The United℠ Gateway Card could be a good fit if you want to earn United Airlines miles, but don’t want to pay an annual fee. New cardmembers can earn 30,000 United Airlines miles after meeting the minimum spending requirements, but the card doesn’t offer popular benefits like free checked bags or priority boarding.

Frequent United Airlines flyers will be better off with the United℠ Explorer Card, however. While it has a $95 annual fee, it offers a 60,000 mile sign-up bonus and has perks most travelers want. Plus the annual fee is waived for the first year, so you can try it out risk free. Then at the end of the first year, you can decide whether to keep it or downgrade to the Gateway card.

Who is this card for?

This card is a good fit for people who live near a United Airlines hub and are new to the miles game. It’s a simple way to dip your toes in the water without committing to an annual fee.

You can apply for the United℠ Gateway Card here.

Card Features

Bonus Offer

You’ll earn 30,000 miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months.

Annual Fee

This card has no annual fee.

Earning Rates

The United Gateway card earns:

• 2 miles per $1 spent on purchases from United Airlines
• 2 miles per $1 spent at gas stations
• 2 miles per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including ride share services, taxis, train tickets, tolls, and mass transit
• 1 mile per $1 on all other spending

The earning rates are nothing special, but they are basically in line with other no annual fee airline cards.

Redeeming Miles

United makes it very easy to redeem miles on their website. Plus, you can use them to book travel on Star Alliance partners, like Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and more.

What’s unique about United Airlines is they don’t add fuel surcharges to award flights. This can save you hundred dollars per ticket when compared to other airlines!

Card Benefits

With this being a free card, the other benefits are just ok. I’ve seen worse for a no annual free card, but if you’re looking for perks like free checked bags or priority boarding, the United Explorer card offers those and more.

25% back on In-flight Purchases

When you use your card to pay for food, beverages and Wi-Fi onboard United-operated flights, you’ll get 25% back as a statement credit.

DoorDash Delivery

Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees for one year, with a complimentary DashPass subscription from DoorDash. DashPass normally costs $9.99 per month.

The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection

The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection is a hotel and hospitality management company that owns a suite of luxury hotels. Card-members will receive the following benefits when booking a room at one of the eligible hotels on the LRH website:

• Daily complimentary breakfast for two people
• A special benefit unique to each property, such as a dining or spa credit
• Complimentary WiFi
• Complimentary room upgrades (when available)
• Early check-in and late checkout (when available)

No Foreign Transaction Fees

For those who travel internationally, this card does not charge foreign transaction fees.

Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance

If your trip can’t start, is cut short or interrupted by sickness, severe weather or other covered situations, you can be reimbursed for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses up to $6,000 per covered trip.

Purchase Protection

This benefit covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account per calendar year.

Extended Warranty Protection

With this benefit, you can extend the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year. This applies to eligible warranties of three years or less.

Who should look for another card?

If you’re considering the United Gateway card, I strongly encourage applying for the United Explorer card instead. While it does have a $95 annual fee, there are a bunch of notable perks that the Gateway lacks. That includes priority boarding, the first checked bag free (for you and a companion), two United Club passes, and a $100 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS fee credit once every four years.

A checked bag typically costs $35, so checking bags will more than make up for the card’s annual fee after just one trip. Plus you have a year to try the card before the first annual free posts. If it didn’t meet your needs, you can always downgrade to the Gateway card but you’ll keep the 60,000 mile sign-up bonus!

If you like the idea of this card but fly other airlines more often, look at Delta’s no annual fee Blue SkyMiles card or American’s no annual fee MileUp card.

Bottom Line

The lack of an annual fee makes this card perfect for those who don’t travel enough to justify paying one. While the card’s everyday spending rates aren’t great, the 2x miles at gas stations and for local transit can be somewhat useful. Even if the United Gateway card is the card you eventually want to own, I still recommend starting with the United℠ Explorer card. You can always downgrade after a year, but I’d much rather have 60,000 bonus miles over 30,000 bonus miles.

Apply here for the United℠ Gateway Card.