Chase Matching United Card Offers
In one of the more over the top card refreshes we have seen, Chase pretty much launched a whole new lineup up of United Airlines credit cards last week. They installed a ton of new credits (aka coupons) with their very best Amex Platinum impression. Going hand in hand with the new credits came some higher annual fees, also just like Amex! Not only that, though, Chase & United also rolled out some nicely increased welcome offers. The immediate question everyone had after the news broke was, is Chase matching United card offers? They have often matched increased offers in the past, so it was a fair question to be asked.
Sad Trombone – Chase Is Not Matching The Increased United Card Offers
Unfortunately, this time around Chase is not matching the increased United card offers. We have seen numerous reports in the ToP Facebook Group of people striking out when they asked Chase for a match. That is true even if they just signed up for the cards a few days prior to the new offers launching. The response was the same via secure message or if people called into Chase.
This was the way I expected it to go this time around for a few different reasons. First, this is a complete refresh of the cards and they are coming with all kinds of new credits etc., which everyone that signed up before the announcement will get too. That is true even though they get the card at the lower annual fee for the first year. It should also be noted that a credit card company is not allowed to increase the fee on a card within the first cardmember year. It seemed unlikely that Chase would give the perks to cardholders AND eat the annual fee difference.
Then throw in the extra points offered, much of which are at the same spending levels as the previous offers, and we are looking at a few strikes against it. Chase, or any bank for that matter, is not going to be that generous. They would need to let you keep the old, lower annual fee, get all of the new credits AND add a substantial number of United miles to your account. It was just too much working against people for the offers to be matched.
Chase Matching United Card Offers: ToP Thoughts
I know people were hoping that Chase was matching United card offers, but too much had changed about the cards for them to do it. Most notably, the higher annual fee. Whenever an annual fee increases you are much less likely to have a bank be willing to match increased offers. On the other hand, people have had more luck with getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offer matched. It does have to fall within certain date parameters it seems. I'll write something up on all of that later this week, once I gather all of the data points.
If you were curious about the new United card offers you can check out the personal card details here and the United Business card here (which I think is the best one).
