Update 4/2/26: These changes are now live, book if they are helpful.
United has announced changes that benefit United cardholders.
Rewards earned from flights
A change shows how rewards are earned when you book flights, with Chase United cardholders set to benefit and everyone else to be worse off. The new changes will come into effect for tickets purchased on or after April 2, 2026. The new win rates are as follows:
The old or current rates of profit are as follows:
It looks like cardholders are one point better and non-cardholders are two points worse? You also get the bonus from your credit card. Basic economy benefits will also be limited to elites or cardholders.
Price discount
Cardholders will save at least 10% on every flight they book and 15% with Premier status.
Price Space
Cardholders will also have access to Saver Award inventory in United Polaris® Business Class. Previously this was only available to Platinum and 1K loyalty members.
Our verdict
These days, loyalty programs and credit cards are really what drive airlines to any level of profitability, so it’s not a huge surprise that United wants to encourage more loyalty members to become cardholders. For most people, actual travel doesn’t yield a meaningful amount of miles/points anyway (especially when we’re talking a few points per $1 spent), I can still see elites being upset by these changes, especially access to award inventory.
Overall, I think this is a disservice to consumers in general, and an interesting way to go about it.
