Chase United Quest Card (Visa Signature) Review
Updated June 6, 2023.
The Facts
The Math
Chase United Quest vs. Chase United Explorer: the Quest card is $155 more expensive in annual fees and offers the two major enhancements: $125 annual United credits and up to 10,000 United miles (2x 5,000 miles). These are decent perks for United flyers, but do mind the caveats for the 5K-mile rebates (need to redeem miles on United operated flights and redeeming miles on partner flights won't qualify). In our opinion, other enhancements, including 3x miles on United vs. 2x, and free first and second bags vs. free first bags, are considered minor. At the same time, the Quest card doesn't offer the two annual United Club passes. If you could make use of the two major enhancements especially the two 5K-mile rebates, it is worthwhile upgrading; however, we think most consumers probably won't benefit too much from upgrading other than for the purpose of having another amazing signup bonus.
The Conclusion
United Quest is a decent card for United flyers; however, when it comes to rewards, we still recommend checking out Chase Sapphire cards.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $250
- Signup Bonus: 70,000 miles after spending $4,000 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: 100,000 miles in 2021; 90,000 miles in 2022.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 3x United, 2x other travel & dining & streaming 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 $125 statement credits towards United purchases each membership year. (2) Upon each anniversary receive a 5,000 miles credit each time you redeem United miles on United flights (excluding partner airlines) in the previous membership year, up to 2 times or a total of 10,000 miles. (3) Free first and second checked bags for you plus one companion on the same reservation. (4) 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. (5) Domestic unlimited upgrades on awards tickets are available exclusively to United elite members with Quest cards. (6) 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. (7) 25% savings on United inflight purchases charged to the card (food, beverages, Wi-Fi). (8) Earn 500 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) per $12,000 spent on the card, up to a maximum 3,000 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. 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) Reimbursement for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application fees every four years. (4) Complimentary 24/7 Concierge Service. (5) 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. (6) 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.
- The History: Chase introduced this card in 2021 to slot between the high-end United Club Visa and the premium United Explorer Visa.
The Math
Chase United Quest vs. Chase United Explorer: the Quest card is $155 more expensive in annual fees and offers the two major enhancements: $125 annual United credits and up to 10,000 United miles (2x 5,000 miles). These are decent perks for United flyers, but do mind the caveats for the 5K-mile rebates (need to redeem miles on United operated flights and redeeming miles on partner flights won't qualify). In our opinion, other enhancements, including 3x miles on United vs. 2x, and free first and second bags vs. free first bags, are considered minor. At the same time, the Quest card doesn't offer the two annual United Club passes. If you could make use of the two major enhancements especially the two 5K-mile rebates, it is worthwhile upgrading; however, we think most consumers probably won't benefit too much from upgrading other than for the purpose of having another amazing signup bonus.
The Conclusion
United Quest is a decent card for United flyers; however, when it comes to rewards, we still recommend checking out Chase Sapphire cards.