How to Pay Your United Credit Card Annual Fee with Air Miles

Did you know you can pay off the annual fee on your United credit card with airline miles? It’s called “Paying It Back” — but I’m not talking about using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points with Chase. Give back to yourself programme.

Instead, you can pay the card’s annual fee with a regular card. United Airlines MileagePlus Miles.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t know about this feature or the details around it. The site that hosts this information is not widely publicized and doesn’t provide much detail.

I’ll show you how to pay your United credit card annual fee with United miles.

Cards eligible for this feature

United offers a variety of co-branded credit cards, including:

The information about the United Club and United Club Business Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

*This card is now discontinued and is no longer accepting new applicants.

Any United card has an annual fee eligible for this offer — including offers that are no longer available to new applicants. This is great news for anyone who was on the fence about their card’s annual fee this year.

Related: No Saver Space, No Problem: How to Unlock More Rewards Available with United

How to pay your card’s annual fee with United Airlines miles

There is a website that clearly states this option: choice.unitedmileageplus.com. It mentions that you can use airline miles to pay off the annual fee, but unfortunately it requires you to call the number on the back of the card to start the process.

Additionally, the terms at the bottom of the page have some important points you should note:

• This feature is only available after you’ve paid your annual fee within the last 90 days, meaning you’ll have to pay the fee first and then use your United miles for cashback later.
• Redemption values ​​are not published and may change at any time. Currently, the value is 1.5 cents per mile (details below).
• The statement credit will appear on your account within three business days, and you’ll see the refund and miles usage on your billing statement within one or two billing cycles.
• Annual fee repayments in miles do not count towards meeting that month’s minimum payment, so make sure you still meet any minimum payments.

There are a few ways to get started. You can call the number on the back of your United credit card as a first method. Remember to pay that charge first and Later Request to use your United miles for a refund.

There are two other ways to pay your annual fee with miles. This way website outlines how to redeem your miles for an annual fee online. It’s a very simple process as long as you follow the instructions.

Finally, you can complete this process in the Chase app. Log in to the app and select your United card. Then, go to Rewards & Benefits and select Pay Yourself Back.

Related: United Premier Status: What It Is and How to Get It

How much does it cost?

How much will it cost? Or, to rephrase the question, how many miles will it take?

Since you’ll be paying an annual fee and claiming your miles back, let’s look at the cost by volume. United miles You’ll eventually use this money to pay yourself back after paying the annual fee for your United credit card.

While MileagePlus Options page states, “Redemption rates are subject to change at any time,” and we haven’t seen any changes to the redemption rate in over two years. You can use your United Miles for 1.5 cents per mile compared to the card’s annual fee.

Still, online forums show some cardholders have received emails purporting to offer United miles for up to 1.75 cents per mile off the card’s annual fee.

TPG August 2024 valuation United Miles is pegged at 1.35 cents per mile, so this redemption is higher than the average value of United Miles. On the surface, this seems like a pretty good deal.

That said, if you regularly redeem your miles for first—and business class awardYou can get more than 1.5 cents per United mile, in which case you might hesitate to use your miles this way.

Overall, though, this is a reasonable use of United miles when considering all of your redemption options, but deciding whether it’s right for you is up to you.

Here’s an estimate of how many miles you could expect to pay based on your card’s annual fee (note that these are subject to change at any time):

• United Business Card ($0 introductory annual fee for first year, then $99): 6,600 miles
• United Club Business Card ($450 annual fee): 30,000 miles
• United Club Card ($450 annual fee): 30,000 miles
• United Club Infinite Card ($525 annual fee): 35,000 miles
• United Explorer Card ($0 introductory annual fee for first year, then $95): 6,334 miles
• United Quest Card ($250 annual fee): 16,667 miles

Is it worth paying the annual fee for a United Card with United miles?

Whether this is worth it depends on how many miles you have to pay, what types of rewards you typically redeem with United, and how many miles you have. Keep in mind that you’ll need to pay the card’s annual fee upfront.

In case credit report If your redeemed miles aren’t credited in time, you can still use cash to pay off your card’s annual fee.

Unless you regularly book first- and business-class awards with United, paying your card’s annual fee with United miles is a great way to use extra miles. TPG Senior Editor-in-Chief Nick Ewen Have United Explorer Card; he is considering this option because his annual fee is due on August 1st.

“I was disappointed by United’s recent devaluation,” he said. “Our data shows that MileagePlus miles are worth 1.35 cents through August 2024 on our valuationBut I often find them lower—even with my card member discounts. Using 6,250 miles for my $95 annual fee is actually 1.52 cents per mile. Or, put another way, I’m using 6,250 miles for a pair of United Club cards one time, a free checked bag, and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck statement credit every four years. That’s not a bad deal.”

The last line

Using United miles to offset the annual fee of a credit card is an interesting option. It may not be worth it to everyone, depending on how you want to use your miles, the value you assign to them, or even how many miles are in your account right now.

And since there isn’t much information online about this option, you may never have considered it. However, I’m a big fan of options, especially when you get a decent value for your money.

If you want to use United miles to offset your card’s annual fee, call the number on the back of your card or visit the Chase app or website to get started.

To learn more, read our guide on best united card.

Related: 6 Credit Card Perks We Love But Few Know About