United Airlines’ Small Business Credit Card Shake-Up: New Perks, Higher Annual Fees

The United Airlines co-branded credit card portfolio is going to look different going forward.

Seemingly following the trend at American Express, Chase is adding numerous spending credits to its United Airlines co-branded credit cards. Some of them are travel-related, and others aren’t.

Moreover, these cards gain interesting perks like seat upgrades, increased potential for spending toward elite status, discounts on award flights, and more. Those perks come with increased annual fees for cardholders. To soften the blow, these cards have fantastic welcome bonus offers available for a limited time.

Additionally, United’s card portfolio is also debuting a new advertising campaign with Emmy-winning actor Ty Burrell.

There’s a lot to cover here. Let’s jump in.

What’s Changing With Chase’s United Airlines Business Cards?

There’s a large portfolio of United Airlines co-branded credit cards, all of which are issued by Chase in the U.S. Not all of those cards are still open to applications, and not all of United’s co-branded credit cards are getting changes.

Today’s announcement applies to the United Business card and the United Club Business card. There are also changes coming to the United Gateway card, United^SM Explorer card, United Quest card, and the United Club card. Because there’s so much to cover, we are discussing the changes to United’s personal credit cards in another post.

The changes to these cards are wide-ranging. All cards that charge an annual fee will see that cost go up. In return, the cards are gaining new benefits — everything from Economy Plus upgrades and award flight discounts to bonus Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) and spending credits with nontravel partners.

Cardholders will also be able to gain a premium United Club lounge membership, called All Access, which allows them to bring an additional adult guest.

Let’s take a quick look at the changes overall before diving into the specifics of each card.

United Small Business Credit Card Changes: Overview

Any existing cardholder benefits not discussed in this chart aren’t changing, and only 1 card is losing a benefit (the United Explorer card). Here’s an overview of what’s happening with each:

When Will the New Benefits Take Effect?

The new benefits are in effect now for both existing cardholders and new applicants.

When Will the New Annual Fees Take Effect?

These new annual fees are in effect today, March 24, 2025, for new applicants.

For existing United business cardholders, annual fee increases take effect after August 1, 2025. The next time your annual fee is due after this, you’ll see the increased price.

Details of Each Card’s Changes

United Business Card

The annual fee is going up by nearly 52% on the United Business card. In exchange, new benefits include up to $25 in credits on United FareLock purchases annually and up to $125 in United travel credits annually (after making 5 or more purchases of at least $100 each with United each year). Cardholders can also earn up to 4,000 PQPs from spending annually — an increase from the previous maximum of 1,000.

Cardholders also can earn 2 continental U.S. Economy Plus upgrades annually (after $25,000 of purchases on the card in a calendar year), up to $100 in United Hotels credits annually, and 5 total miles per $1 spent with United Hotels (2x miles from spending with this card, 2x miles as a MileagePlus member, and 1x from prepaying with United Hotels).

Annual credits include the following maximums: up to $100 on ride-sharing spending (available as $8 monthly and $12 in December, with annual enrollment required), up to $50 in United TravelBank credits from Avis or Budget rentals (reserved through cars.united.com), up to $100 with JSX, and up to $120 with Instacart (available as $10 per month). A complimentary 3-month Instacart+ membership has also been added; after the 3-month period, cardholders get a 25% discount on an Instacart+ membership.

United Club Business Card

The United Club Business card‘s annual fee is going up by 54%. In exchange, the card is keeping its United Club membership while also adding the ability to earn an All Access membership after reaching Premier Gold status or spending $50,000 on card purchases in a calendar year. The All Access membership allows you to bring 2 adult guests (previously, this was limited to 1) to United Clubs and also visit Star Alliance lounges

Additionally, you can earn 4 United Club 1-time passes each year if you have both an All Access membership and an authorized user on the card. The primary cardholder, an authorized user, or guests traveling with them can use the passes. Plus, cardmembers receive a 5,000-mile bonus each year they have this card and a personal United Airlines credit card.

Cardholders can earn 2 global Economy Plus upgrades and up to $50 in credits from United FareLock purchases. Cardholders will also earn 5x miles per $1 spent on Renowned Hotels and Resorts.

Annual credits on this card include the following maximums: up to $200 with Renowned Hotels and Resorts, up to $150 on ride-sharing purchases (available as $12 monthly but $18 in December, with annual enrollment required), up to $100 in United TravelBank credits from Avis or Budget rentals (2 separate $50 credits earned via cars.united.com), up to $200 on JSX purchases, and up to $240 with Instacart (available as 2 separate $10 credits per month). Also included is a complimentary Instacart+ membership.

Cardmembers previously could earn a maximum of 15,000 PQPs, but that’s increasing to 28,000 — enough for Premier 1K elite status. They are still earned at a rate of 1 PQP per $15 spent on the card.

What To Make of These Changes

A statement from Chase says that credit card annual fees “are part of how we are able to offer rewards” and characterized the new benefits on the United Airlines credit cards as “provid[ing] cardmembers more value than ever.”

However, value is subjective. You need to consider how much value these perks will offer to you in your particular situation. Assign a dollar value to them.

Do you buy groceries through Instacart or rent cars with Avis regularly? Do you pay for seat upgrades to Economy Plus? If so, these benefits can provide tangible savings. If you’re just using the new perks because they’re on your card but wouldn’t use them otherwise, you aren’t saving money.

Plus, several of the credits are broken into smaller pieces, making them more complicated to use. That’s not customer-friendly — nor is the requirement to enroll in the ride-sharing benefit every year you hold the card.

Final Thoughts

United and Chase are increasing the annual fees on multiple credit cards and adding benefits like award discounts, lounge perks, seat upgrades, and more. The benefits also include spending credits with nontravel partners, and cardholders may not find value in all of these. That especially holds true for credits that require recurring enrollment and are divided into monthly installments.

The key will be determining which benefits you’ll use just because they’re available and those that provide actual value because you’re saving money or miles on purchases you’d normally make. Then compare that to the card’s increased annual fee. If the math makes sense for you, applying for or continuing to hold one of these cards can make sense. Otherwise, it may not.