When you’re on a flight and want something to eat or drink, you typically have a few choices:
- You’ve brought something with you and can eat it whenever you want
- You accept whatever meager snacks the plane offers (IF they offer anything)
- You buy something more substantial onboard, typically using a credit card to pay for it
This piece won’t matter to you if you’re a United 1K and spend most of your time in the front of the plane or if you get your food and drinks comped. But for the rest of us in the economy section, who might want to pay for a drink or snack, it’s important to know that United doesn’t accept physical credit cards for payment on your flights.
Why would they sell food and drinks and not accept credit cards?
United no longer accepts physical credit cards for onboard purchases. Instead, they prefer that you charge purchases to the card saved to your MileagePlus account. However, they’ve recently made a slight change to their policy: they’ll now also accept Tap to Pay via Apple Pay or other digital wallets.
There are five ways to save a credit card to your account for inflight purchases:
- Save to your MileagePlus account (preferred)
- At check-in on the United app
- At check-in on United.com
- After check-in on the United app
- After check-in on United.com
You can find step-by-step directions for how to save a payment method before your flight
on United’s website.
You don’t have to show your credit card onboard, but you may be asked to confirm the name on the card you have on file.
While most airlines have stopped accepting cash for purchases, United is the only one I know of that doesn’t accept physical cards at all.
And if you’re making a purchase, remember: United MileagePlus credit cardholders receive a 25% rebate on onboard food and drinks. Just make sure that the card is saved to your United profile to receive the discount.
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