Compare the Features and Benefits of United Gateway℠ Card and
Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

The United Gateway card does a solid job of providing enough benefits to make you wonder if it will be sufficient, vs investing $95 or more on one of the other Chase United credit cards since this is the only one with no annual fee.

The answer will depend on you.

If you fly several times a year and check a bag each time, then you’ll come out ahead paying the $95 annual fee on the United℠ Explorer Card since you’ll get free checked bags (one for you and a companion on the same itinerary) every time you pay with your card on a domestic flight. You also won’t get priority boarding with the Gateway card.

However, if you are on “Team Carry-On Only,” then this card provides many of the same benefits, including the benefit that gives you access to expanded Saver economy coach availability just like a United Silver Premier member. However, unlike all of the other United cards, you won’t be entitled to upgrades on award tickets.

Additionally, you won’t have any opportunities to earn PQPs from spending on this card whereas all the other United cards do offer that benefit.

Lastly, you might do better with a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if you aren’t using the checked bag benefit or the expanded award availability benefit. That’s because you’ll have more opportunities to earn points from spend on the Sapphire Preferred, and while you can transfer those points right over to United, you can also take advantage of all of the other Chase Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel transfer partners.

In the end, it depends on you if this is a good card for you, or if another similar card might be better.

As far as student credit cards go, the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is an easy choice since no student card offers a flat cash back rate that is higher.

With 1.5% cash back on everything, you’re both building your credit (so you can step up to credit cards with richer rewards after you graduate, and earning a nice return on your credit card spend.

Plus, you’ll get a small cash bonus when you meet the terms of the Early Spend Bonus with your new Quicksilver Student card.

Importantly, there’s no annual fee and this is not a secured credit card.

And you do have the opportunity to earn 5% cash back on hotels and rental card booked via Capital One Travel.

All around, it’s a pretty solid student credit card!