The latest change from United Airlines suggests they want people to get their credit card so badly, they will penalize everyone who doesn’t.

The latest major announcement from United Airlines outlines a major change to how you earn and redeem points. Let’s walk through all the facts and then propose an alternative.

The best MileagePlus earn rates require the credit card

United is apparently going all-in when it comes to its portfolio of credit cards. They’re making the message louder than any other airlines before it declared: if you want the best treatment from the airline, you must have their credit card.

The first part of this message deals with new mileage earn rates when crediting to United Airlines. The following table helps summarize the changes:

In short, if you have a United credit card, you can earn 1 extra mile/dollar spent. But if you don’t have a credit card, you’ll lose 2 miles/dollar. Another way to say it, they’re lowering earn rates for general members without a credit card by 40% and in turn increasing earn rates by 20% for general members with the card. That’s a pretty heavy penalty.

Importantly, you can’t just have any United card and get the extra miles. If you have either the United MileagePlus Debit Rewards Card or United Gateway Card, you must first spend $10,000 on that card before the higher earn rates apply. Sadly, this applies per calendar year for that same calendar year. Thus, there’s an annual requirement of $10,000 to spend and any flights you take before that spend is met won’t get you the higher rates. That’s pretty painful.

The arbitrary mileage earning cap of 75,000 per ticket still applies. That means a Premier 1K spending more than $6,250 on a flight will hit that cap. Having higher status with the airline makes it easier to reach the cap. Seems a bit ridiculous of them to penalize their most loyal customers with that cap.

However, one good thing is that you don’t have to book your travel with that United credit card to get the higher earn rate. This is important for anyone incurring business travel where funds come from an employer’s account, not your credit card. If only the same could be true for getting free checked bags; you still need to book with your United credit card to get that free.

Earn more miles from some United credit cards too

On top of the changing earn rates above, you might also notice that you’ll earn more miles by using a United Airlines credit card that has an annual fee:

• United Explorer Card: was 2 miles/dollar, now 3 miles/dollar
• United Quest Card: was 3 miles/dollar, now 4 miles/dollar
• United Club Card: was 4 miles/dollar, now 5 miles/dollar

In terms of earning more miles, this is good news. It gives more reason for members to use their United credit cards to purchase airfare though the American Express Platinum card (5X on airfare) still seems like the better option.

Basic Economy gets further destroyed

Previously, there was a “penalty” for choosing United’s basic economy product. However, the penalty was strictly related to seats (fee required), upgrades (none), changeability (none), and carry on bags (none). You used to still earn the same number of miles as before. That’s now changed with the update starting April 2, 2026:

Painfully, general members choosing basic economy without a credit card will earn nothing for traveling on United. Even if you have the credit card, there’s a “tax” of 3 miles/dollar across all loyalty levels for choosing basic economy.

I think loyalty programs have forgotten the mantra that got them so successful in the first place. It’s great to get something from the airline that turns a customer into a repeat customer. Mileage from an airline can achieve exactly that. But after a basic economy flight where you earn nothing? I’d have no reason to choose United specifically again.

Isn’t it telling that basic economy was billed as a tool used by the full service airlines to compete against the low cost carriers, but now by offering no miles, they’ve become even more restrictive than the low cost carriers they tried to imitate? Frontier has a loyalty program as a way to keep their customers loyal, and they offer miles on all their fares. In what world can United (and American) think they can get away with no reason for customers to return? Sure, they can make the short-term financials look good to investors but the real problems lie long-term.

United follows Delta’s lead and charges more miles for awards for non-cardholders

Say it with me: a discount for having the credit card is the same thing as a surcharge for not having the card.

With that out of the way, United is also introducing a higher award fee if you do not get one of their credit cards:

New: Unlock extra savings when booking with miles

Starting April 2, eligible United Cardmembers will be able to enjoy at least 10% savings on United flights booked with miles, and Premier members who have an eligible card get at least 15% savings. That’s a plus. This Cardmember award pricing is valid on United or United Express® award flights only, not Money + Miles tickets. Taxes and fees are not included.

If you’ll recall, Delta has its own promotion they call “TakeOff 15” that achieves a similar purpose: have a credit card and get a discount on award travel. Has this lowered the price of Delta awards? No, I don’t think anyone would have a compelling argument. But this is ultimately just part of the current strategy of recognizing loyalty for those who also have a credit card.

United was already reserving some availability to its own elite members, but this just takes it a step further. The intent of all of this is just to make people hang onto their card at renewal rather than giving it up. You might fly United infrequently, but a 10% savings for a United award and all you have to do is keep the United Explorer card on hand ($150 annual fee)? Maybe you will keep it open just to use up your miles.

The same restriction applies to the United MileagePlus Debit Rewards Card and United Gateway Card. You must spend $10,000 on those cards before receiving the mileage discount. However, unlike with the earn rate, the spend unlocks the 10% discount for the following calendar year as well.

The move alienates certain customers, including children and foreigners

We’ve already pointed out that this move hurts those flying basic economy without a credit card. But who else does this impact?

• Children, who are unable to open a credit card under their own name. United attempts to account for this by allowing adults share their cardholder status with children. But if you’re a child growing up in a poor family that can’t open a United credit card, you’ll be penalized while a child from a richer family gets more benefits. I don’t think that’s the messaging United intended, but inevitably, that might be the outcome.
  
• Foreigners, who cannot open a credit card because there is none to open. United has a list of credit cards that they offer in foreign countries, but there’s a big gap on where you can get a card. On top of that, some cards (like 4 of the 5 cards in Japan and the 1 card in Australia) will not give you the award discount. They should have just said foreigners are exempt from the poor earn rates. Funny how this seems to be overlooked by loyalty programs.

You may want to consider crediting United flights elsewhere

This strategy for United Airlines of giving members more miles for getting a credit card is actually shortsighted. That’s because you can still fly United and credit it to one of their partners. And guess what? There’s no penalty for having a credit card or not.

The best place to start assessing how many points you can earn is by going to wheretocredit.com and entering your flight information.

Flying United Airlines in fare class N (basic economy) and want to credit to a different loyalty program? You’ll get a list of earn rates by travel partner. However, the information can be outdated, so it’s best to confirm the rates are correct by going to your loyalty program of choice to validate the information.

I get the feeling plenty of passengers might just credit their United flights elsewhere. If you don’t have a United credit card, it almost seems like a must now.

Suggested reading:

• United TravelBank: “Loophole” Get Patched, Life Moves On
• Alexander’s Steakhouse Pasadena – An Excellent Evening with United
• The New United-JetBlue Partnership: Scarce Award Deals