United Gateway Card Review: No Annual Fee & 20K Miles

Link: Apply now for the United Gateway℠ Card

Chase and United offer a suite of co-branded credit cards. In this post, I wanted to take a look at the United Gateway℠ Card, which is the no annual fee card that’s part of this portfolio. Airline credit cards are largely worth getting for the perks, so can a no annual fee airline card offer value?

United Airlines Gateway Card Basics For March 2024

The United Gateway Card is one of the better no annual fee airline credit cards out there, both in terms of the bonus and the rewards structure. Let’s look at the card in more detail, including the welcome bonus, return on spending, perks, and more.

United Gateway Card No Annual Fee

As I’ve already mentioned, the United Gateway Card has no annual fee. This applies both to the primary cardmember and any additional cardmembers. Back in the day there weren’t many airline credit cards without annual fees, so it’s nice to see airlines increasingly offering this kind of product.

United Gateway Card Welcome Bonus Of 20K Miles

The United Gateway Card is offering a welcome bonus of 20,000 bonus MileagePlus miles after spending $1,000 within the first three months. I value MileagePlus miles at 1.1 cents each, so to me the bonus alone is worth $220, which is fairly good for a no annual fee card.

Eligibility for the United Gateway Card welcome bonus is unrelated to any other Chase or United credit card bonuses, so you are eligible even if you have other co-branded United cards. The standard Chase application rules apply, including the 5/24 rule (though there are increasingly reports of this no longer being consistently enforced).

United Gateway Card Earns Up To 2x Miles

The United Gateway Card has a solid rewards structure for a no annual fee card, as it offers:

• 2x MileagePlus miles on United purchases
• 2x MileagePlus miles on gas station purchases
• 2x MileagePlus miles on local transit and commuting, including rideshare services, taxis, train tickets, tolls, and mass transit

Best of all, the United Gateway Card has no foreign transaction fees, so this can be a great card to use abroad. There aren’t all that many no annual fee cards with decent rewards structures that also have no foreign transaction fees, so the card is pretty awesome in that sense.

United Gateway Card Benefits & Perks

Generally speaking, one of the main reasons to consider picking up an airline credit card is for the perks that it offers. As you’d expect, United Airlines’ no annual fee credit card has the fewest perks of any card in the portfolio. That being said, the United Gateway Card does offer some benefits, as follows:

• 25% savings on United inflight purchases, including purchases of food, beverages, and Wi-Fi
• Travel and purchase coverage, including auto collision damage waiver, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, purchase protection, and more
• A complimentary 12 month DashPass from DoorDash, offering $0 delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible orders of $12 or more; you’ll be automatically enrolled in DashPass at the current monthly rate after that, but can always cancel

Is The United Gateway Card Worth It?

For a no annual fee airline card, it doesn’t get much better than the United Gateway Card. The card offers a respectable welcome bonus, 2x miles on select purchases with no foreign transaction fees, savings on inflight purchases, and more. If you absolutely want a no annual fee United card, then this is obviously the card to go with.

That being said, I wanted to talk about why it could make sense to pick up another United Airlines credit, and also compare this to other no annual fee airline credit cards.

Why You Should Get The United Explorer Card Instead

If you’re considering picking up a United Airlines credit card, I’d apply for the United℠ Explorer Card (review) over the United Gateway Card. Why?

• The United Explorer Card offers a much bigger welcome bonus of 50,000 MileagePlus miles after spending $3,000 within the first three months
• The United Explorer Card has a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95
• If you decide after a year that you don’t want the United Explorer Card, you should be able to downgrade it to the no annual fee United Gateway Card
• The United Explorer Card offers all kinds of valuable incremental perks, like two United Club passes annually, a free first checked bag, priority boarding, and much more

There’s simply no reason not to at least give the United Explorer Card a try, given the much better bonus and waived annual fee the first year.

How Do Other No Annual Fee Airline Cards Compare?

All of the “big three” carriers in the United States have no annual fee cards, so how does the United Gateway Card compare to the credit cards issued by American and Delta?

The American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® (review) offers:

• 10,000 American AAdvantage miles plus a $50 statement credit after spending $500 within the first three months
• 2x AAdvantage miles for American Airlines and grocery store purchases
• 25% savings on inflight American Airlines purchases
• The card does have foreign transaction fees

The Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card (review) (Rates & Fees) offers:

• 10,000 Delta SkyMiles after spending $1,000 within the first six months
• 2x SkyMiles for Delta and restaurant purchases
• 20% savings on inflight Delta Air Lines purchases
• The card doesn’t have foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees)

As you can see, there are pros and cons to each product, though I’d say that the United Gateway Card might just be the most lucrative of the bunch. The card offers the best welcome bonus, the best spending bonuses (all with no foreign transaction fees), 25% savings on inflight purchases, and good purchase and travel protection. So for a no annual fee airline card, it doesn’t get much better than that, if you ask me.

Bottom Line

The United Gateway Card is United Airlines’ no annual fee personal credit card. The card has no foreign transaction fees and offers 2x miles in select bonus categories. On top of that, the card offers 25% savings on inflight purchases, as well as useful purchase and travel protection. If you want a no annual fee airline credit card, this is as good as it gets.

I think the better strategy is to pick up the United Explorer Card, which offers a much better welcome bonus, an annual fee waived the first year, and valuable perks. If you decide after a year that you don’t want the card, you can always downgrade it.

What do you make of the United Gateway Card?

The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card (Rates & Fees).