United Quest Card

Rewards by category

Our take

Start with the fine print: the 10x United advertises on its own flights is a marketing composite. Six of those miles are the MileagePlus member miles any traveler earns on the fare; the card itself adds 4x, and that 4x card earn is what SwipeCaddy ranks. The exclusions matter too — United Cruises, MileagePlus X, and some discount-site and package bookings don't qualify, and the headline 5x hotel rate applies only to prepaid Renowned Hotels and Resorts stays booked through Chase Travel.

The $350 annual fee looks steep until you do the arithmetic. You get $200 in United TravelBank cash at opening and every anniversary, plus a 10,000-mile award-flight discount each anniversary — with a second one after $20,000 in calendar-year spend. Add free first and second checked bags for you and a companion when the ticket is bought with the card, priority boarding, monthly rideshare and Instacart statement credits (enrollment required), and a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit, and the fee pencils for anyone flying United a few times a year.

The earn table is a 4x specialist with a wide 2x band. United purchases — tickets, seat upgrades, Economy Plus, inflight food, beverage and Wi-Fi, and bag fees — earn 4x, roughly 4.4% at SwipeCaddy's conservative 1.1-cent MileagePlus valuation. Nearly everything travel-adjacent earns 2x: dining, non-United airfare, hotels outside the Renowned portal, cruise lines, car rentals, local transit, rideshare, tolls, and select streaming. Everything else falls to the 1x base, there are no foreign transaction fees, and new cardmembers can earn 60,000 miles after $4,000 in purchases within 90 days.

In the United family, Quest is the middle child by design: the $150 Explorer sits below for occasional flyers, and the $695 Club sits above for lounge regulars. Quest earns its slot if you fly United often enough to spend the TravelBank $200 and burn an award discount every year — status chasers also get 1,000 bonus PQP annually plus 1 PQP per $20 spent, capped at 18,000 PQP per year. In your wallet, deal it for United purchases and the 2x travel-and-dining band, and route groceries and other everyday spending to a flat-rate cash-back card.

The math

Run $250 a month of hotels through this card and you're earning about $165 a year at our conservative valuations. Against the $350 annual fee, that top rate needs roughly $850 a month of hotels spend before it beats a no-fee flat 2% card.

Store bonuses

• United Airlines4x

Key benefits

• $200 in United TravelBank cash at opening and every anniversary
• 10,000-mile award-flight discount each anniversary (plus another after $20,000 calendar-year spend)
• 1,000 bonus PQP yearly plus 1 PQP per $20 spent (18,000 PQP/yr cap)
• Free first and second checked bags for you and a companion (ticket bought with the card) and priority boarding
• Monthly rideshare and Instacart statement credits (enrollment required) and a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit

Common questions

Does United Quest Card have an annual fee?

Yes — $350 per year.

What does United Quest Card earn on hotels?

5x on hotels (book via renowned hotels and resorts via chase travel).

What rewards does United Quest Card earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in United MileagePlus.

Does the United Quest Card really earn 10x on United flights?

Not from the card alone. The advertised 10x is a composite: 6x are MileagePlus member miles earned on the fare simply for being a member, and 4x is the card's own earn — the number SwipeCaddy ranks. The 4x covers tickets bought from United plus seat upgrades, Economy Plus, inflight purchases, and bag fees, but United Cruises, MileagePlus X, and some discount-site and package bookings are excluded.

Is the United Quest Card's $350 annual fee worth it?

It pencils if you actually fly United. The $200 in TravelBank cash arrives at opening and every anniversary, the 10,000-mile award-flight discount lands each anniversary (with a second after $20,000 in calendar-year spend), and free first and second checked bags for you and a companion can erase the rest in one or two round trips — the ticket just has to be bought with the card.

Does the United Quest Card help me earn United status?

Yes, within limits. It grants 1,000 bonus PQP each year and adds 1 PQP for every $20 you spend on the card, capped at 18,000 PQP per calendar year. That won't buy status by itself, but for someone who already flies United, everyday spending on the card meaningfully shortens the runway.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.