Bottom Line: The United ℠ TravelBank Card is the only no annual
fee credit card co-branded with United.
Not exact matches
Many companies with
co-branded credit cards also earn money when new
cards are issued, as well as from
fees and penalties paid by cardholders who are late paying off bills.
Virtually no hotel
co-branded credit cards come with no annual
fee.
Until recently, there's been a notable lack of
co-branded airline
credit cards that don't charge annual
fees.
US Airways has its own
co-branded credit card with Barclays, which is currently offering a 40,000 mile sign - up bonus after your first purchase and paying the $ 89 annual
fee.
If you're going to select a
co-branded cruise
credit card, it would make sense to get a
card with no annual
fee unless you can offset that
fee with something of value.
While
co-branded cruise line
cards definitely offer some value — most come with sign - up bonuses worth about $ 100 and no annual
fee — you would probably be better off with a general travel rewards
credit card.
Meanwhile, the same 10,000 Starpoints would cost someone manufacturing spend with their
co-branded credit card perhaps $ 86 in
fees, depending on the techniques used.
Another important distinction between airline - specific and generic miles
credit card programs is that most
co-branded cards carry an annual
fee and generic
cards generally do not.
On the hotel side of things, you often can expect the
co-branded credit cards to provide at least mid-tier elite status that may get you late checkout or a room upgrade, and the best ones even give you an annual award night that can offset the cost of the annual
fee!
Most of these
co-branded credit cards come with an annual
fee, which banks can see as a guaranteed revenue stream for loyal customers with higher - than - average income.
American Express, like most major
card issuers, offers a wide variety of reward
credit cards — from cash back
cards with no annual
fees, to
cards that earn extra points at grocery stores to
co-branded airline and hotel
cards to upscale travel reward
cards that cost $ 450 a year.
Until recently, there's been a notable lack of
co-branded airline
credit cards that don't charge annual
fees.
The annual
fee of $ 75 is a bit higher than average for a hotel
co-branded credit card.
Over the very long term, Chase's IHG Rewards Club and Hyatt Gold Passport
co-branded credit cards both can offer a good value for their $ 49 and $ 75 annual
fees, respectively.
If you're selecting a
co-branded cruise line
credit card, you'd want one you can use abroad without
fees.
It means you can actually use the
credit if you already don't pay baggage
fees because you already carry an airline
co-branded credit card, have elite status, solely carry - on or fly an airline like Southwest where bags fly free!
Both
cards offer bonus miles for spend with American Airlines (the Silver
card earns 3 miles / $ which is the most out of all American Airlines
credit cards), both
cards allow cardholders to earn Elite Qualifying Dollars (which no other AAdvantage
co-branded card does), both come free of foreign transaction
fees and the Silver
card allows holders to earn up to 10,000 Elite Qualifying Miles per year.
So far, no
co-branded credit cards from the big three domestic airlines help you skip award ticket change
fees, so complement a
co-branded card with elite status to fly as comfortably and inexpensively as possible.
Barclays offers two
co-branded Frontier Airlines
cards: the Frontier Airlines World MasterCard and the Frontier Airlines
credit card with No Annual
Fee.
Bank of America doesn't have no -
fee versions of its
co-branded airline
credit cards, such as Alaska and Virgin Atlantic, but it has a couple of nice cashback
cards and it's quite liberal in terms of making product changes.
American partners with Citibank for its
co-branded credit cards, offering three different levels of
fees and services:
This
card is the premium
co-branded credit card offered by Citi / AA, so it comes with a hefty $ 450
fee, but it's worth it for the points in my mind.
Use an airline's
co-branded credit card to pay for flights,
fees, and onboard purchases to earn at least 2x the miles per $ 1.
Unfortunately, some of the biggest bag
fee collectors — Spirit Airlines (Spirit Airlines MasterCard), Frontier (Frontier Airlines World MasterCard) and Allegiant — have
co-branded credit cards that don't offer a free bag.
Last week, American Express announced some changes to their Delta
co-branded credit cards, including EMV Chip + Signature technology and that they would begin waiving foreign transaction
fees starting May 1.
Since Southwest Airlines doesn't charge a
fee for checked bags, its
co-branded credit cards technically qualify as
cards that get you free checked bags.
Delta American Express
co-branded SkyMiles
credit cards eliminated the foreign transaction
fees as of May 1, and added EMV chip technology (chip and signature).
The Secured Visa
card is intended for recent immigrants looking to build
credit in the U.S. and carries a low annual
fee of $ 25, waived the first year, and a low sign - on bonus (5,000 kilometers), but otherwise offers all the same benefits of the standard Visa
card, making it the most attractive
co-branded Secured Visa out there.
Here's how the usual frequent flier perks break down — and how many of them you can get via
co-branded credit cards with modest
fees.
Most
co-branded airline
credit cards waive the annual
fee for the first year and offer better terms for a free checked bag and / or companion ticket.
Chase and IHG Rewards Club have offered a
co-branded credit card for a number of years with the following features: a $ 49 annual
fee; a signup bonus between 50,000 - 100,000 IHG Rewa..