Chase United BUSINESS Card (Visa Signature) Review
Updated June 10, 2023.
The Facts
The Math
United Business Visa vs. personal United Explorer Visa: the two cards share most of the features; however, there are few differences: (1) the business card is $4 more expensive; (2) in addition to 2x on United and dining, which is shared by both, the personal version has hotels as a 2x category, while the business version has gas and office supplies & local transportation as 2x categories; (3) the business version offers $100 annual credit when you have 7 United purchases each $100 or more; (4) the personal versions offers Global Entry / TSA PreCheck reimbursement.
The Conclusion
United Explorer Business Visa offers some interesting perks for United flyers but in general we are not too impressed.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: 1st year free and $99 thereafter
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 miles after you spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. This bonus is not available if you currently have this card or have received signup bonus from this card in the past 24 months. Based on anecdotal reports, this card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for this card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards). Historical best bonus of this card: (1) 150,000 miles with $20K spending requirement in 2021 & 2022; (2) 100,000 miles with $10K spending requirement in 2019; (3) 75,000 miles with 1st annual fee waiver in 2020; (4) 60,000 miles with 1st annual fee waiver in 2020.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 2x United, dining, gas, office supplies, and local transportation (including taxicabs, mass transit, tolls, and ride share services), and 1x everywhere else.
- Best Use of MileagePlus Miles: MileagePlus is the frequent flyer program of United Airlines, a member of Star Alliance. United miles are generally valuable for redeeming on United or partner metals, and our current valuation is 1.3 cents per mile.
- United Airlines Benefits: (1) Annual 5,000 miles if you also have a personal United card upon each anniversary. (2) Annual $100 statement credit when you make at least 7 United airfare purchases each $100 or more. (3) Two lounge (United Club) day passes upon opening and each anniversary thereafter. (4) Waived check bag fees for you plus one companion on the same reservation. (5) Group 2 priority boarding after premium cabins & certain United elites (Premier Platinum and above) and before general passengers, for you and your companions on your reservation. (6) 25% discount for in-flight food & beverage or Wi-Fi purchases. (7) Domestic unlimited upgrades on awards tickets are available exclusively to United elite members with Explorer cards. (8) United Anytime Awards without capacity control are exclusive to United elites with Explorer cards (general members will access Anytime Awards with a slight reduction in availability). Even though Anytime Awards are not the best way to redeem miles (since you normally pay double miles), occasionally they can be valuable. (9) Earn 500 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) per $12,000 spent on the card, up to a maximum 1,000 PQPs per calendar year.
- Hotel Privileges: (1) Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection (LHRC), through Signature Travel Network, offering perks such as daily complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, early check-in and late check-out upon availability, and property specific amenities (such as a $100 spa/dining/hotel credit per stay), at over 900 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. You may book a hotel on LHRCollection.com and the rates are mostly the same of the Best Available Rates (BAR, i.e., refundable flexible rates set by the hotel) and include taxes, resort fees, etc. This benefit is available on select Chase cards such as Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, United Club, and United Explorer. (2) Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection which offers perks including daily complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, late checkout upon availability, $25 food and beverage credit per stay, free room wi-fi, and VIP amenities, at over 900 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. You may book a hotel on VisaSignatureHotels.com and the rates are the same as BAR. Note that the coverage and perks are different from LHRC's, but some hotels participate in both programs. This benefit is actually available to any U.S. issued Visa Signature cards.
- Other Benefits: (1) Waived foreign transaction fees. (2) Primary rental car collision coverage for business purpose. Note while most credit cards provide rental car insurance, they are secondary, meaning your personal insurance's collision damage coverage kicks in before the credit card's. Please see our featured review on credit cards that come with primary rental car insurance for details. (3) Complimentary 24/7 Concierge Service. (4) One year DoorDash's subscription service DashPass for free - activate before March 31, 2022. DashPass, normally $9.99 per month, offers $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on food orders over $12 via DoorDash. (5) Discounted CLEAR membership at $109 per year, instead of the $179 regular price. Not really much because the regular United MP members already receive discounted price at $119 per year.
- History: Chase introduced United Business Visa in 2020 to replace the very similar United Explorer Business Visa. The annual fee is not waived for the first year and is increased from $95 to $99; 10K miles booster for $25K is removed; 5K miles for also having a personal United card is added; $100 annual credit is added after 7 United purchases; local transportation is added as a 2x category.
The Math
United Business Visa vs. personal United Explorer Visa: the two cards share most of the features; however, there are few differences: (1) the business card is $4 more expensive; (2) in addition to 2x on United and dining, which is shared by both, the personal version has hotels as a 2x category, while the business version has gas and office supplies & local transportation as 2x categories; (3) the business version offers $100 annual credit when you have 7 United purchases each $100 or more; (4) the personal versions offers Global Entry / TSA PreCheck reimbursement.
The Conclusion
United Explorer Business Visa offers some interesting perks for United flyers but in general we are not too impressed.