Key facts
For United flyers, this really is a killer credit card.
You’ll get a United Club membership for less than the cost of a United Club membership!
Beyond that, you’ll get IHG Platinum elite status, top tier Avis status, a slew of United benefits like Premier Access when flying United, tons of shopping protections and trip protections, and so much more.
The annual fee only looks high until you read through the long list of benefits below.
Annual Fee:
$525Min. Credit Score for Approval:
800-850 * ExcellentOngoing APR:
21.99%-28.99% VariableBalance transfer fees
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.Foreign Transaction Fee:
0%This card is easily the most feature-rich United Airlines credit card, despite the steep annual fee. And as always, it comes with a rich new cardmember bonus.
Reward multipliers
You’ll earn United miles for your purchases on this card.
Earn 4 United MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on purchases from United, including United tickets, Economy Plus®, inflight food, beverages and Wi-Fi, and other United charges.
Earn 2 United MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on all other travel purchases, including airfare, trains, local transit, cruise lines, hotels, car rentals, taxicabs, resorts, ride-share services and tolls.
Earn 2 United MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on dining including eligible delivery services.
Earn 1 United MileagePlus mile per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases.
You’ll also earn 25 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for every $500 you spend on purchases, up to 10,000 PQP a year.
Earns bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Key features
Unique Card Benefits
Receive 25% Back on United inflight Purchases and Club Premium Drink Purchases
You can receive 25% off United inflight purchases when using your United Club Infinite card, including Wi-Fi, food and beverages. In addition, get 25% off premium drinks at United Club lounges.
Earn up to 10,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs)
United elite status qualification is based on two metrics: Premier qualifying points (PQPs) and Premier qualifying flights (PQFs).
You’ll earn 25 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for every $500 you spend on purchases with your United Club Infinite Card (up to 10,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) in a calendar year) that can be applied toward your Premier status qualification — up to the Premier 1K level.
Additionally, when you spend $25k or more in a calendar year, you’ll receive a PQD waiver up to Platinum status.
10% Saver Award Flight Discount
As a United Club Infinite cardholder, you will be eligible to book award flights in United Economy on United or United Express for 10% fewer miles than without the Card.
Note that the discount is only valid for Economy Saver Awards (fare classes X and XN) for travel within the continental United States or between the continental United States and Canada.
This discount applies to all passengers on the same reservation as the primary Cardmember and the award travel must be booked through the primary Cardmember’s MileagePlus account on United’s website or app.
Expanded United Award Availability
With Expanded Award Availability, you’ll have additional access to book United economy saver awards and may even see economy award seats requiring fewer miles when logged into your MileagePlus account. We’ve seen economy saver awards at around half the public price, so this can be a valuable benefit!
Premier Upgrades on Award Tickets
If you (as the primary card holder) have Premier status and are traveling on an award ticket (along with up to one companion traveling on the same reservation), you are eligible for complimentary Premier upgrades on select United Airlines and United Express operated flights (subject to availability, as always).
Premier Access
Unlike all of the lower annual fee United credit cards, the primary Cardmember and companions traveling on the same reservation are eligible for Premier Access®.
Authorized users are eligible only if on the same reservation as the primary Cardmember.
Benefits include (where available): designated check-in lines, priority security lanes, priority boarding and priority baggage handling.
The primary Cardmember must include their MileagePlus number in their reservation to receive Premier Access.
The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
Choose from over 1,000 properties which include many of the world’s top hotels, resorts, lodges and spas, each of which extend you complimentary benefits with every stay. By making a reservation for hotel stays through the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection program, you’ll receive:
- Daily breakfast for two
- A special benefit unique to each property, such as a dining or spa credit
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- A room upgrade, if available
- Early check-in and late checkout, if available
United Card Events
As a Visa Signature card, United Club Infinite card holders can get exclusive access to select events, like culinary tastings at high-end restaurants, meet-and-greets with sports celebrities, and more. Learn more at UnitedCardEvents.com.
DoorDash Benefit
Get one-year complimentary DashPass, a membership for both DoorDash and Caviar that provides unlimited deliveries with $0 delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible orders. After that, you are automatically enrolled in DashPass at the current monthly rate. You must activate by 12/31/24.
Airport Lounge Access
The United Club card comes with a full United Club membership for the primary Cardmember and eligible travel companions. This will give you access to all United Club locations plus Star Alliance™ affiliated lounges worldwide.
This is a savings of up to $650, the price of the lounge membership without 1K status. Even 1K members pay $550. So, in all cases, you are saving $25-$125 on United Club access by holding this card and paying a $525 annual fee rather than directly buying United Club membership. I know, this sounds CRAZY – but it’s true!
Note that the card does not come with any other airport lounge access. You can also view a list of all credit cards with airport lounge access here.
Free Checked Bags
The primary United Club Infinite card holder and one companion traveling on the same reservation will each receive their 1st and 2nd checked bags free (up to $35 value for the first checked bag and up to $45 value for the second checked bag, each way, per person – for a total of up to $320 in savings per round trip. This benefit for free checked bags is valid on a domestic United-operated flight when the United Club Infinite card holder includes their United MileagePlus number in their reservation and buys their United Airlines ticket with their card.
It does not apply to international flights.
Primary Car Rental CDW Waiver
If you decline the rental car company’s collision and damage insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card, coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
Global Entry / TSA PreCheck Reimbursement
You can get a statement credit of up to $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS when charged to your card. Note that of all the issuers, only Chase reimburses NEXUS, the Canadian equivalent to Global Entry (and available to US citizens).
Grants Hotel Status
This card comes with IHG Rewards Platinum elite status, due to a marketing tie up with United and IHG, as well as potential statement credits. See the “Statement Credits” section below for more.
Grants Car Rental Status
The primary Cardmember of the United Club Infinite Card is invited to upgrade to Avis President’s Club® and enjoy complimentary two-car class upgrades, guaranteed car availability, expedited rental service and more.
Annual Statement Credits
$75 IHG Credit
When your card is used on purchases made at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) properties from 01/01/2023 through 12/31/2023, a statement credit will automatically be applied to your account – up to a maximum of $75 per calendar year. You’ll also receive IHG Platinum elite status.
Return Protection
If a store won’t take back eligible items within 90 days of purchase, you can be reimbursed – up to $500 per item, $1,000 per year. Of course, you’ll have to try to return it first!
Extended Warranty
This extended warranty protection prolongs the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
Purchase Protection
Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year.
Trip Protections
Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance
You can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable passenger fares, if your trip is cancelled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations. Note that these limits are significantly higher than the other United credit cards.
Baggage Delay Insurance
Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier up to $100 a day for 3 days when you pay for your flight with the card.
Lost Luggage Reimbursement
If you or an immediate family member check or carry-on luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier, you’re covered up to $3,000 per passenger.
Trip Delay Reimbursement
If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $300 per passenger. Again, these limits are significantly higher than the other United credit cards.
Priority Boarding
The primary card holder and all companions on the same reservation get priority boarding on United flights as part of the Premier Access described above in Unique Card Benefits.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
Purchases made with the United Club Infinite card when traveling abroad will not be subject to a foreign transaction fee.
Concierge Services
You can get complimentary Visa Signature concierge service 24 hours a day for things like sourcing tickets to sports and entertainment events, making dinner reservations and much more. Of course, card holders are still subject to paying for any third-party services or items.
No Fees for Authorized Users
Though they won’t get any of the benefits of the primary card holder, like Club access on their own. They will purely just be able to earn miles that credit to your account.
Free Access to Credit Score
You can always check your VantageScore 3.0® credit score for no cost through Chase Credit Journey on the Chase website or app.
Metal Card
Lighter than most metal cards, this one weighs in at 12 grams. Personally, I prefer a lighter card…. my wallet is heavy!!
Earn more rewards by combining credit cards
Pros & cons
- Get United Club membership for less than the cost of buying United Club membership, covering the annual fee cost and then some!
- A ton of shopping protections, from Return Protection to Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection.
- Tons of additional benefits, from Premier Access treatment to top tier Avis elite status and IHG Platinum status, and Primary CDW.
- High annual fee
- Airport lounge access is limited to United Clubs and does not include any other lounges
- Miles earned are limited to use in the United MileagePlus program
Our review
The United Club Infinite Card is a surprisingly robust offering from United Airlines and Chase.
The primary reason to get this card is because you fly United enough that you would like to have United Club lounge access for all of your flights.
The average person will save $125 by gaining United Club access via this credit card than by buying it directly. Even United 1K members come out $25 ahead. Why would anyone buy United Club access directly when it’s cheaper to pay a lower annual fee on the credit card?
By the way, the exact same thing applies to the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite MasterCard® and as well as the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Credit Card. The Delta cards even offer American Express Centurion Lounge access when flying Delta, although they also have a limit on lounge visits per year.
You also have the ability to earn the most Premier Qualifying Points towards United elite status of any of the United credit cards. You’ll earn 25 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for every $500 you spend on purchases.
Now, sure, outside of 4X miles per dollar spent on United purchases, the earn rate on other categories aren’t particularly strong. But the card’s features and benefits that we’ve described above that come on top of the United Club lounge access are incredibly compelling.
To recap, those benefits include:
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United Club lounge access
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First and second free checked bags
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Receive 25% Back on United inflight and Club Premium Drink Purchases
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Earn up to 10,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) (You’ll earn 25 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for every $500 you spend on purchases.)
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10% Saver Award Flight Discount
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Expanded Award Availability
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Premier Upgrades on Award Tickets
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Premier Access including priority check in and priority boarding
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Return Protection for Items a Store Won’t Take Back + Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection
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Access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
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Primary Car Rental CDW Insurance
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Global Entry / TSA PreCheck / NEXUS Reimbursement as a Statement Credit
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IHG Platinum Status
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Top Tier Avis President’s Club status
That’s not all of the card features, but it sure is enough to see that the value you are getting for that annual fee is pretty amazing.
Frequently asked questions
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card have an annual fee?
It’s $525. And that annual fee is covered by the card’s benefits many times over!
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card get you into airport lounges?
It gets you into United Clubs when flying United Airlines. It does not include any other lounge access.
How do I earn United miles with the United Club℠ Infinite Card?
Earn 4 United MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on purchases from United, including tickets, Economy Plus®, inflight food, beverages and Wi-Fi, and other United charges.
Earn 2 United MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on all other travel purchases, including airfare, trains, local transit, cruise lines, hotels, car rentals, taxicabs, resorts, ride-share services and tolls.
Earn 2 United MileagePlus miles per $1 spent on dining including eligible delivery services.
Earn 1 United MileagePlus mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Miles will be directly deposited monthly into your United MileagePlus account.
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card charge foreign transaction fees?
No, you’ll never pay a foreign transaction fee with the United Club Infinite card when traveling abroad.
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card have car rental coverage?
Yes, and it’s primary. If you decline the rental car company’s collision and damage insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card, coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card come with any Elite Status?
The Club℠ Infinite card comes with both IHG Platinum status and Avis’ President’s Club (top tier) status.
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card offer extended warranty?
Yes, the United Club Infinite offers extended warranty protection that extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card offer purchase protection?
Yes, it covers you for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year.
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card offer trip protections?
Yes! Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption / Trip Delay Insurance + more.
What credit score do I need to get the United Club℠ Infinite Card?
Chase will likely want to see an Excellent credit score in the mid 700’s or better.
Does the United Club℠ Infinite Card have Cell Phone Protection?
No, this is not a feature of the United Club℠ Infinite Card. See other credit cards with cell phone protection.