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 you 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 snacks, it’s important to know that United doesn’t accept credit cards for payment on your flights.
Why would they sell food and drinks and not accept credit cards for payment?
United no longer accepts physical credit cards for onboard purchases and will only charge purchases to the card saved to your account (or with Paypal, but according to United’s website, that’s only on select flights).
There are five ways for you to save a credit card to make 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 directions on how to save a form of payment before your flight on United’s website.
You don’t have to show your credit card onboard the flight, 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 that won’t take a physical card for payment onboard.
If you’re making a purchase, remember that United MileagePlus credit cardholders receive a 25% rebate for onboard food and drinks. You’d need to make sure that’s the card you have saved to your United profile to get the discount.
And if you didn’t save your payment information before your flight, well, I hope you packed some food in your carry-on bag.
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