United Explorer Card review - best for loyalists
United℠ Explorer Card
Our review
The United℠ Explorer Card offers a compelling package for frequent United Airlines passengers. With a reasonable annual fee and a suite of travel benefits, this card can significantly enhance your flying experience. Key benefits include a free first checked bag for you and a companion on United flights, two one-time United Club passes each year, priority boarding on United flights, and 25% back on United in-flight purchases. These perks alone can easily offset the annual fee for regular United flyers.
The earning structure is straightforward: 2X miles on United purchases, dining, and hotels, and 1X miles on all other purchases. While these categories align well with typical traveler spending, it's worth comparing to cards offering transferable points, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. These cards offer more flexible earning and redemption options.
This brings us to an important consideration: the value of transferable points. While the United℠ Explorer Card earns United miles directly, cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture earn flexible points that can be transferred to multiple airline and hotel partners, including United (for Chase) and other Star Alliance partners (for both). These transferable points offer more versatility, potentially allowing you to get better value depending on your travel needs. This flexibility can be particularly valuable if your travel patterns change or if you find better award availability with other airlines.
One standout feature of the United℠ Explorer Card is the expanded award availability. Cardholders get access to more award seats on United flights, potentially making it easier to use your miles when you want to travel. This can be particularly valuable during peak travel periods when award seats are scarce. The card also comes with some solid travel protections, adding an extra layer of security to your travels.
Is it worth it?
For regular United flyers who value perks like free checked bags and priority boarding, the Explorer Card can easily justify its annual fee. However, if you're not exclusively loyal to United, a card offering transferable points like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture Rewards might provide more value. They allow you to transfer points to United or its partners when needed, but also give you the flexibility to use points with other travel partners or for cash back. The United Explorer Card offers a solid mix of benefits that can make your United flights more comfortable and affordable, but consider your travel patterns and preferences carefully when choosing between an airline-specific card and one offering more flexible rewards.
Learn more: United℠ Explorer Card
Earn 70,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
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All information about Chase cards (excluding the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Freedom Unlimited®, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, United℠ Explorer Card, United Quest℠ Card, United Club℠ Card, & United℠ Business Card) has been collected independently by Pointhound.
*Suggested credit score ranges are not from the issuers, and are guidelines, not a guarantee of approval.
