I almost missed this…I don’t want you to miss it too. Through the end of day, United will match up to 10% of your contribution to the United TravelBank, a way to prepay for United travel. It just saved me $20 on an upcoming trip…
United Airlines Will Match Your TravelBank Contribution By Up To 10%
United Airlines offers a TravelBank that allows you to fund future travel in advance. This was originally closely linked to the (now defunct) United.com Club, which offered a $5 TravelBank deposit for every booking made on united.com (for a $25/year membership fee). United also used to offer the TravelBank as a wedding registry option. Both programs have been suspended.
Nevertheless, during the pandemic United has rekindled its TravelBank by offering a 5-10% bonus for essentially pre-paying for your United travel. It’s a way for United to generate short-term revenue but also a way to save 10% on future travel…it makes a lot of sense to me.
The promotion is straightforward: deposit money into your account and United will add the bonus. In my case, it was instant. In order to receive the 10% bonus, you must add at least $250.
- For adding $50 or $100 to your TravelBank, you will receive a 5% bonus deposit
- For adding $250, $500, $750, or $1,000, to your TravelBank, you will receive a 10% bonus deposit
TravelBank funds are valid for five years, but the TravelBank bonus (5-10%) expires 120 days after it is deposited in your account. So in if you add $1,000, $1,000 will be valid for five years and the $100 bonus will expire in four months.
Also note that each MileagePlus account is limited to purchasing $1,000 in TravelBank funds. Finally, note the TravelBank funds are valid only on United or United Express-operated flights, not codeshares.
Earlier today, I had a $269 ticket to purchase. I was about to click purchase and then remembered this promotion. So I purchased $25o in TravelBank credit, instantly had $275, and then ticketed the reservation with the TravelBank credit applied. Thus, my $269 ticket cost $250 out-of-pocket and I have a $6 credit leftover in my TravelBank.
CONCLUSION
If you’re going to travel anyway, adding TravelBank credit makes a lot of sense. Through 11:59PM CST tonight, you can receive up to a 10% bonus. Also note there are reports that this spending is counting as “airline fees” in terms of your annual American Express Platinum $200 allowance. If United is your chosen airlines and you have yet to exhaust your $200, this may be a way to spend your remaining credit.
Travelbank can be used only on united airlines. This is a big limitation.
I enjoyed this article. Can you explain how I deposit into the TravelBank? I’m new at this so an easy explanation would be appreciated. I am not seeing it.
Thank you, Lou
Hi Louis,
Use this link to log into your MileagePlus account, then add the cash:
https://www.united.com/offers/travelcash
Thank you very much. $200 accredited to Amex Platinum though it took a little over a week. It also counted for 5x travel. Now lets see if it works for Amex Gold.
Nice! Thanks for the data point.
You say that UA is using this to “generate short-term revenue.” This is wrong because they have not earned the revenue yet (and will not until you take a flight). Better to say “generate short-term liquidity.”
Thank you Dr. Eisenberg.
Thanks! It provided additional value to me and provided access to immediate cash for United so win, win from my perspective. I used my American Express card and hope this will count towards by $200 allowance for this year as I had not used it yet.
The question I have for you is how are the different funds applied. If they apply the matching funds first, you got a 10% bonus. If they apply the matching funds last, you only got a 7.6% bonus and a chance to get 2.4% if you buy another ticket in the next 120 days.
Travelbank funds are utilized in order of expiration date. So your bonus or any previously existing funds will be used first. Then you have five years to spend the rest.
Sure, you get a 10% bonus but you also give up a ton of credit card benefits like trip interruption and cancellation insurance, baggage delay, AD&D etc.
This bonus should only be used in specific circumstances where people are willing to forego the benefits offered by credit cards for a 10% bonus. I wouldn’t take part at all.