Earn up to 150k Miles

The travel and airline industry is still recovering as the world emerges from the pandemic. Airlines are running slews of promotions to get customers onboard and in the air. One of those methods is by offering huge welcome bonuses on their credit cards.

Now, Chase is boosting the welcome bonuses on its United Airlines’ co-branded credit cards — with one of the offers reaching an all-time high. In fact, this may be the largest welcome bonus ever on an airline credit card.

Chase increased the welcome bonuses on these three cards:

These cards also come with a handful of benefits that are great for United flyers, like free checked bags (for the Explorer and Business card) and access to more award seats on United when booking flights with miles.

Limited-time welcome offer: New cardmembers of the United℠ Business Card can earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Plus, earn an additional 75,000 bonus miles after spending $20,000 total in the first six months of account opening.

Select’s take: This is the highest-ever public welcome offer for the United Business Card, and one of the largest bonuses we’ve ever seen on a airline credit card. If you can qualify for a business credit card (it may be easier than you think) and meet the minimum spending requirements, it’s hard to pass up this bonus. Earning 150,000 bonus miles could potentially get you a lot of flights on United, since domestic award prices can be as low as 5,000 miles one-way.

Limited-time welcome offer: New cardmembers of the United℠ Explorer Card will earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Plus, earn an additional 10,000 bonus miles after spending $6,000 in the first six months.

Select’s take: This isn’t a spectacular bonus compared to the United Business card, but it is 5,000 miles higher than what the United Explorer Card previously offered — plus it comes with a lower minimum spending requirement. If you’re a United flyer looking for a personal credit card, this is a solid choice.

Limited-time welcome offer: With the United Gateway℠ Card you can earn up to 15,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Plus, earn an additional 15,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first six months.

Select’s take: The Gateway card is offering a bonus that is 10,000 miles higher than the previous offer, which could make it worthwhile since this card usually doesn’t often see a very high welcome offer. This United credit card is a good option for those who don’t want to pay for an annual fee.

The United credit cards fall under Chase’s 5/24 rule, which means that you can’t be approved for one if you’ve opened five or more personal credit cards (from any card issuer) within the past 24 months. For instance, if you’ve opened two Citi cards and three Amex cards within the past 24 months, then you will likely be denied for a new Chase card until your 5/24 score decreases.

If you’re looking for a travel credit card but want more flexibility with your points, take a look at the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which is currently offering a welcome bonus of 100,000 points after new cardholders spend $4,000 in the first three months of account opening. You can transfer Chase points to United (or one of its 12 other transfer partners) at a 1:1 ratio, meaning you could have 100,000 United miles after earning that welcome bonus.

And if you use those 100,000 Chase points with the Chase Travel Portal, which allows you to book nearly any flight, hotel or rental car, your points are worth 25% more and you can get $1,250 toward travel from the bonus.