United Business Card

If you’re familiar with how we analyze cards here at Monkey Miles, we break credit cards into two groups as if they were in a play, tv show, or movie: Main cast and Supporting Cast. You wallet should be comprised of cards that you use on a regular basis for all your purchases…I.e. main cast. We prefer those cards to earn you flexible points that can be converted travel partners via transfer. The second, supporting cast, are cards that give you perks and support your wallet. Those perks could be free bags, a free night every year, etc. This United Business Card would be categorized as a supporting cast member because of its benefits, and whether or not it would work for your wallet depends on if they are valuable to you.

The New United Business Card Benefits:

Here’s a list of the benefits offered on the card. The new features are bolded.

• Earn 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
• $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99.
• Receive a 5,000-mile “better together” bonus each anniversary when you have both the UnitedSM Business Card and a personal Chase United(R) credit card.
• 2x United Miles on:
  • Gas
  • Office Supplies
  • Restaurants
  • And Local Transit ( to include taxis, mass transit, tolls, and ridesare)
•  5,000 United miles on your Cardmember anniversary when you hold both the United Business Card and any personal Chase United Card
•  $100 annual United(R) travel credit after seven United flight purchases of $100 or more each anniversary year
• 25% back on United inflight purchases (includes Wi-Fi, food and beverages)
• 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. Activate by 12/31/24.
• No blackout dates
• 1st checked bag is free
• Priority boarding as a cardholder
• 2 United Club^SM one-time passes
  • This is on account opening
  • Every year on your account anniversary
• No foreign transaction fees
• Add employee cards fee-free

Creative ways to hit the minimum spend

Here’s a list of possible bills you can make use of Plastiq on – sign up with our link

• Auto Leases
• Auto Purchase
• Business Services
• Club Fees
• Mortgage
• Contractors
• Employees
• Freelancers
• Insurance
• Legal Services
• Rent/ Lease
• Tuition
• Taxes
• Utilities

Who should consider the United Business Card?

Frequent United Fliers

The annual fee is low, at $99, and if you travel much on United, you’ll easily recoup this via the 7 United flight purchases of $100 or more. This isn’t a straight up cash reimbursement, but rather, a travel credit.

Additionally, you’ll enjoy United Club passes to rest and relax prior to flight and 25% discounts in flight ( including WiFi – which is quite valuable and will add up quickly ).

Occasional United Fliers

Getting a first free bag, which is a $30 value, is great for the occasional United flier. If you do just 2 roundtrips a year on United, you’ll be ahead $20 since they charge this fee each way. Additionally, you can make use of the Untied Club passes on your occasional travel, and enjoy United Club lounges like I did at LAX by using pass.

But I don’t have a small business, Miles. You may, and not know it… Keep reading.

Chase is very friendly to entrepreneurs and small business owners. In fact, if you haven’t been in business for long, or you haven’t established yourself with an EIN, you can still apply as a Sole Proprietor ( fill in your SSN ). If you run a small side business (think bloggers, ebay sellers, tutors, consultants, etc) and want a card to segregate your business income from your personal income at tax time…this is a great opportunity to earn a load of points and help yourself out.

What’s the best way to use United Miles?

This is a great question, and one that continues to evolve. United has abandoned a traditional award chart and now prices flights variably on their own metal, but seems to be sticking to old prices on partners. With that said…if you hit the minimum spend and earn the 100k bonus you’ll have a minimum of 110k United Miles. You can do a ton with that, and the best redemptions in my mind, are in premium cabins.

United Polaris

You can fly on United Polaris starting at 62.5k one way from the US to Europe…it’s a great product. I’ve flown it on both the 772 and 772 to Tel Aviv, and Chicago respectively.

Lufthansa First Class

You could spend your entire bonus on Lufthansa First Class which United is currently pricing at 110k miles. The advantage of using United over other programs is the significantly reduced carrier charges. United does not pass these on through to you, so you’ll pay more miles, but the difference in fees could be several hundred when compared to Aeroplan, Singapore, and even Lufthansa’s own program Miles and More.

More options

• US to Africa for 80k Miles in business class ( South African now operates direct )
• US to North Asia for 70k Miles ( ANA new The Room and EVA are two insane ways to do it )
• US to Europe for 70k in business ( Swiss Throne is one of my faves + SAS )
• Utilizing the Excursionist perk on roundtrip bookings to get an extra leg of travel free
• Intra Europe flights in Economy for just 8k
• Intra Japan flights for just 5k
• US to Central America for 35k in Business, 20k in Economy ( think Machu Picchu )

Shoring up your United account with other Chase products

The final thing to consider is the ability to shore up your United account with Chase’s own Ultimate Reward earning cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred. These cards earn points that transfer 1:1 into United which means if you’re short on miles, you can easily transfer them over. A great way to extract United benefits from the United Business Card, but earn higher category bonuses with Chase.

Overall

United has made great changes to the card that not only enhance the welcome bonus, but offer compelling reasons to keep the card in your wallet. Club passes, $100 credits, 5k bonuses when in tandem with a personal United card, and a low annual fee make this a very attractive card and one we plan to add to our best card offers page.