Value of Presidential Plus card Flexible PQMs
If you hold a Mileage Plus Presidential Plus (PP) card, have you made any new year's resolutions about
:
a) renewing the card for another year, or
b) how much to spend on the card?
This legacy Chase credit card is not taking new applications. The cards benefits have changed several times since 2011 as tracked in a FlyerTalk post started in 2011 and still active today (with 133 pages). To answer these questions for myself in 2015, I compiled the following comparison of current card-derived vs. status-derived benefits. Personally, I’ve found the card useful for maintaining Premier Gold status for the last several years. With reduced travel last year, I’m down to Silver for 2015 and find myself wondering how important the 20,000 flexible Premier Qualifying Miles (FPQM) I have built up will be as United transitions to a revenue-based program.
Overall, the current benefits of the PP and the replacement Club card are nearly identical. The key trade-off is increased redeemable mile (RDM) earnings with the Club card vs. FPQM with the PP card. Basically, the Club card earns an incremental 0.5 RDM / $1 vs. the PP card’s 0.2 PQM / $1. This sets a 2.5 RDM : $1 PQM ratio, which puts a price on PQMs earned this way at $0.025 to $0.050. Given that PQMs cost $0.12 if purchased early in the year via award accelerator, this is a pretty good deal for those who anticipate falling short of the upcoming year’s desired Silver / Gold / Platinum threshold.
Benefits unique to the PP card:
- 1000 FPQM per $5,000 spend (or 0.2 / $1)
- FPQMs are only valid for Premier Silver / Gold / Platinum status, expire 3 years after earning
- 1 RDM / $1 card spend (x2 hotel & rental cars for personal card, x2 restaurants, gas, office supplies for business card)
- Premier Qualifying Dollar (PQD) waiver (no minimum card spend, doesn’t apply to 1K)
Benefits unique to the Club card:
- 1.5 RDM / $1 card spend
- PQD waiver (with $25,000 minimum card spend, doesn’t apply to 1K)
Benefits shared between PP and Club cards:
- $395 annual fee
- United club membership (vs. $425 Platinum, $450 Gold, $475 Silver, $500 GM, +$250 with spouse)
- Waiver of 4 segment on United flights for Premier qualification
- Premier Access (group 2 boarding)
- 2 free checked bags (vs. 1 Silver, 2 Gold, 3 Platinum)
- Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum
- Hertz Hertz President's Circle status (vs. Five Star for Premier Silver / Gold)
- CPU on award tickets
- No <21 day award booking fees (vs. $50 Silver, $25 Gold, $0 Platinum)
- No foreign transaction fees
- Concierge service
Benefits compared to Explorer card:
- only $95 annual fee
- only 1 free bag for cardholder and 1 companion
- 1 RDM / $1 card spend, +10,000 bonus after $25,000 card spend)
- 2 single-use club passes
- Premier Access (group 2 boarding)
- Premier Qualifying Dollar waiver (with $25,000 minimum card spend)
Sources (accessed Jan 1, 2015):
Chase United Card Benefits
https://www.chase.com/online/Credit-...ewards-new.htm
United Premier Status Benefits
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...r/default.aspx
United Premier Status Qualification Requirements
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...r/qualify.aspx
Main FlyerTalk thread on Presidential Plus card changes
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...d-changes.html