But credit cards aren’t the only way to win the card benefit-driven travel loyalty battle.
As the Tuesday (Nov. 4) news from United Airlines reveals, debit cards are shaping up as a new and valuable ecosystem for travel loyalty and perks.
With the launch of its MileagePlus® Debit Rewards Card, United Airlines is aiming to turn everyday banking into a generator of airline miles and deeper customer engagement.
“We’re constantly looking for new ways to add value and optionality for our members, and a debit card is a natural next step,” said Bob Daly, United’s managing director of global co-brand cards, on a call for journalists ahead of the launch. “The United MileagePlus Debit Rewards Card offers customers an additional way to earn miles whether they’re spending on United flights and everyday purchases or saving and making plans for the future.”
While most legacy carriers have long embraced credit card partnerships as a pillar of their loyalty strategies, United is now broadening the tent with a debit card product that earns customers miles not only for purchases but also for maintaining savings balances. The card is powered by Galileo SoFi’s Tech platform, issued by Sunrise Bank, and backed by Visa.
The decision to introduce a mileage-earning debit card speaks to a rapidly evolving market. Debit cards are growing faster than credit cards, particularly among younger consumers, according to United executives on the launch press call attended by PYMNTS.
Read more: The New Face of Credit Is the Debit Card
Sign of the Times in Loyalty
The introduction of a deposit-based mile-earning channel hints at something deeper: an attempt to embed the United Airlines brand more meaningfully into the financial lives of its customers. It’s no longer just about capturing the travel wallet, but the everyday wallet: the budget, the savings account, even the monthly grocery bill.
As Richard Nunn, CEO of United MileagePlus, put it toward the end of the press call: “Whether they’re buying groceries, paying bills, or saving for the future … members are now earning toward future travel with the world’s largest airline.”
The PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Gen Z Financial Habits Put Debit, Wallets and Influencers in Charge,” shows that over 4 in 10 Gen Zers trust their debit card more than their credit card.
Over the summer, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote: “The most important credential that has emerged for enabling payment and purchase flexibility is not a new type of credit card. It’s the debit card.”
MileagePlus Debit Rewards Card members who open an account and spend $500 within the first four months earn a 10,000-mile sign-up bonus, similar to entry-level credit card offers. From there, customers earn one mile per $1 on United purchases and one mile per $2 on all other eligible transactions. But the real differentiator is on the savings side.
Read more: Galileo Shares Blueprint for the Future of Value-Added Services
MileagePlus members who keep certain balances in their accounts earn significant mileage bonuses annually, from 2,500 miles at balances above $2,500, all the way to 70,000 miles for account balances above $50,000.
“Members can actually earn miles through saving, which is a first,” Nunn said during the press call. In effect, the card turns money at rest into a mile-earning engine — a model that blends elements of modern consumer banking with the aspirational draw of airline rewards.
For account holders who maintain an average daily balance of $2,000 or above, the card comes with no monthly fee. Those below the threshold pay just $4 a month. Members can monitor their balance-based mile accrual monthly and also access digital card controls — familiar features for any modern banking user, but relatively new territory in the airline-led loyalty space.
In the broadest sense, this is a pitch to a market United hasn’t fully tapped before: people who want miles but don’t want, or can’t qualify for, credit cards.
Read more: Frequent Fliers vs Frequent Spenders: The Shift in Airline Loyalty Programs
If loyalty in the 21st century is defined by touchpoints rather than transactions, then United’s debit card experiment may serve as a blueprint. It reframes airline rewards as a lifestyle currency — earned through financial behavior, not just travel.
Of course, this is also an experiment. There are outstanding questions around durability, competitive benchmarking, and customer comprehension.
Time will tell whether customers embrace miles for savings with the same enthusiasm they’ve long brought to miles for flying. But by offering a product that meets customers where they already are in their debit-linked lives, United is no longer looking at the sky alone. It’s looking at the bank account.
