An Introduction to U.S. Airline Co-Branded Credit Cards

About Airline Co-Branded Cards

Airline co-branded cards are, as the name suggests, credit cards jointly issued by airlines and card issuers. In most cases, these partnerships are one airline to one bank. For example, Chase and UA have a long-term agreement that keeps getting renewed, so United co-branded cards have continued to be issued by Chase. Delta has also long partnered with AMEX, and both its personal and business cards are issued by AMEX. Airline mergers can create some unusual situations, though. For example, because of the merger between AA and US Airways, AA co-branded cards were issued separately by AA’s partner Citi and US Airways’ longtime partner Barclays. But with Barclays now out, new AA cards are entirely issued by Citi.

These cards usually earn airline miles, offer bonus miles on purchases with the corresponding airline, and provide perks such as free checked bags and priority boarding. Recently, though, many airline co-branded cards have also started adding benefits tied to travel and everyday spending, making them more geared toward personal spending. As for welcome bonuses, airline co-branded cards can be extremely generous, with offers as high as 150,000 miles having appeared before.

In this article, I’ll introduce and compare common airline co-branded credit cards so you can choose based on your own needs. Of course, if you’re mainly after welcome bonuses, applying for one from each airline is also not a bad strategy.

How to Choose

Before getting into the cards themselves, let me briefly go over how the average person should choose an airline co-branded card that fits their needs. There are a few main approaches.

Points-and-miles hobbyists

If you’re a points-and-miles hobbyist like I am, my suggestion is simple: apply for every airline card, collect the welcome bonus, and then consider downgrading or closing the card. Once you’re eligible for another round of bonuses, go again. For example, I’ve already applied for UA, AA, and Delta cards and maxed out the welcome bonuses on all of them. I’ve also completed a second round with UA. For AA, I’ve had several cards from both Barclays and Citi. For Delta Gold and Platinum, I’ve collected the bonuses and upgraded/downgraded multiple times. In return, I’ve used a huge pile of miles to book round-trip business class between China and the U.S. for family members, which has been well worth it.

The photo below shows an actual ANA business class seat. On a flight lasting well over 10 hours, being able to lie flat is absolutely worth it.

The basic strategy is to apply when the welcome bonuses on these airline cards are relatively high. After meeting the minimum spending requirement, you can toss the card in a drawer. Once you’ve had it for a full year, consider downgrading or canceling it.

Geography matters

Because each airline has different hubs, you should look at which airline hub is closest to where you live. You can also prioritize based on the airline you fly most often. For example, DFW is considered an AA hub, ORD is a UA hub, and DTW is a Delta hub. The more of a hub an airport is, the more award flights there tend to be, and the more date options you’ll usually have. In addition, fares from hub airports are often relatively cheaper, which means fewer miles are needed for programs whose award prices are tied to cash fares.

Also, because award tickets can often be booked across an alliance, miles from an AC credit card can also be used to book UA flights. Likewise, BA miles belong to British Airways, but they can be used to book AA flights. So after you’ve earned the bonuses on co-branded cards from the Big Three U.S. airlines, you can consider going after co-branded cards from other airlines in the corresponding alliances of UA, AA, and Delta.

Finally, airline co-branded cards usually come with perks like priority boarding and free checked bags, and high enough spending can sometimes help you earn airline elite status. If you travel or go on business trips frequently, you can choose a co-branded card from the airline you fly most often to maximize travel benefits. You can also use the co-branded card when buying airfare, since these cards generally offer elevated mileage earning on airline purchases.

Consider low-cost carriers

Beyond the Big Three airlines and their alliances, if you often fly low-cost carriers such as Southwest, JetBlue, or Spirit, you can also consider their co-branded cards. Southwest in particular has the extremely valuable Companion Pass feature. When redeeming points, it can effectively give you a buy-one-get-one benefit, so if two people travel together, the value of your points can become very high.

• Introduction to Southwest miles and loyalty program
• Introduction to JetBlue miles and loyalty program

United (UA) Co-Branded Cards

UA co-branded cards are issued exclusively by Chase. Although the benefits occasionally get small tweaks, the overall value proposition is fairly stable. UA miles can be redeemed for Star Alliance awards. Within the U.S., you can book flights operated by UA. On U.S.-China routes, you can redeem for flights on ANA, UA, OZ, AC, and CA, so there is plenty of capacity and it’s possible to redeem from smaller cities to smaller cities. UA awards also do not require fuel surcharges, which is another strong point. Booking UA awards is straightforward as well—you can simply search directly on the website. On top of that, UA miles can be transferred in 1:1 from Chase’s own Ultimate Rewards points, making it easy to top off for an award ticket. However, UA business class and first class awards do require quite a lot of miles.

Chase offers four tiers of UA co-branded cards for consumers. The entry-level option is the no-annual-fee UA Gateway. If you applied for an annual-fee card and no longer want to keep it, you can downgrade to this no-annual-fee version. As for the other three cards, they are aimed at increasingly premium needs. In general, Explorer and Quest are the main two worth considering. If you only want the bonus, choose the former; if you have some regular need for UA flights, choose the latter. If you truly need United lounge access and fly very frequently, then consider the premium UA Club Infinite. Starting with the Explorer, these cards already offer free checked bags and priority boarding, and the differences in the other benefits are not huge.

The business cards are similar to the personal versions. If you’re interested, check out our reviews here:

• Chase United Business credit card
• Chase United Club Business credit card

For more on how to use UA miles, see:

• United Airlines (UA) loyalty program and miles guide [2024 full update]

Delta Co-Branded Credit Cards

DL miles can be used for SkyTeam award tickets. Within the U.S., you can book DL-operated flights; on U.S.-China routes, you can book flights on DL, Korean Air, China Southern, and China Eastern. For domestic U.S. tickets, DL can still offer decent value. On U.S.-China flights, Delta often uses dynamic award pricing, and sometimes the mileage cost can become extremely high. Even though DL miles are often joked about as “SkyPesos,” Delta still has one major feature: you can use them to directly pay for Delta tickets at a value of 1c each. So at the very least, they have a floor value of 1 cent apiece. Delta is also a 1:1 transfer partner of AMEX MR points, so topping up points is relatively easy.

Both Delta personal and business co-branded cards are issued by AMEX. The personal cards come in four tiers: Blue, Gold, Platinum, and Reserve. The most commonly applied-for options are Gold and Platinum because the welcome bonuses are usually quite good. Now, welcome bonuses within the Delta family can affect each other—if you get the higher-tier one first, you may not be able to get the lower-tier one later—so it’s generally recommended to start with Delta Gold and then apply for Delta Platinum. Each year, Delta cards usually have a few offers in the 70,000-90,000 range, so those are worth waiting for. Also, if you don’t want to pay an annual fee but still want to keep an AMEX card, you can downgrade to the no-annual-fee Delta Blue. And if you truly need access to Delta’s own lounges, you can consider the Delta Reserve, though the value for money really isn’t great.

The business credit cards come in a similar three-tier lineup. Personally, I also think Delta Gold Business and Delta Platinum Business are the most worthwhile ones to apply for.

• AMEX Gold Delta SkyMiles Business business credit card
• AMEX Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business business credit card review
• AMEX Delta Reserve Business business credit card

For how to use Delta miles, see

• Delta SkyMiles program and elite status guide [2024 complete update]

AA Co-Branded Credit Cards

AA miles are mainly used to book oneworld award tickets. Within the US, you can book AA-operated flights. Between the US and China, you can book AA, Cathay Pacific (CX), Japan Airlines (JL), and some mixed itineraries, including flights from smaller cities to smaller cities. The onboard experience on CX and JL is still quite good. After AA’s devaluation, the miles required for business and first class went up quite a bit, but 70,000 miles for a one-way business class ticket is still acceptable. No fuel surcharges on award tickets and the free 24-hour hold are also standout features.

All new AA cards are now issued by Citi. Citi currently offers four AA personal credit cards, from lower to higher tier: Miles Up, Platinum, Globe, and Executive, with annual fees of 0, $95, $395, and $595. The most commonly used ones are generally the AA Platinum and Globe; the Globe bonus is also good, though the annual fee is not waived the first year. You can consider downgrading to the no-annual-fee Miles Up after earning the welcome bonus, or closing the card. Unless you specifically want access to AA’s own airport lounges, in which case you can choose the AA Executive.

In the past, AA miles could only be topped up by transferring Marriott points at a 3:1 ratio, and the transfers were not instant, so if you could not earn a large amount of points all at once, it could be hard to add more miles later. But in 2025, Citi finally enabled transfers from ThankYou Points to AA. That suddenly made AA miles much easier to build up, which is great news for us since there are now more miles available for award redemptions. If you have the Citi Strata Elite or Strata Premier, you can transfer TYP to AA miles at 1:1, with the miles posting instantly. That makes booking flights or topping off an account much more convenient.

The corresponding Citi Platinum Business card is also very good.

You can see the other AA cards below. Barclays AA cards still exist, but they are no longer available for new applications.

• Citi AAdvantage MileUp Card "15,000-point welcome bonus, no annual fee"
• Citi AAdvantage Executive premium American Airlines credit card

For an introduction to AA miles, see

• American Airlines (AA) miles and elite status guide [2025 complete update]

Alaska

Alaska has joined oneworld, so its miles can be used for AA, JAL, and other alliance awards, greatly improving their usefulness. Alaska’s companion fare is also quite practical and is especially good for trips to Hawaii. Alaska has also merged with Hawaiian Airlines, further expanding the value of its miles. Its credit card lineup was also refreshed with three new Atmos series cards, all of which offer excellent value and strong welcome bonuses.

For an introduction to Alaska miles, see

• Alaska Airlines miles and elite status guide [2025 complete update]

Other Airline Co-Branded Cards

For most people, I would suggest getting the co-branded cards from the three major US airlines above, plus Atmos, first. Their points can be used not only for domestic US flights, but also for international tickets, and their benefits are also relatively easy to use. Of course, other US airline co-branded cards can still be worth applying for.

Southwest

I think Southwest cards have a lot of potential, assuming your city has a good number of Southwest flights. All three co-branded cards are issued with Chase. In addition to offering strong welcome bonuses, they also give annual points rebates that can roughly offset the annual fee. Southwest is also known for its companion pass, which can be earned through welcome bonuses as well (typically requiring a personal card + business card, or a personal card + flying/spending). Once you have it, whether you book with cash or miles, you effectively get buy one, get one free. If you usually travel with two people, the value can be substantial. I recommend applying when the personal card welcome bonus is elevated or when the offer itself includes a companion pass.

For more on Southwest miles, see

• Southwest miles and loyalty program guide

Others

• Chase Aeroplan: The miles earned can be used for Star Alliance awards, and the infant ticket policy is also very good.
• Chase BA 、 Iberia 、 Aer Lingus 、 Cardless Qatar Airways Infinite 、 Cardless Qatar Airways Signature: These all earn Avios, which can be used for oneworld awards and work especially well for nonstop point-to-point flights. Business class redemptions require a relatively large number of miles.
• Barclays JetBlue Plus credit card: This mainly depends on whether JetBlue is a hub airline at your airport. JetBlue points can also be used for international flights such as JAL.