Chase United Explorer Card (Visa Signature) Review
Updated June 10, 2023.
The Facts
The Math
United Explorer vs. United MileagePlus Explorer: the former is a direct replacement of the latter. The new card adds 2x points on dining & hotels, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, and 25% inflight savings, while removing the 10K miles bonus for $25K annual spending and reducing some travel / consumer protection. As the protection change is a Chase wide move not specific to this product and Global Entry or 25% inflight saving is not major enhancement, let's just focus on miles earning. Assuming you spend exactly $25K per year to maximize the old card's earning, you will need to spend exactly $10K on dining & hotels combined on the new card to beat the old card. In this regard, we don't think the new card is any more appealing than the old card. On the other hands, due to the fact that Chase Ultimate Rewards points may be transferred to United miles at 1:1 ratio, we still recommend checking out Chase Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred for even better rewards and flexibility. For example, Sapphire Preferred offers 2x travel & dining, with the same annual fees and actually wider coverage than United Explorer. Sapphire Reserve has a slightly higher effective annual fee at $150 but offers 3x travel & dining and much better travel perks.
The Conclusion
United Explorer is a decent card for United flyers; however, when it comes to rewards, we recommend checking out Chase Sapphire cards.
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The Facts
- Annual Fee: The 1st year free and $95 thereafter
- Signup Bonus: 60,000 miles after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and additional 10,000 miles after spending a total of $6,000 within 6 months of new account opening). This bonus is not available if you currently have this card or have received signup bonus from this card in the past 24 months. Based on anecdotal reports, this card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for this card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards). Historical best bonus of this card: (1) 70,000 miles in 2020 & 2021 (with first annual fee waiver); (2) 65,000 miles in November 2018 and November 2019; (3) 60,000 miles in January & August 2020; (4) 45,000 miles + $100 credit in June 2018.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 2x United, hotels and dining, and 1x everywhere else.
- Best Use of MileagePlus Miles: MileagePlus is the frequent flyer program of United Airlines, a member of Star Alliance. United miles are generally valuable for redeeming on United or partner metals, and our current valuation is 1.3 cents per mile.
- United Airlines Benefits: (1) Two lounge (United Club) day passes upon opening and each anniversary thereafter. (2) Free first checked bag for you plus one companion on the same reservation. (3) Group 2 priority boarding after premium cabins & certain United elites (Premier Platinum and above) and before general passengers, for you and your companions on your reservation. (4) Domestic unlimited upgrades on awards tickets are available exclusively to United elite members with Explorer cards. (5) United Anytime Awards without capacity control are exclusive to United elites with Explorer cards (general members will access Anytime Awards with a slight reduction in availability). Even though Anytime Awards are not the best way to redeem miles (since you normally pay double miles), occasionally they can be valuable. (6) 25% savings on United inflight purchases charged to the card (food, beverages, Wi-Fi). (7) Earn 500 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) per $12,000 spent on the card, up to a maximum 1,000 PQPs per calendar year.
- Hotel Privileges: (1) Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection (LHRC), through Signature Travel Network, offering perks such as daily complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, early check-in and late check-out upon availability, and property specific amenities (such as a $100 spa/dining/hotel credit per stay), at over 900 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. You may book a hotel on LHRCollection.com and the rates are mostly the same of the Best Available Rates (BAR, i.e., refundable flexible rates set by the hotel) and include taxes, resort fees, etc. This benefit is available on select Chase cards such as Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, United Club, and United Explorer. (2) Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection which offers perks including daily complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, late checkout upon availability, $25 food and beverage credit per stay, free room wi-fi, and VIP amenities, at over 900 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. You may book a hotel on VisaSignatureHotels.com and the rates are the same as BAR. Note that the coverage and perks are different from LHRC's, but some hotels participate in both programs. This benefit is actually available to any U.S. issued Visa Signature cards.
- Other Benefits: (1) Waived foreign transaction fees. (2) Primary rental car collision coverage. Note while most credit cards provide rental car insurance, they are secondary, meaning your personal insurance's collision damage coverage kicks in before the credit card's. Please see our featured review on credit cards that come with primary rental car insurance for details. (3) Reimbursement for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application fees every four years. (4) Complimentary 24/7 Concierge Service. (5) One year DoorDash's subscription service DashPass for free - activate before March 31, 2022. DashPass, normally $9.99 per month, offers $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on food orders over $12 via DoorDash. (6) Discounted CLEAR membership at $109 per year, instead of the $179 regular price. Not really much because the regular United MP members already receive discounted price at $119 per year.
- The History: In mid 2011, with the merger between United and Continental on the way, Chase launched the United Airlines MileagePlus Explorer Card. In mid 2018, Chase rebranded the card with a new name "United Explorer Card" by dropping "MileagePlus" from the name, adding 2x points on dining & hotels while removing the 10K miles bonus for $25K annual spending.
The Math
United Explorer vs. United MileagePlus Explorer: the former is a direct replacement of the latter. The new card adds 2x points on dining & hotels, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, and 25% inflight savings, while removing the 10K miles bonus for $25K annual spending and reducing some travel / consumer protection. As the protection change is a Chase wide move not specific to this product and Global Entry or 25% inflight saving is not major enhancement, let's just focus on miles earning. Assuming you spend exactly $25K per year to maximize the old card's earning, you will need to spend exactly $10K on dining & hotels combined on the new card to beat the old card. In this regard, we don't think the new card is any more appealing than the old card. On the other hands, due to the fact that Chase Ultimate Rewards points may be transferred to United miles at 1:1 ratio, we still recommend checking out Chase Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred for even better rewards and flexibility. For example, Sapphire Preferred offers 2x travel & dining, with the same annual fees and actually wider coverage than United Explorer. Sapphire Reserve has a slightly higher effective annual fee at $150 but offers 3x travel & dining and much better travel perks.
The Conclusion
United Explorer is a decent card for United flyers; however, when it comes to rewards, we recommend checking out Chase Sapphire cards.
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