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

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

Did you know that you can pay the annual fee on your United credit card using your airline miles? It’s called “Pay Yourself Back” — but I’m not talking about using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points with the Chase Pay Yourself Back program.

Instead, you can pay your card’s annual fee with regular United Airlines MileagePlus miles.

If you didn’t know this, you’re not alone. Finding this information isn’t the easiest since the website with more details isn’t widely publicized and doesn’t provide much in the way of details.

Let’s walk you through how to pay your United credit card’s annual fee using United miles.

Cards eligible for this feature

United offers multiple cobranded credit cards, including the following:

• United℠ Business Card (see rates and fees)
• United Club℠ Card (see rates and fees)
• United Club Business Card
• United℠ Explorer Card (see rates and fees)
• United Quest℠ Card (see rates and fees)

The information for the 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.

Any United card with an annual fee is eligible to participate in this offer — including ones that are no longer available to new applicants. That’s great news for anyone feeling on the fence about their card’s annual fee this year.

Related: How to unlock additional award availability with United

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

There is a website outlining this option: choices.unitedmileageplus.com. It mentions that you can use miles to pay off your annual fee, but unfortunately, it says you must call the number on the back of your card to start the process or visit Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature.

Moreover, the terms at the bottom of the page have a few important points you should note:

• This feature is only available after you have paid your annual fee within the last 90 days, meaning you will need to pay the fee first and then use United miles as a reimbursement after the fact.
• Redemption values aren’t published and can change at any time. Right now, the value is 1.5 cents per mile (more on that below).
• The statement credit will appear on your account within three business days, and you’ll see the reimbursement and use of miles on your billing statement within one or two billing cycles.
• Reimbursement of your annual fee using miles does not count as a payment to satisfy your minimum payment due that month, so ensure any minimum payments are still met.

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 fee first and then request to use your United miles as a reimbursement.

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

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

Related: United Premier status: How to earn it — and is it worth it?

What it costs

How much does it cost? Or, to rephrase this question, how many miles will you need?

Since you will pay the annual fee and seek reimbursement with your miles, let’s look at the cost in terms of how many United miles you’ll ultimately use to reimburse yourself after paying the annual fee on your United credit card.

You can use your United Miles at 1.5 cents apiece against your card’s annual fee. Despite this, online forums show that some cardholders have received targeted email offers to use United miles as high as 1.75 cents apiece against their card’s annual fee.

TPG April 2025 valuations peg United Miles at 1.35 cents each. Thus, this redemption is above the average value for United miles. At face value, it looks like a pretty good deal.

That said, if you routinely redeem your miles for first—and business-class awards, you are likely getting more than 1.5 cents each in value from your United miles. In this situation, you might be hesitant to use your miles in this way.

Overall, though, this is a fair use of United miles when considering all of your redemption options, but it’s ultimately up to you to decide whether this is the best use of your miles.

Here are approximately how many miles you can expect to pay based on your card’s annual fee (keep in mind that these can change at any time):

• United Business Card ($150 annual fee): 9,868 miles
• United Club Business Card ($695 annual fee): 45,724 miles
• United Club Card ($695 annual fee): 45,724 miles
• United Explorer Card ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150): 9,868 miles
• United Quest Card ($350 annual fee): 23,027 miles

Is paying your United Card annual fee with United miles worth it?

Whether this process is worth it depends on the number of miles it will cost, the types of redemptions you typically do with United and how many miles you have available. Remember that you need to pay your card’s annual fee upfront.

If the statement credit from your miles redemption doesn’t post in time, you should still have cash available to pay your card’s annual fee.

Unless you routinely book first—and business-class award tickets with United, covering your card’s annual fee with United miles is a great way to use them. TPG senior editorial director Nick Ewen has the United Explorer Card and is considering this option.

Bottom line

It’s nice to have the option to use your United miles to offset your United credit card’s annual fee. Though not everyone will find value in this depending on how they prefer to use their miles, the ability to choose offers flexibility. If you’re interested in using your United miles to reimburse 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 the best United cards.

Related: 6 of our favorite under-the-radar credit card perks