The last word information to incomes elite standing with United playing cards

Editor’s notice: This can be a recurring submit, repeatedly up to date with the newest info.

United Airways MileagePlus members with cobranded Chase bank cards can earn Premier qualifying factors towards United elite standing just by spending on these playing cards. And, as a part of United’s latest bank card refresh, a few of these playing cards now permit you to earn much more PQPs.

There are two methods to earn United’s coveted Premier elite standing and all the advantages that include it: by incomes PQPs alone or by incomes a mixture of PQPs and taking Premier qualifying flights. Both approach, you’ll want numerous PQPs. Apart from spending on United bank cards and buying PQPs (which is never value doing), the one technique to earn PQPs is thru flying — or, maybe extra precisely, spending numerous cash on United and Star Alliance flights.

So, is incomes PQPs on a bank card by way of on a regular basis spending higher than breaking the financial institution on flights? Usually, you’ll have the most effective luck utilizing a mixture of the 2. Let’s take a look at how MileagePlus bank cards earn PQPs towards elite standing.

Associated: What precisely is elite standing in journey — and the way can I get it?

Incomes PQPs on United bank cards

Through the years, United MileagePlus has made it simpler and simpler to earn PQPs with bank cards — whereas additionally making it tougher to earn elite standing.

In 2024, United instituted an incomes charge of 25 PQPs per $500 spent on a lot of its cobranded playing cards (as much as every card’s PQP most). This was notably higher than earlier than, as you needed to spend a minimum of $12,000 to earn any PQPs through United playing cards.

Since then, United has modified the incomes charge to 1 PQP per $15 or $20 spent, relying on the cardboard. This makes it simpler to work your approach towards United elite standing, as you now not must spend in increments of $500 to begin incomes PQPs.

Moreover, all card-earned PQPs now depend towards any standing degree, together with the PQP-only requirement for top-tier Premier 1K. This wasn’t all the time the case for Premier 1K.

Nevertheless, even with these modifications, incomes PQPs from bank card spending isn’t as simple as incomes Loyalty Factors towards American Airways elite standing with a bank card. The incomes charges are comparatively low (in comparison with 1 Loyalty Level per greenback spent for American), and every card has a restrict on what number of PQPs you may earn.

Right here, we’ll break down how every United cobranded card earns PQPs towards elite standing and clarify their present welcome bonuses.

Playing cards that don’t earn PQPs

There are a number of no-annual-fee United playing cards that don’t earn PQPs by way of bank card spending:

• United Gateway℠ Card: Earn 30,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000 on qualifying purchases within the first three months from opening an account (see charges and costs).
• United MileagePlus Card with no annual price (now not open to new candidates)
• United TravelBank Card (now not open to new candidates)

The knowledge for the United MileagePlus Card and United TravelBank Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.

Playing cards that earn PQPs

The next United playing cards earn PQPs, although incomes charges differ barely and incomes caps differ much more. As a part of United’s latest bank card modifications, the PQP incomes caps on a number of of those playing cards have been raised, permitting you to earn way more PQPs annually than beforehand doable.

A few of these are now not obtainable to new cardmembers, but when you have already got them in your pockets, they could possibly be a helpful addition to your United elite standing technique.

The knowledge for the MileagePlus Awards, MileagePlus Card with an annual price, MileagePlus Enterprise, MileagePlus Choose, Presidential Plus, Presidential Plus Enterprise, and Membership Enterprise playing cards has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.

As you may see, most playing cards assist you to pursue United elite standing at a charge of 1 PQP per $20 spent. The United Membership and United Membership Enterprise playing cards earn at a sooner charge of 1 PQP per $15 spent.

Two of those playing cards additionally present a head begin towards standing: 1,000 bonus PQPs annually for the Quest card and 1,500 bonus PQPs annually for the Membership card. To place this in perspective, incomes 1,500 PQPs by way of spending on the Membership card would require $22,500 in purchases — so, if United elite standing is essential to you, this PQP head begin perk may assist offset the hefty $695 annual price on this premium bank card.

Associated: The most effective bank cards to achieve elite standing

Are you able to earn United elite standing with bank cards?

Since United raised the PQP incomes caps on so many playing cards, chances are you’ll be questioning: Can I earn United Premier standing solely with bank card spending? The reply is … probably not.

First off, to be eligible for any United elite standing tier, it’s essential to take a minimum of 4 United or United Categorical flights in a calendar yr. So, though United helps you to earn standing with PQPs alone (or a mixture of PQPs and Premier qualifying flights), it’s essential to nonetheless fly a minimum of 4 occasions to earn any standing.

As soon as you are taking these 4 flights, which can earn you a minimum of a number of PQPs (even on primary economic system tickets and flights booked with miles), you might earn the remainder of the PQPs wanted for standing with bank cards alone — in idea.

For instance, now you can earn as much as 18,000 PQPs on the United Quest card — sufficient to achieve worthwhile Premier Platinum standing. However this could require some critical spending. After receiving the Quest card’s annual bonus of 1,000 PQPs, you would want to spend $340,000 on the cardboard to earn the remaining 17,000 PQPs wanted to realize Platinum standing. This type of spending isn’t possible for many of us.

The one exception is likely to be the United Membership Enterprise card. You possibly can earn as much as 28,000 PQPs in a yr (sufficient for top-tier Premier 1K standing) by spending $420,000 on the cardboard — which could possibly be attainable for some enterprise house owners.

You’re typically higher off taking pictures for standing with a mixture of flights and PQPs. Paid United flights in all fare lessons earn 1 PQP per greenback spent on base airfare and carrier-imposed surcharges — a a lot sooner charge than incomes PQPs with bank cards. And in the event you pay to your flight with a United card, you may double dip. For example, in case your base fare was $100 and also you paid with the Quest card, which earns 1 PQP per $20 spent, you’d nab a complete of 105 PQPs.

Don’t overlook you could now stack PQPs earned on a number of United playing cards. Up to now, MileagePlus members have been restricted to a most of 15,000 complete PQPs throughout all bank cards, however these days are gone. You’ll nonetheless be restricted to every card’s PQP incomes cap, however in the event you max out one card, you might begin spending on one other to earn extra PQPs.

Associated: United launches new standing match provide for 2025 

Backside line

MileagePlus members can now earn extra PQPs by way of United bank cards than ever earlier than. Nevertheless, you’ll want a whole lot of spending to earn a major variety of PQPs on these playing cards, regardless of some playing cards’ enhanced perks like annual PQP bonuses. Usually, it’s not sensible to earn United elite standing with bank cards alone. Plus, it’s important to take a minimum of 4 United flights to qualify for standing anyway.

Nevertheless, the flexibility to complement PQPs earned on flights with PQPs earned on bank cards makes United elite standing extra attainable. The most effective strategy for many vacationers is a mixture of the 2. In case you’re pursuing Premier standing this yr and also you maintain a United bank card — otherwise you’re contemplating making use of for one — you’ll want to assessment every card’s up to date PQP incomes tips, advantages and annual charges to grasp your choices.