United MileagePlus® Explorer Card -- why to keep?
 

My $95 annual fee is about due.

I'm trying to come up with some reasons to keep this credit card.

Here's what I have:

• two miles for each $1 spent on United airlines tickets

Why do you keep your card?

I do like Mileage Plus miles but I don't necessarily like the $95 fee.

Thanks.

If you are the worrying type, free primary rental car insurance is a reason.

If you have no status, free baggage is a reason.

Otherwise, there is no reason, really.

Also: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...all-cards.html

IMHO, only reason to keep it, pay the fee is for the 2 club passes, free baggage check; otherwise, get Chase Sapphire Preferred; same bennies, more reward redemption options (UR can be converted to MP, Avios, lots of others).

The most anyone should pay for 2 club passes is about $30 total. See:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ub-merged.html

Up to 10 visits free after rebate, $20 to join. So figure if you use all 10, it's about $5/visit. Less if you bundle the rebate forms.

Primary rental car insurance is the best reason for keeping this card.

And, of course, if you're a United elite, then obviously it helps with earning more UA miles.

In my experience, Chase is pretty generous at waiving annual fees as long as you've put a decent amount of expenditure on the card.

Also allows you comped upgrades on domestic tickets if you're elite, tho there is a thread in the UA forum that discusses how poorly that benefit works, in reality.

Isn't primary car insurance common on other cards as well? I think I have it on some other card....I'll check.

Btw, does primary car insurance carry effective internationally or just for rentals within my home country (USA)?

Thanks.

This benefit has worked for both my wife and I without complications so far. Hopefully it continues this way.

For 95.00 we get award upgrades,the club passes and the primary car rental coverage. Our are also MC,which we use for a few bills that only accept MC.

Ironically,we do not use it for UA tickets,except awards, as I also carry the Select card,which nets me an additional 1 mile per $ over the Explorer.

Most cards have secondary coverage. The coverage works for all the countries listed in your member benefits guide.

Personally, I think primary coverage is overrated. Since your own insurance covers everything but the deductible, that's really your only monetary risk. A common justification is that it protects you from having to file a claim on your insurance at all. But, for your usual driving, would you pay an additional fee over and above your existing insurance premium so you wouldn't have to use the insurance you're already paying for?

Maybe if you rent frequently or you're a poor driver... but I'm not a fan of paying twice for something.

The upgrade benefit works fine if you clear at your window. However, if you need to move to the airport waitlist, it can be (literally) impossible to get on the list. So it's best if you're a 1K but for us peons it's not great.

I'm on the fence about paying the annual fee this year. Primary cover is nice to have, as is the (very) infrequent award ticket upgrade. But is it $95 valuable? Not sure yet.

I recently got into the FF frenzy and I fly United the most since that is what the Navy usually flies me on. I have never had an issue and with the 55K option with the 1K in 3 months I will meet that during the holiday season. I will be using this plus a CSP for 40K for a total of 100K UA miles. I am using this mainly for when I travel but the perks are what is nice. I will use the CSP more and the fact that I can take them through the UR mall.

How about the 10k mile bonus for spending $25k?

At around $200 for 50 Vanilla Reloads, you could be buying 35k UA miles for about half-a-cent apiece...


Cheers

I have the United Platinum Class grandfathered in that gives 5000 PQM and an additional 5000 PQM at $35,000. It also includes a companion ticket (I never could figure out how to redeem these). The annual fee is $140 a year. I had the card since the beginning so roughly 4-5 years now? I never asked for a retention credit and am a bit tired of paying the $140 each year.

Do you think they will credit me back the $140 annual fee (I just paid it last week) if I request a downgrade to the new Mileage Plus Explorer Card.

The free bag credit that comes with the Explorer Card, if you are statused, does that mean +1 bag on top of your status benefits?

I'm going to lose my Gold status next year and I can get Silver annually without the PQM anyway.

Here is the card agreements for the 5000 EQM card. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...nc18erpwjg0GLw

where can I learn what CRF is talking about? I think that it has something to do with getting a bonus for reloading a Vanilla card.

It's best to handle this as two separate issues. First, call for a retention bonus on the existing card. They will probably not waive the fee but might offer you a lucrative spending incentive. If they won't, tell them you'll think about what to do next.

Then, separately, apply for the Explorer card. There is an offer available for 50k+5k signup bonuses but only on a new application, not a conversion. In the process of getting approved, if you have reached the maximum amount of credit available from Chase, offer to close the old card to get approval on this one.

Best case, you get to keep both cards, earn the signup and retention bonuses, and preserve your option to earn PQMs later.

No.

There is a gigantic thread in MilesBuzz! about the Bluebird card.

That is not always true for overseas claims. Most personal car insurance policies issued to US consumers do not provide any coverage outside of US/Canada & near the Mexico border.

Im trying to come up with a reason to get this card. Just got Sapphire preferred. So I don't need the insurance. Obviously the 55k is a great reason, but beyond that I don't think I would put any spend on it. I would cancel it before the fee.

That's a very good point. It's more important for things like liability coverage since, remember, for damage to the car any CC's secondary coverage becomes primary, if your personal insurance does not cover that country but the CC coverage does.

You need more reason than 55k? ;)

Never know... maybe you'll get a great retention offer and decide to keep it more than a year...

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I'm looking on this thread and I'm wondering how cone no one mentioned one major benefit [at least for some] of the United card is that ua cardholders are treated like silver when it comes to booking on ua.com which means expanded Y availability. and last seat availability in standard for all classes.
this is actually a major benefit if you're flying ua and can save you a fortune
though you don't need the UMPE for that IIRC. any United cc should be good for that

???

How can that be? I just booked on UA.com tonight and I didn't choose my method of payment (which turned out to be a UA cc) until after I had chosen seats. If I would have payed with my FlexPerks card, the seat availability would have been the same.

It sounds like creditor is referring to this benefit:

So, yes, you can redeem for any seat at FULL price. Most people think that's not a very good bargain.

50k miles for a domestic economy seat? If you take a conservative evaluation of 1.5 cpm for a UA mile, that's a $750 ticket. You'd really have to try hard to make that a good deal.

110k from US to Europe in coach... At 1.5 cpm that's $1650. Again, it's fairly rare that you can't find a cash ticket that low, even at the last minute. (Especially when you factor in the miles you would earn from the cash ticket)

So, sure, it's a benefit, but it's one of those benefits that encourages you to make suboptimal long-term choices...

delete

I kept the card...for now. If I don't make a United Flight in the next several months, I'll cancel the card.

I wonder how long I would have to wait to apply for the card/bonus again?

By the way, what is the "UR Travel site"?

I wonder if it's YMMV or the same for everyone? I have no idea, I've never churned before.

I meant Ultimate Rewards Travel. You know when you log into your account then click on Travel and book a trip from there, to get the 3x points.

Interesting post... I'll be making the cancel call in a few months, doesn't seem that there is much reason to stick with them unless they make it worth my while...

I'm assuming you already have status, right? It seems to be a good card for anyone without status or doesn't fly enough to earn status, but flies enough to make good use of the perks from this card...

If you're not spending $25,000 a year on it to get the 10,000 mile bonus (1.4 miles per dollar), and already get the free bags via other means, then probably not worth for you.

This has a calculator to show whether Explorer or Sapphire offers more miles per year

http://milecards.com/2234/chase-sapp...u-do-the-math/

I wouldn't pay for it(my annual fee is coming up in may) but I did get a 100$ statement credit..so i'll keep it open...

i really like the primary rental car coverage..

and yes the bag benefit is of use to me...

i probably won't keep the card open if i had to spent the 100$

I was wondering, if the bag benefit is of use to you, why wouldn't u keep the card even if u had to pay the $95? If you book two RTs by yourself w/ checked bag each time, then thats a $100 value anyway so the card pays for itself after 2 RTs. Plus you get a few extra perks. You fly 3 RTs by yourself in a year and you just saved $50. Or you go 1 RT with companion on same PNR and already the card pays for itself ($100 value).

The bag usage seems to be good for me since i spent $400 last year on UA baggage fees. Decided to look at this card last week and I was like woah! I coulda saved $305 last year ($400 - $95 AF)! the other perks will be nice, but not the main reason i want this card.

Even if I went on ONE RT with companion in the ENTIRE year, i would still save $5! ($100 bag fees - $95 AF).

So I'm wanting this card but it seems a tad sketchy as I can't find one person on FT or any other forum who wants this card. Isn't this card totally worth it if u don't have status that waives fees? (and of course all other spending goes on my sapphire preferred, the Explorer is strictly for baggage fees/flights).

i was thinking the same thing but i changed my mind and now i am happy i keep this card for the following reasons:

1. they give me 10000 miles as retention bonus.
2. they sent me 2 united club passes, which is useful for me.
3. they have 10000 mile spending bonus for $25000, which equals 1.4 miles per dollar.
4. They have big advantage on the rental car insurance.

I have this card and the Club Card and Gold Status. The Platinum Class legacy is a keeper because you earn PQM's on tickets purchased on United. com. I had no Elite status when I got the Club card but lounge access is a big deal to me (access to *A lounges on international flights is awesome).

Today I received $80 1k bonus credit to my united explorer card. It is nice to keep this card.

yes, i got it too. Another excuse to keep this card.

??? my 1k credit is $60.

How/why did you get that?


Do you use the card frequently? That sounds like a good retention bonus.

Standard 1K benefit (and as corrected earlier it is $60)

That $60 is only for Premier 1K® members. I'm pretty sure I don't belong to that program.

The MileagePlus Card (not explorer) is pretty much garbage for anyone who has it, right?
Only reason I kept mine since getting the Explorer was because I wanted the Mastercard branded card as well, but recently got an Ink card...

Got my statement credit posted to the MileagePlus and think I'll transfer the credit line and then go for a retention offer soon on the Explorer.

Are you referring to the now legacy Platinum Class Visa (Signature) Card? Getting paid EQM's on United.com purchased tickets and the annual Economy domestic companion pass, as difficult as it might be to use, is a pretty good reason to keep the card for $140 per year IMHO.

My annual fee is due, and I'm planning to re-up (checked bag fee waiver is worth it to me), but I'd like to get a 10,000 mile retention bonus if possible. Do you have status? How did you get the retention offer? Did you ask for it, or ask to be transferred to a retention specialist?