United Quest Card Review (2026): Benefits, Credits and Who It’s For

Card image: Chase · Part of my Credit Card Reviews · Last checked: October 14, 2026

Card benefits change often, and this page may be out of date by the time you read it. Always check the bank’s page and your card’s guide to benefits for the current terms before you rely on a benefit.

The United Quest is the step above the Explorer: a $350 annual fee, $200 in United TravelBank cash every year, a 10,000-mile award discount every anniversary, free first and second checked bags for you and a companion, Group 2 boarding, and 1 Premier qualifying point per $20 spent up to 18,000 a year.

Unlike the Explorer, it has two credits that are easy for anyone who flies United once or twice a year, and that’s what makes the fee work. Below is how it earns, what each credit takes, the United perks with their catches, the protections in Chase’s own numbers, and my verdict.

Jump to: Highlights · Earning · Credits · United perks · Insurance · Application rules · My take · The catch · Keep it? · Offer history · Quick Answers

The highlights

• 4x on United purchases (10x total on United flights with MileagePlus member miles), 5x Renowned Hotels and Resorts through Chase Travel, 2x other travel, dining and select streaming, 1x elsewhere
• $200 United TravelBank cash at account opening and every anniversary, for United flights, expiring after 12 months
• 10,000-mile award discount every anniversary (from the first), plus a second one after $20,000 in spend in a calendar year
• Free first and second checked bags for you and one companion on the same reservation, when you buy the ticket with the card; Group 2 boarding
• At least 10% off United award prices (15% for Premier members), on United-operated flights only
• $180 Instacart credit: $10 plus $5 per month through 12/31/2027, needs an active Instacart+ membership (free for 3 months, then 50% off)
• $150 Renowned Hotels credit on prepaid stays, $80 Avis or Budget credit and $150 JSX credit, per anniversary year
• $100 rideshare credit: $8 per month ($12 in December), enrollment required every year
• 1 PQP per $20 spent up to 18,000 PQP a year, plus 1,000 bonus PQP each year; two Economy Plus upgrades after $40,000 in spend
• Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS credit up to $120 every 4 years; 25% back on United inflight purchases
• Primary rental car coverage up to $60,000, trip delay at 12 hours, trip cancellation, baggage delay, lost luggage and purchase protection; no foreign transaction fees

How it earns

Category	Rate	Caps and fine print
United flights	4x from the card (10x total)	The other 6x is what any MileagePlus member earns on the fare; Basic Economy earns less, Premier members earn more.
Other United purchases	4x	Seat upgrades, Economy Plus, inflight food and Wi-Fi, bag fees and other United fees.
Renowned Hotels and Resorts for United Cardmembers	5x	Prepaid stays booked through Chase Travel only.
All other travel	2x	Other airlines, hotels, rental cars, trains, transit, taxis, rideshare, tolls and cruises.
Dining	2x	Includes takeout and eligible delivery.
Select streaming services	2x	—
Everything else	1x	—

Miles go straight to your United MileagePlus account and don’t expire. United miles don’t transfer anywhere, so this card only makes sense if you’ll redeem on United or its Star Alliance partners. The card earns 1 Premier qualifying point (PQP) per $20 spent, up to 18,000 PQP a calendar year, plus a 1,000 PQP bonus posted each February starting the year after you open it, which is a real help toward United status.

Credits and how to use them

Two of these (the $200 TravelBank cash and the anniversary award discount) are easy if you fly United. The rest need a specific booking channel or a monthly habit.

Credit	Amount	How often	Where / how	The catch
United travel credit	$200 in TravelBank cash	At account opening and each anniversary	Added automatically to your MileagePlus account; use it on United or United Express flights	United flights only, and it expires 12 months after it’s issued. The easy one if you fly United at least once a year.
Anniversary award discount	10,000 miles off one award	Each anniversary, starting with the first	Automatic; applied when you book an award of more than 10,000 miles with at least one United segment	Expires 12 months after it’s issued; not for Money + Miles.
Second award discount	10,000 miles off one award	Calendar year	Spend $20,000 on the card in a calendar year	Spend-gated; same rules as the anniversary discount.
Renowned Hotels and Resorts credit	Up to $150	Each anniversary year	Prepaid (“Pay Now”) stays booked through Renowned Hotels and Resorts for United Cardmembers in Chase Travel	These are luxury hotels at prepaid rates, so the credit only helps if you’d book one of them anyway.
Instacart credits	$10 + $5 a month (up to $180 a year)	Monthly, through 12/31/2027	Each credit on its own Instacart order of $10+, with an active Instacart+ membership activated through Chase	Using both means two orders a month, and unused credits expire at month end. Chase’s terms give 3 months of Instacart+ free, then it renews automatically at 50% off the $99 yearly price (about $50).
Rideshare credit	$8 a month, $12 in December (up to $100 a year)	Monthly, calendar year	Rideshare purchases with the card	You have to enroll again every year, and anything over the monthly amount is lost.
Avis or Budget credit	$40 + $40 in TravelBank cash	Each anniversary year	First and second rentals of 2+ days booked through MileagePlus Travel, paid in full with the card	Paid as TravelBank cash, which only works on United flights and expires after 12 months.
JSX credit	Up to $150	Each anniversary year	JSX bookings made with the card	JSX is a semi-private jet service on a limited set of routes, so most people will never use this.
Economy Plus upgrades	Two global upgrades	Calendar year	Spend $40,000 on the card in a calendar year	Primary cardmember only, subject to availability, use within 12 months.
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS	Up to $120	Once every 4 years	Pay the application fee with the card	—

United perks and how they work

• Free first and second checked bags for you and one companion on the same reservation, on United and United Express flights (not codeshares); Chase says that’s worth up to $440 per round trip. Top tier: it’s the only card I review that waives a second bag on international flights too (the Delta cards waive the second bag on domestic flights only, and the other airline cards only the first). You have to buy the ticket with the card (waived for flights in the first 90 days) and put your MileagePlus number on the reservation.
• Group 2 priority boarding for you and companions on the same reservation, after Premier members and before general boarding, so you’re more likely to find overhead bin space.
• Cardmember award pricing: at least 10% fewer miles on United and United Express award flights (15% if you have Premier status), booked from your own MileagePlus account. It doesn’t apply to partner flights or Money + Miles.
• Premier upgrades on award tickets: if you have United Premier status, you and one companion on the same award reservation can get complimentary Premier upgrades on select flights, which United otherwise doesn’t give on award tickets.
• PQP toward status: 1 PQP per $20 spent (up to 18,000 PQP a year) plus 1,000 bonus PQP each year. PQP are the dollar-based half of United’s status requirements, so heavy spenders can earn a large part of Premier status from the card.
• No United Club access or passes; you get 25% back on premium drinks in United Clubs and on inflight food, drinks and Wi-Fi.
• Renowned Hotels and Resorts stays booked through Chase Travel also come with a $100 property credit.

Insurance and protections

Benefit	What the bank says
Auto rental collision damage waiver	Primary, up to $60,000 for theft and collision damage on most rentals with an MSRP of $125,000 or less (secondary inside the U.S. for New York residents)
Trip cancellation / interruption	Up to $1,500 per covered traveler and $6,000 per trip for prepaid, non-refundable fares One-way and award tickets: Yes to both: the guide’s trip definition covers round-trip or one-way fares paid all or in part with the card or with rewards earned on a Chase card, and fares paid with rewards are reimbursed in dollars.
Trip delay	Up to $500 per covered traveler after a delay of more than 12 hours or an overnight stay One-way and award tickets: Yes to both: one-ways count, and an award ticket counts if you charge a portion of the fare (the taxes and fees) to the card.
Baggage delay	Up to $100 a day for up to 3 days after a 6-hour delay One-way and award tickets: Yes to both, same rule as trip delay.
Lost luggage	Up to $3,000 per covered traveler (for New York residents, also limited to $2,000 per bag) One-way and award tickets: Yes to both, same rule as trip delay.
Purchase protection	120 days, up to $10,000 per item (90 days for New York residents)
Extended warranty	Adds one year to U.S. warranties of three years or less

Amounts are from Chase’s card page; the one-way and award ticket rules come from Chase’s Guide to Benefits for the United Explorer and United Quest (effective 10/01/24). Claims always need receipts and the carrier’s delay confirmation.

For how this compares with other cards, see my card travel benefits comparison.

Application rules for this card

• The card isn’t available if you have it now, or if you received a new cardmember bonus on this card in the last 24 months (Chase’s offer terms, checked October 14, 2026). The rule is written per card, so the Explorer or Gateway doesn’t block the Quest bonus.
• Chase’s 5/24 rule applies: you’ll be denied if you’ve opened 5 or more personal cards from any bank in the last 24 months.
• Chase may claw back the bonus miles if you close the account within six months.

The full rules for every bank are in my credit card application rules guide.

My take

A $350 fee, but the $200 TravelBank cash is close to free money if you fly United at least once a year, making it more like $150 in my eyes. The anniversary 10,000-mile award discount is worth roughly another $100 or more if you book one United award a year, which brings the real fee near zero before you count the bags.

The bags are the other half: two free checked bags for you and a companion on every United trip is something no other card I review matches, and for a couple who checks bags it can be worth more than the fee on its own. The PQP earning is a real bonus for anyone chasing United status.

The rideshare, Instacart, JSX, Renowned Hotels and Avis credits add up to a big number on paper, but I would count them as zero unless you already use those services.

In any case, I personally would hate to sign up at 80,000 miles when 100,000 plus 3,000 PQP was available in the past.

The catch

Everything easy on this card is United-only: the TravelBank cash, the award discount and the bags. The TravelBank cash expires 12 months after it’s issued and can’t be combined with Money + Miles, so if a year goes by without a United trip you lose it.

There’s no lounge access, not even the two one-time passes the cheaper Explorer gives, and United miles don’t transfer anywhere. United prices awards dynamically, so the 10% cardmember discount is off a moving price.

The rideshare, Instacart, JSX, Renowned Hotels and Avis credits are truly bad unless you already spend in these categories. Chase, like other banks with similar types of hard-to-use credits, hopes that you forget to use these benefits.

Keep it after year one?

The fee to me is $350 minus the easy-to-use $200 TravelBank cash, which equals $150, and the anniversary award discount covers most of that if you book a United award each year. Keep it if you fly United a couple of times a year and check bags. If you’ve stopped flying United regularly, ask Chase to move you to the Explorer ($150, still a free first bag) or the no-fee Gateway rather than paying for credits you won’t use (unused TravelBank cash and discounts may be removed when you switch).

Offer history

Offer	Ended
100K + 3,000 PQP after $4K in 3 months (best ever)	2025-08

Quick Answers

Last checked: October 14, 2026. Card terms change often, so confirm on the bank’s page before you apply. There are no affiliate or referral links on this site, ever; links go to the bank’s own page.