We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Monkey Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
United Club℠ Infinite Card
The Chase United Club Infinite credit card is the flagship United cobranded card issued by Chase. It carries a $525 annual fee, but if you fly United a lot, and you’re looking for a cheaper entry point to the United Club network ( retail $650) , this card is well worth considering. It’s also offering a 100k welcome offer, IHG Platinum Status, United Premier Access, 1st and 2nd bags checked, and several other United-centric benefits. It’s a solid card for those of you who fly United a ton or if you’re just based out of a United hub and you’d like to have club access when you do fly. Let’s take a look and break this bad mamma jamma down.
Chase United Club Infinite Welcome Offer and Benefits
- 80k welcome bonus after $5k spend
- United Club Membership
- $525 Annual Fee
- United Premier Access
- Earn 500 Premier Qualifying points for every $12k spend you put on the card
- maxed at 8,000 PQP
- IHG Rewards Platinum Status + $75 statement credit
- Through 12/31/22 you will get a $75 statement credit when you make purchases at IHG Hotels and Resorts
- $100 Global Entry/TSA Pre credit
- 1st and 2nd checked bag is free
- Clear perks
- Up to 4k PQPs via spend
- 10% back on Economy Saver Award tickets
- 25% back on inflight purchases
- 25% back as a statement credit on premium drink purchases made in United Clubs with their United Card.
- 4x United Miles on:
- Gas
- Office Supplies
- Restaurants
- And Local Transit ( to include taxis, mass transit, tolls, and ridesare)
- 2x United Miles on
- travel
- restaurants
- eligible food delivery services, including Caviar, DoorDash, GrubHub, and Seamless
- No blackout dates
- No foreign transaction fees
80k Welcome Offer
Very straight forward. Spend $5k in 3 months and earn 80k United Miles.
Prior offers:
- 120k welcome offer after $6k spend in 3 months
- No welcome offer – waived annual fee
- 100k offer after $5k spend, no waived fee
- 80k offer after $5k spend
Business class to Europe on United flights starts at 60k, so after minimum spend is hit, you’d have enough points to fly roundtrip in United Polaris
United Club Membership
Arguably this is the biggest reason you’d get this card and keep it. It offers you a United Club Membership for the annual fee of $525. Compare this to the purchase cash price of $650. This is one of the best ways to have United Club access + the other benefits of the card.
1st and 2nd bags are free for you and a companion
United charges the following for checking a bag
- $35 for first checked bag
- $45 for second checked bag
Having this card could conceivably save you $80 per person each way, or $320 roundtrip. A couple of those a year and you’re money ahead on the card. But…odds are you’re probably not checking 2 bags on your trips so crunch the numbers.
United Premier Access – enhance your check-in, boarding, and possibly get upgrades
United Premier Access is kind of like having United status, or flying in business/first, which is pretty cool via a credit card and may save you spending money chasing benefits that you could have through a credit card. You’ll get the following benefits not only for you, but if you’re traveling with someone as well.
- Premier Access
- check-in
- Security lane
- Priority Boarding
- Priority baggage handling
Earn up to 8,000 Premier qualifying points
- You’ll earn 500 PQP for every $12,000 you spend on purchases
- up to 8,000 PQP in a calendar year
- This helps your Premier status qualification,
- capped at Premier 1K
10% back on United Economy Saver flights
If you see a United economy saver award ticket, United Club Infinite cardholders will save 10% on that award price.
United members have discount Clear pricing
This isn’t a perk of the card, but rather a perk of being a Mileage Plus member in general and worth remembering.
IHG One Rewards Platinum Status + $75 statement credit
IHG has recently revamped their award tiers and this card gives you IHG One Rewards Platinum status. Until December 31st, 2022 it will also give you a $75 statement credit when you make purchases at IHG hotels and resorts.
Access Chase Luxury Hotel Collection
You’ll have access to a program that is similar to American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, Virtuoso, etc. I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on this program sine almost any hotel chain you’d want to book a night with has VIP program that anyone can book through – the full list is here. With that said, it’s always good to have another option to compare against.
- Go here and enter your Chase card info
- Daily breakfast for two
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- Special benefit unique to each property, such as a dining or spa credit, greens fees, or other privilege.
Recap
If you’re a United loyalist, this is a best over offer on their most premium card + you get discounted access to their United Club, and a bevy of additional benefits as well. These will be in vary in value to most people, but the primary value is extracted from discounted Club Access and maybe the Premier Access as well. That can make your life flying United much more enjoyable.
Do I have it? Will I get it?
This isn’t a card that I have, or really plan on getting anytime in the near future. Why? I don’t fly United enough to justify paying $525 a year for a card whose most lucrative benefit is access to their United Clubs.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
80k offer in branch currently – I think this should be online soon
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Super solid welcome offer.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash , Ink Business Unlimited you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
There is currently an 80k offer after $4k spend in 3 months available in branch, and up to 90k after $6k spend in 6 months. I suspect some version of this will be online soon if you don’t want the hassle of going into a branch.
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 60k is a very, very good offer. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back. .
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
6 Comments