest℠ card (see rates and fees) currently offers its best welcome bonus. For the first time now, I want a co-branded credit card.
This is why.
The best welcome offer for joint mission card
New applicants for United Quest cards can earn 100,000 miles of bonus miles and 3,000 Prime Minister Qualifiers after spending $4,000 in purchases over the first three months. According to TPG’s July 2025 valuation, the bonus mileage is worth $1,300.
This generous welcome bonus of 100,000 miles is a bonus that I can easily use (wait for a little range).
I don’t have a United Prime Minister (or any Star Alliance) elite status, so having 3,000 PQPs in my account would be a good start as that’s 50% of the silver status requirement (a total of 6,000 PQPs or 5,000 PQPS PLUS 15 PREPIER qualified flights to ensure silver gets silver status).
Please note that to qualify for Manchester United status, you must take four United or United Express flights even if you reach the PQP threshold.
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The card also earns up to 18,000 PQP per calendar year ($1 pqp for purchases for every $20 can be applied to your primary status qualifications up to 1K Prime Minister 1K).
Premier Silver has some privileges such as rewarding miles and being able to get into the economy and seat at check-in.
The allowance does increase when you reach prime minister’s golden status, as members are also eligible for Star Alliance Gold membership. For example, because I often fly on Star Alliance Airlines, I can enjoy the lounge before the Star Alliance flight in over 1,000 lounges around the world.
Since the main golden state requires 12,000 PQPs or 10,000 PQPs, plus 30 PQFs, I will be a small part of it.
Related: Current 22 welcome bonuses are 100,000 points or more
Add reward miles for authorized users of joint card
My husband is not as obsessed with earning points and miles like I do, so he is not interested in applying for his own card and has to browse his own account and make money strategies.
Instead, he would rather be an authorized user on my card. I can manage strategies for earning and redemption, and we can all enjoy the benefits of luxury goods.
If you add authorized users to your account during the first three months after your account is open, the United Quest card will offer 10,000 bonus miles.
Not only is this an easy way to maximize income on your card through daily expenses, it is also an easy way to add 10,000 miles to my account.
Credits offset by annual fees
I expect a card with a 100,000-mile welcome bonus to receive a high annual fee. Instead, the joint Quest card has a mid-range distance of $350, similar to the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit card, which only costs $4,000 in the first three months of opening an open account and $4,000 in the first three months of purchasing.
However, if I’m paying an annual fee of $350 a year, I’m hoping to get real value from a card outside of the one-time welcome bonus. What impressed me was that even without considering the value of the miles earned, the card still has many ways to offset the annual expenses:
- $200 Credit: Cardholders will receive $200 in United Travelbank cash after the account is open and every anniversary year.
- Reward flight discount up to 20,000 miles: Each cardholder’s anniversary will automatically receive a 10,000-mile discount (starting from your first anniversary). You can then earn another 10,000 miles off after spending $20,000 in one calendar year.
- Hotel Credit: Get up to $150 credit for famous hotels and resorts.
- Airline Credit: Get up to $150 in JSX points.
- Car rental credit: Up to $40 in United Travelbank cash per person on the first two AVIs or budget car rentals booked through United Auto on each account anniversary.
- Car credit: For rides in December (optional entry required annually), you can get up to $8 monthly statement credit, as well as a bonus of $4 (total $12).
- Seat upgrade: Spend $40,000 on your card to earn both global economies and upgrades per calendar year.
- Instacart Credit: Get a $10 and a $5 monthly Instacart credit plus a three-month free Instacart+ membership (as of December 31, 2027).
- Global Entry/TSA Precheck Credit: Get $120 credit every four years for global admission or TSA Precheck.
- Lucky purchase: Received 25% of combined shipping purchases (including Wi-Fi, food and beverages).
Now, I doubt I will use all the credits the card provides. For example, I have never flew JSX, maybe never, and I have obtained global entries due to the statement credit of another card.
But even with a weekend, I can see that it’s easy for myself to recover the cost of the annual fee by doing so.
- Book a $200 roundtrip flight at United or United Express to use United Travelbank Cash Credit
- Get 25% of your purchases on the joint aircraft by paying with a card
- Stay at a famous hotel and resort property in my destination and pay with a card (up to) $150 hotel credit
- Book an AVI or budget car rental at my destination to receive (up to) $40 in United Travelbank cash
Joint Free Check Bag
I won’t fly United often, but if I book a flight with United or United Express on this card, my travel companion and I will get our first and second checked bags for free.
Given that the Federation increased its checked bags to $40 for the first bag and $50 for the second bag, this card treatment could save me money.
Miles Pluth mileage is more valuable and easier to use than you think
I’ve been cautiously transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Mileageplus since Manchester United retired and turned to dynamic pricing, fearing there won’t be a good chance of redemption.
However, as I spend hours a week searching for advantages and mileage transactions, I noticed that Mileageplus continues to offer excellent reward rates and availability. I found a large number of US flights starting at just 5,000 miles, plus $5.60 in fees and taxes.
I’m particularly happy with the awards for this summer’s Polaris Business Awards, only 80,000 miles. You can fly hundreds of flights from a variety of joint hubs to Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and other destinations. I hope I’m looking for 80,000 miles to Europe later this year and even next summer without a doubt.
Related: Book European Union Polaris Business Class for only 80,000 miles: Fly to Italy, London and 8 other destinations
This card is not perfect
Although this card has many attractive features, I wouldn’t say it’s perfect. Given the mid-year fee, I would love to see several one-time Union Club Lounge passes thrown each year, which would make up for the annual fee I mentioned above, even sweeter that weekend.
I think if I spend $20,000 on the card during the calendar year, it would be like spending 0.5 miles on the first $20,000 of the year. Given that I can get better multipliers on most categories on transferable credit cards, this is not a feature I might use.
After spending $40,000 or more cards in the calendar year, there are two certificates of economic upgrade, plus this card. Given that the economic uprising is just a normal economic seat, extra legroom on the legs, it’s a huge allowance to spend too much on the card throughout the year. If the revitalization is an upgrade to the Premium Plus for Manchester United’s premium economy, then I might consider doing so. However, I wouldn’t spend $40,000 on a card just to get a seat on a boat.
Since this card is issued by Chase, there are also Chase’s 5/24 rules to keep in mind.
Bottom line
I never thought I would consider using a unified branded credit card because it never had my radar program. I was very satisfied with Star Canada’s Aeroplan program and even redeemed past Aeroplan points to take to Manchester United.
Given that I’ve recently received approval for the Chase SapphirePreferred® card (see Rates and Fees), I’m not buying another card in the market. However, since the United Quest card provides the best quotes I can benefit from, I may apply.
The welcome bonus is huge and the stated points are too many that I can easily recover the annual fee for a long weekend.
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