Laura782

I, too, am hopeful. I closed my last Chase United card about 18 months ago when that card's bonus posted, but nonetheless applied for (and was instantly approved) this 50K bonus card on May 16. Several on these boards told me I was doomed and that Chase is tight on their T&C these days, but I called them up twice yesterday before activating my card and spoke to 2 separate CSRs, both of whom confirmed that I'll get the bonus miles with my spend as well as the $50 credit. I even admitted to them that I was unsure of when I closed my last account, but they reassured me I was eligible. I'll truly believe it when I see it, but your luck makes me think it might actually happen.

Mme H

Just an FYI - applied with instant approval May 30; 2 cards (mine and AU) arrived today, June 8.

No mention of miles and statement credit and perks with no "letter" informing me of same in envelope.

Called to acknowledge card's arrival and checked with CSR - all is good: 50K miles + 5K for AU + $50 statement credit all for $2000 spending in first 3 months.

Whilst on the phone with CSR I asked to have a copy of the full benefits handbook sent out - this fully describes other perks like trip interruption/cancellation insurance, rental car coverage, purchase protection etcetc. I have an old copy, but figured it would be good to get a current one.

And, don't forget to request that auto pay form - never have I written a check to pay the bill.

Happy

1) Chase never sends out letter to "confirm" the offer signed up.

2) The full benefits handbook is in the welcome packs. If it is not there, it is an omission. Good thing you request one.

3) You do not need auto pay to avoid writing a check. You can always go to Chase online to schedule payment as you please, and as many times as you like. Or do the Bill Pay from your bank. Besides if you really want auto-pay (not advised) you can set it up online without filling out any paper form.

Personally I do not want auto-pay anything for several reasons but that is outside the scope of this thread. Let's say I much prefer to have full control on when I pay and they are all ELECTRONICALLY DONE. Have not written a check to pay anything in past 2 decades except paying condo related bills because they are still on manual handling,

mrsmsr

Applied on Jun 2nd, last day of the public 50k offer, got pending. Received a letter today asking me to call in because "we noticed that you already have a UNITED account". Not calling them will result in application withdrawal.
What should I say when I call them? I feel like my face will be slammed when making this phone call. ~10 cards opened in the past year, with 2 chase cards.

TIA

Happy

What type of the UA card you have?

If it is the SAME personal Explorer, then you may not be issued the new one.

However if you have a Club or a biz Explorer, you should not have issue to get the personal Explorer. Obvious reasons, different cards service different purposes.

My guess is they are ready to approve you, else they would simply send you the denial letter. Instead they want you to call.

bmrisko

I called in to verify the sign-up bonus and mine required $3k spend...I guess even though I was logged into my UA account, I didn't click through far enough to activate the $2k link.

mrsmsr

Yeah, this application is the identical card.
Thanks for figuring out this point. I will try to call in today!

WheelsFirst

Does anyone know when Chase sends out the lounge passes for new cardholders?

Mme H

Thanks very much, Happy, for your thoughtful reply.

A few questions/thoughts:
1.) I actually didn't think Chase did send out a letter, but read so much chatter on this thread about checking the "letter" that came with the card, that I figured I just was missing something and missing it over and over again. (Between M. H and myself, we have had numerous iterations of this United card)

2.) " The full benefits handbook is in the welcome packs." We have NEVER received one without having to ask for it. We've gotten the smaller, condensed version in the welcome packet, but not the full long form handbook.

3.) I have had auto pay with Chase for about 15 years and never had a problem. That way, when we are out of country, the bills get paid without my having to be connected to a computer - no cell or mobile ownership in this household - and we are sometimes in places without connectivity for long periods of time. We've never done banking online, except to apply for the Chase credit card.

??? Another question for you - as asked above by WheelsFirst - when do the lounge passes arrive? Card arrived yesterday - I can't remember how long it took last time for the passes to show up.

diseased

I created a new United account a couple weeks ago and was just sent an offer for 50k + 5k after 2k spend.

VizeL

5k for adding an authorized user -- offer on page says they have to use the card too.

Can anyone verify?

Both cards came in with same exact number/cvv, do I still have to use the other card?

Happy

Glad you have things under control. I normally call to get a most updated version of the full benefits when we would use the cards for particular purchases / renting a car aboard, that kind of things.

Below are OT:

FWIW, AMEX can even send you a Letter of Coverage in case the rental car companies refuse the CC being used for CDW, or in the countries where government mandated coverage is required but the rental car companies insist you to buy extra - that letter has proven VERY USEFUL when we rented from Avis at Adana airport in Turkey in March this year. Instead of charging a much higher amount upfront, they reduced that amount to like 300 euro equivalent and the rental cost was immediately charged. Upon return the car then they processed a refund. Very different practice than anywhere else we rented (Europe, South Africa, Australia/NZ).

We are in similar situation like you - long trips several times a year and do not own any cell or mobile device - we rely on hotel and airline lounges to catch up the emails etc. However I always try to pay anything that can be paid before leaving for a trip, that leaving only a few items to pay while on trip. One thing I prefer manual PULL from the card site versus the auto-pay is, I have full control on when I want to pay versus relying on auto-pay to go smoothly - I have read horror stories here and there on how glitches happened on auto-pay and folks did not know until the damages had already been done... Dont want to deal with such possible headache even though the probability might be very low, I much prefer to control the payments myself. And we have been in online banking / payment mode for over 25 years, long before the internet became the platform - back then one had to use a proprietary software from Chase to handle the online banking - and we were doing remote online banking for years because our accounts were open in Texas while we moved to Florida. Chase kept promised us they would open branches here but never materialized. We finally got truly tired of it and closed our account - had to drive up to Boca Raton to do that no less. Then in 2008/2009 financial crisis Chase bought WAMU so now it is everywhere in our town!

Online banking is GREAT. We have online access on ALL our financial accounts so we can access them whenever needed regardless where in the world we would be at that moment. However. I still opt for PAPER STATEMENTS. I like to use paper statements to check against my own records - far easier than trying to reconcile them online. Banks simply want to cut costs to entice you go paperless. I want the best of both worlds - online banking + paper statements.

Back to the topic of UA card:

Lounge passes take forever to arrive, often 2 months later. It would be a surprise if they arrive within the first month after you have gotten the card. I dont pay much attention to them as we often have no need to use them and they go expired at the end. When you travel in Premium Cabins, you have lounge access via class of service, often to much better partner lounges. Therefore the UA lounge passes are pretty much worthless.

As an example, their "flagship" at IAH, being the President Club of the former CO - big lounge with 3 floors but no foods, not even the basic crackers and pretzels. I do not remember whether it even has coffee / tea facilities. Once we took care of some matter with the counter agent (somehow husband's UA FF number did not attach to his ticket so he did not get TSA Precheck), we immediately headed over to another terminal where the KLM lounge is accessible with both Priority Club Pass (AMEX PLAT and now Citi Prestige benefit) and the Lounge Club (the discontinued Chase Ink benefit). KLM lounge has decent food spreads, variety of drinks including alcohol ones, and just a few guests.

Mme H

VizeL -

The offer as I see/read it says "5,000 bonus miles when you add an authorized user and make a purchase in the first three months." [my bold]

It does not appear to me to be saying the AU has to make the purchase just that a purchase has to be made.

I have had this card in the past - many times over - and it has never been a stipulation that the AU has to make a purchase, which as you say the bank might not necessarily know anyway (given how much banks know about our doings, they probably do know which card is used, anyway.

So - call Chase if you are worried, or have the AU make a $5.00 purchase just to set your mind at ease, but IMHO I don't think it's a requirement - just the name on a second card is what they are requiring.

Mme H

We do not have access to other lounges through business class tickets - our silver status is pretty worthless, so it's passes, or pay as you go, or rely on the kindness of friends to gift passes they don't need.

The lounge in Newark has been very useful to us on our 5-6 hours between flights, some of which have extended to 10 hours for cancelled/delayed flights. The lounge in Newark has markedly improved in the past year with better (real) food - soup for one thing, in addition to snacks - it used to be excellent many years back, but that was many years back. We have spent entire days there and been through the changing of the food options from bagels at breakfast, to dessert and light snacks later in the day pushing into dusk.

The lounge at Narita has sushi - not very good but plentiful, and some good sweets, plus soup (and the world's worst chicken nuggets) and shochu and sake and a fun beer on tap machine.

We've always used our passes before they expired and happily so.

Oh and about online banking - I guess I am on the other side of the opinion polls from you there - we have heard horror stories about the security of it (including from our local ISP many of their tech geeks say they would never feel secure doing online banking and they are in the IT business!)

We too are paper statement folks, matching every purchase monthly from the receipts to the statement. Chase was very helpful in adjusting an error when a charge was incorrectly posted or when we have had to challenge a charge.

Happy

I do not quite understand what you said about the AU but if you mean the AU card is no need to use at least once, you are dead wrong.

The AU card must be used to make a purchase else your 5K is SOL - this is what that language means..

The AU himself / herself does not even need to see the card - YOU the Primary owner has the AU card which MUST BE USED FOR AT LEAST ONE PURCHASE in order to get the bonus.