Neo Financial · Mastercard
$89 for a United card with a free checked bag and priority boarding. The base earn is 0.75 miles a dollar, which is below the one to one most people assume.
Rates and features verified 2026-08-18Full terms and conditionsHow we research cards
What we like, and what we don’t
Worth having
- A free first checked bag on United operated flights, which pays the fee back in two trips
- Group 2 priority boarding on United operated flights
- Up to US$120 credited toward a NEXUS or Global Entry application
- 5,000 miles on your first purchase with no minimum spend, and 15,000 more for $3,000 in three months
- 1.25 miles a dollar on United and Star Alliance flights
Watch out for
- Everything outside flights, dining and groceries earns 0.75 miles a dollar, below the usual one to one
- The advertised "up to 25,000 miles" includes a 5,000 mile renewal bonus that is not paid at signup
- Insurance is not available in Quebec, and the fee is the same there
- A 3% foreign transaction fee on a card built for international flying
- The NEXUS credit is in US dollars and only available once every five years
- $80,000 personal or $150,000 household income required
What this card earns
- Groceries
- 1x
- Dining and restaurants
- 1x
- Travel
- 1.25x
- Everything else
- 0.75x
- Bonus categories at once
- 1 you choose which
- What we value a point at
- Not published by the issuer
The earning fine print
1.25 MileagePlus miles per $1 on United Airlines and Star Alliance flights; 1 mile per $1 on dining and groceries; 0.75 miles per $1 on everything else. Neo states 'no limit on how many miles you can earn'. Note the base rate is BELOW one mile per dollar. 0.75x. Which is unusual and means most everyday spend earns less than the nominal 1:1 most readers assume from an airline card. Earn_travel is set to 1.25 but that applies only to United-operated and Star Alliance flights, not to hotels, car rentals or other travel spend, which earn 0.75x. Neo does not publish which merchant category codes qualify as 'dining' or 'groceries'.
The welcome offer
- Welcome bonus
- $5,000 after you spend $0
- Second tier
- $15,000 after you spend $3,000, within 3 months
What the offer actually requires
Advertised as 'up to 25,000 miles to get you started'. Tier 1: 5,000 miles on first purchase, no minimum spend. Tier 2: 15,000 miles for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. The remaining 5,000 miles in the '25,000' headline is an ANNUAL RENEWAL bonus paid on each anniversary. It is not part of the sign-up bonus and is not earned in year one at signup. No offer end date is published.
Fees and interest rates
- Annual fee
- $89
- Foreign transaction fee
- 3%
- Purchase APR
- 19.99%
- Cash advance APR
- 22.99%
Who can get this card
- Minimum personal income
- $80,000
- Minimum household income
- $150,000
Insurance and benefits
- Rental car damage waiver
- Included
- NEXUS fee credit
- Included
What the benefits really mean
$89 annual fee, $80,000 personal or $150,000 household income required. Purchase APR 19.99% to 29.99%. Airline benefits: free first checked bag on eligible United-operated flights, Group 2 priority boarding on United-operated flights, and access to the Star Alliance network of 25+ carriers. NEXUS/Global Entry-style credit: up to USD $120 as a statement credit toward a NEXUS application or renewal, once every 5 years. Note it is denominated in US dollars, so the Canadian-dollar value moves with FX, and the 5-year frequency means it is worth roughly USD $24/year amortised. Insurance published as existing: out-of-province medical, delayed and lost baggage, trip protection, rental car coverage, plus Mastercard Zero Liability. But Neo publishes NO coverage amounts, day limits or age limits in retrievable form. Neo explicitly states 'Insurance coverage is not available in Quebec' for this card, so a Quebec cardholder pays the same $89 and receives no insurance. No lounge access is advertised for this card (unlike Neo's other World Elite products). A secured version is available with a $200 minimum deposit and no credit score requirement. Holding this card makes Neo's Build membership free. Standard Neo fees apply: $29 over-limit once per billing cycle (not in Quebec), $2.50 cash withdrawal in Canada / $5.00 abroad, at least 21 days' grace, minimum payment greater of $10 or 2.0% of the statement balance plus interest and fees. HEADLINE VS SUBSTANCE. WELCOME BONUS: 'up to 25,000 miles to get you started' includes a 5,000-mile ANNUAL RENEWAL bonus that is not paid at signup. The actual first-year sign-up bonus is 20,000 miles (5,000 on first purchase + 15,000 on $3,000 in 3 months). BASE EARN IS BELOW 1x: everything outside United/Star Alliance flights, dining and groceries earns only 0.75 miles per dollar. An airline card that earns three-quarters of a mile per dollar on most spend is easy to misread. The 1.25x rate covers United-operated and Star Alliance FLIGHTS only. Hotels, car rentals and other travel earn 0.75x. INSURANCE IS NOT AVAILABLE IN QUEBEC on this card, per Neo's own page, while the $89 fee is unchanged. The NEXUS credit is USD $120, not CAD, and is available only once every five years. Free checked bag and Group 2 boarding apply only to United-OPERATED flights, not Star Alliance partner-operated flights. No lounge access on this card, despite World Elite branding and despite Neo's other World Elite cards offering DragonPass. FX FEE CONTRADICTION: help centre 3% vs Disclosure Statement PDF 2.5%. Recorded at 3%. A significant drag on an airline card meant for foreign spend. APR is a risk-based range 19.99% to 29.99% purchases / 22.99% to 31.99% cash advances. Supplementary card fee not published for this card specifically; Neo's $49 World Elite additional-card fee is not confirmed to cover it, so recorded as NOT PUBLISHED. Neo publishes purchase protection/extended warranty for World Elite generally but does not list them on this card's page, so both are recorded as NOT PUBLISHED rather than assumed.
Our verdict
The checked bag is the reason to hold this card. One free bag on United, on two return trips a year, is worth more than the $89 fee before you count a single mile, and Group 2 boarding is a real benefit on a full aircraft. If you fly United more than occasionally, that is the whole argument and it is a good one.
The earning is where it gets awkward. A base rate of 0.75 miles a dollar is below what most people assume an airline card pays, so everyday spending here is worse than it looks, and the 3% foreign transaction fee is a strange choice on a card sold to international flyers. The welcome offer also needs reading twice: the 25,000 headline includes 5,000 miles you do not receive until you renew. The real first year bonus is 20,000.
Cards worth comparing this against
Compare this against every card we track
Where this came from. neofinancial.com/credit-cards/neo-united-mastercard; neofinancial.com/ca-en/lp/united-mastercard; neofinancial.com/credit; neofinancial.com/secured; neofinancial.com/blog/neo-credit-cards-that-will-help-you-build-your-credit-up; support.neofinancial.com articles 14009843 (fees), 14009722; Neo Disclosure Statement, Rate & Fee Schedule (PDF). We take every figure from the issuer’s own pages, never from another comparison site, and we leave a field blank rather than guess at it.