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Airlines are Credit Card Issuers that Fly Planes to Acquire Customers

by Larry Chiang on February 20, 2026

MAJOR earning change to the United MileagePlus program starting April 2.

Reminder: Airlines are credit card issuers that fly planes to acquire customers.

You will now earn a lot fewer miles than you used to unless you carry a United card. If you fly United, you absolutely should get one of their cards, even if you never use it to buy anything.

Chart below summarizing changes-

Non-cardholders’ mileage earnings drop by up to 40%, while cardholders earnings increase.

Cardholders also save 10-15% on every award redemption

Saver award inventory in Polaris is now locked only to cardholders

So you’d be a fool not to get one of their cards – you get a lot more miles AND those miles are worth a lot more.

There is a no annual fee Gateway card but you have to spend $10k to earn the extra miles. I’d recommend the Explorer card – $0 annual fee for first year, $150 for subsequent years but it includes a $100 United credit and 70k miles sign up bonus. I got the United Quest- $350/year but comes with a $200 travel credit and 80,000 mile signup bonus, plus it earns PQPs toward elite status.

Some context on why United is doing this and others are soon to follow: not a single major US airline was profitable after stripping out loyalty program revenue. The big 4 airlines lost ~$10B flying passengers but made $14B in profits thanks in large part to their loyalty program & credit cards. Delta has the industry leading cobrand program – they got $8.2B from Amex last year, while United only got $3.2B… so United is playing catch up and pushing cards to do it.

I bet the other major airlines do something similar.

My referral link if you’re getting a new chase card: referyourchasecard.com/215e/MFGBX6RMZI

Sheel Mohnot

⁦‪@pitdesi‬⁩

MAJOR earning change to the United MileagePlus program starting April 2.

Reminder: Airlines are credit card issuers that fly planes to acquire customers.

You will now earn a lot fewer miles than you used to unless you carry a United card. If you fly United, you absolutely pic.x.com/gjTzT7pMvE

2/20/26, 11:46 AM

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