A miles and PQP-earning debit card for the UK
It’s the card we weren’t expecting. A tie-up with a credible but lesser-used (in the UK) airline means that there’s now a United Airlines debit card available to UK customers. While you might have hoped for an Emirates or Qatar-focused card, we get what we’re given, and this could be very useful if you travel a lot to the US. As with all credit and debit cards, make sure you’re making the right financial decisions based on your individual circumstances.
Where does United Airlines fly in the UK?
United flies to over a hundred and fifty destinations internationally from the US, three of which are in the UK. For England, the only city they currently fly to is London. They had previously flown to Manchester from New York, but this route stopped a number of years ago. Manchester is down to just four US routes, from two airlines. United does have a good set of routes into Scotland, flying to both Edinburgh and Glasgow from New York.
FYI United’s home base is Newark Airport in New Jersey. It’s as close to Manhattan as JFK, and technically falls under the NYC airport code grouping. The airline flies from the older Terminal C, which is expected to see some improvements over the next decade.
United’s London route sees them fly into Heathrow Terminal 2. They have their own Club lounge in the terminal (although not one of their elevated Polaris lounges), but if you’re flying in their Business Class cabin, you may be able to access fellow Star Alliance lounges including Singapore, Lufthansa and Air Canada.
United fly one plane daily into Edinburgh, while the Glasgow route is daily throughout the Summer, five times a week in the Autumn and then ceases in the Winter and Spring. Their London flights are high frequency, with either six or seven every day.
How does the Currensea United Airlines card work?
Currensea have launched tie-ups with three travel and hospitality companies. Alongside the United card, they have two for Hilton and two for Marriott. All cards are debit, and not credit, cards.
As this is a debit card, it links directly to your bank account. You do not pay this off every month like a credit card, each transaction you make will be paid directly from your current bank account. Currensea integrates with most UK bank accounts, including Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Natwest, Santander and Lloyds.
Think of it as being the same as your current debit card that you have with your bank account, but you earn miles or points based on your transactions. You earn more points on transactions outside the UK and Europe. This is due to higher FX fees that can be turned into reward points.
How many points do you earn on the Currensea card?
- Earn 2 points for every £3 you spent in the UK or Europe
- Or 4 points for every £3 you spend outside of the UK and Europe
- Earn 4 points/£3 when you spend directly with United.
You will also earn Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) based on both spend and card renewal. PQPs are United’s equivalent of BA tier points.
- You earn 1 PQP for every £15 you spend outside the UK or directly with United
- When your card subscription renews, you get 500 PQPs
- If you have spent over £3,000 on non-GBP transactions in the previous twelve months, you’ll also get 2,500 miles upon card renewal
What United perks do you get with this card?
Each of their cards has perks specific to the travel partner. With the Hilton and Marriott cards, you are moved up to a specific level in their frequent traveller schemes.
The United card is no different, although there is no automatic status. Instead, the perks are split into miles-based bonuses and discounts. Currensea promise that you will get a minimum of 10% off United flights when you book with miles. If you have MileagePlus Premier status, then that jumps to 15%.
After your first purchase on the card, you’ll get 2,000 miles. If you book and fly a United flight within the first six months, you’ll get up to 10,000 miles as a bonus, and if you spend over £3,000 outside of the UK in the first 12 months, you’ll get another 3,000 miles.
What do miles and PQPs get you with United?
In the same way as British Airways tier points work, miles with United are used for reward flights and PQP’s are used to determine your status level with United.
An example of how many miles are needed for a flight: the cheapest rate I could find for a Business Class, return, flight from London to New York (staying for seven days) in early December 2026 was 400,000 miles, and £312 in taxes. Whilst the tax element is reasonable compared to BA, the miles are well over double what you would expect to pay with BA.
Flying from London to Munich with Lufthansa costs 60,000 miles and £99.85 in Taxes. Again, the mile element feels high when compared to BA. It may well be that earning United miles in the US is easier, and the earn rates are higher. It does not help us in the UK.
PQPs are earned based on the cost of a flight. You earn 1 PQP per dollar spent, including when you pay carrier-imposed surcharges. You move through United’s tiers as follows.
- Premier Silver: 15 PQF (Premier Qualifying Flights) and 5,000 PQF or just 6,000 PQF
- Premier Gold: 30 PQF and 10,000 PQF or just 12,000 PQF
- Premier Platinum: 45 PQF and 15,000 PQF or just 18,000 PQF
- Premier 1K: 60 PQF and 22,000 PQF or just 28,000 PQF
Who are Currensea?
They’re a UK fintech company that launched their first card back in 2020, and formed their first loyalty partnership with Hilton in 2024. Their Marriott card followed in 2025, and then the United card in 2026. Their UK team has been growing and now numbers 50, with headquarters in London.
What is United’s business class like?
Legacy US airlines have a now undeserved reputation for their business class. Some, especially United, have been revamping their business cabins and improving the soft product and their lounges.
Typically, American airlines have economy and first class on their internal US flights. The First cabin is closer, or even sometimes worse than, the type of Business cabins we’re used to on long-haul flights from the UK. However, the international flights for US carriers have business cabins that are much closer to what we perceive as being “proper” business class.
United made the decision back in 2016 to give their international AND some long-haul intra-US Business Class its own name: Polaris. This launched on their 777s. You’ll now find Polaris across their 787s, and even their ageing 767s.
The Polaris seat is a solid business class seat. It’s well designed, the seat goes fully lie flat and it’s as good as, if not better, than most European long-haul seats. The airline has just launched an upgraded version called the Polaris Studio, which includes a companion seat allowing couples dining.
Why would you get this card?
Given that United are a US airline, and their flights are very London- and Scotland-focused, you might be thinking, why would you get this card? If you don’t travel from Glasgow, Edinburgh or Heathrow to New York, this may not seem like an interesting card; however, this is the only UK card that allows you to directly earn Star Alliance points. When you consider the other airlines in that group, it becomes more interesting:
(You can, of course, get access to Star Alliance airlines via American Express Membership Rewards points, which you can transfer to Singapore Airlines).
The medium and long-haul airlines from the UK include
- Singapore Airlines – flying from Manchester and London. We had an excellent flight in the Singapore First Class cabin on their A380.
- Turkish Airlines (flying from London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. I reviewed a business class flight from Manchester to Istanbul.
- South African Airways has flights into London Heathrow.
- Air China flies from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester to Beijing.
- Air India flies from Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham.
There are also great short-haul options
- Lufthansa flies from nine UK Cities: London (Heathrow, Stansted and London City), Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Newcastle, Jersey, Glasgow and Bristol to both Frankfurt and Munich.
- TAP flies from both London Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as Manchester and Edinburgh to Lisbon.
- Swiss Air flies from Heathrow, London City, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh to Zurich or Geneva.
- Brussels Airlines flies from London Heathrow and Manchester
That’s a significant network covering the UK, US, Africa and Asia. Given that the airlines above are all part of the same alliance, that means you should be able to book reward flights through United. That makes this Currensea card far more interesting for UK travellers.
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