Why holding a United Airlines co-branded credit card can matter more than ever

Back at the beginning of April, the United MileagePlus program overhauled the way it awards miles, and the changes were designed to do one thing and one thing only – create a strong incentive for members to hold a co-branded United credit card.

The program’s new structure means that holders of United Airlines co-branded cards earn more miles on flights, while non-cardholders earn noticeably less than they did before, and it means that cardholders get access to discounts which non-cardholders don’t get.

The changes to earning rates

Before 2 April 2026, the number of miles a MileagePlus member earned on a United flight was based entirely on their elite status. Whether or not they held a co-branded card made no difference. That’s no longer the case.

Under the new system, the key figure is the “Cardmember earn rate” – the rate a primary cardholder (not authorized users) earns simply by holding a co-branded United card, regardless of which card they actually pay for the flight with.

For standard fares, the current rates are as follows:

The cardmember earn rate applies as long as the primary cardholder has an open account in good standing. The member does not need to pay for the flight using the United card. Holding it is enough.

Basic Economy fares

The changes are even worse for Basic Economy fares. Non-elite members without a co-branded card earn nothing on Basic Economy tickets under the new rules.

Non-elite members with a co-branded card earn 3 miles/dollar on Basic Economy bookings and for those with Premier status, a co-branded card makes a 3 miles/dollar difference at every level:

Paying with the card adds even more miles

The Cardmember earn rate is the minimum earning rate for holders of United’s co-branded cards, so paying for a United Airlines flight with a co-branded card adds further earnings on top. Unsurprisingly, what those earnings look like depends on which card is used.

Currently there are five consumer United Airlines co-branded cards open to new applicants, and the combined earn rates on standard fares (Cardmember rate plus the card’s own spending category bonus) are as follows:

So, for example:

A Premier 1K member paying with the United Club℠ Card earns 17 miles/dollar on a standard fare. That’s 9 miles/dollar from the base MileagePlus rate, plus 3 miles/dollar for being a primary card holder, plus a further 5 miles/dollar for paying with the Club card itself.

The same holds true for the two co-branded business cards that are currently open to new applicants:

Note: Holders of the United MileagePlus® Debit Rewards card and the United Gateway℠ card must spend $10,000 in a calendar year to qualify for the higher Cardmember earn rates shown above. Until that threshold is met, they earn at the standard MileagePlus rate only.

Also, children of United Cardmembers can earn at the Cardmember rate on tickets issued by United on or after April 2, 2026, as long as the child’s MileagePlus number has been added to the Cardmember’s Family profile.

Award flight discounts

It’s not just when it comes to earning rates that it pays to have a co-branded card if you’re a United Airlines flyer (or even just someone who likes to use MileagePlus miles for award travel). Holders of co-branded cards also pay fewer miles when booking award flights on United or United Express.

The discount is at least 10% for primary card holders who don’t have Premier elite status, and it’s at least 15% for primary card holders who do have Premier elite status.

The discount applies to the base award price only. It does not apply to Money + Miles tickets, cash purchases, or other redemption products and the award must be booked using the primary card holder’s MileagePlus account.

Note: Holders of the United MileagePlus® Debit Rewards card and the United Gateway℠ card must spend $10,000 in a calendar year before the award discount becomes available to them.

Expanded Polaris saver availability

While this isn’t restricted to co-branded card holders only, it’s worth noting that United has expanded the number of Polaris Business Class saver-level award seats available to card holders as well as to Premier elite members.

We’re told that before the April 2026 changes, approximately one-third of flights that offered saver-level awards already had additional availability for this group. That pool of flights has since been expanded further.

The 10-15% award flight discount that was mentioned earlier stacks on top of this expanded saver availability, so co-branded card holders benefit both from having more seats to book at the saver level and from paying fewer miles for them.

A example of how good this can be were the recent discounted United transcontinental business class fares which were being offered to card holders for just 27,000 miles (instead of the more usual 35,000 miles).

Bottom line

As of 2 April 2026, holding a United co-branded credit card (consumer or business) matters a lot more than it did before. Under the old MileagePlus structure, elite status and the cost of a fare were the two key things which determined how many miles a member earned on a flight.

Under the new structure, being a primary card holder adds 3 miles/dollar on standard and basic economy fares for all status tiers and on Basic Economy fares in particular, it is the difference between earning something and earning nothing for flyers with no MileagePlus status.

Add to that the fact that primary co-branded card holders now get access to award discounts that non card holders don’t, and it becomes easy to see why anyone wishing to engage with the MileagePlus program in any seriousness should almost certainly have a co-branded card.