pollyG

I was considering applying for either the United MileagePlus Club or the Explorer card, and noticed this fine print on united.com: $60 statement credit for MileagePlus Chase Credit Card Card members. Please note that this credit will be discontinued after the second quarter of 2016.

Oh, another benefit gone? I missed the Global Entry benefit already!

What is the best card for flight purchases now as a 1k?

Kacee

AMEX MR Gold gives 3X points for ticket purchases.

Chase Sapphire gives 2X but has more transfer partners than AMEX.

Club and Explorer card are still good value IF you want the UC membership, possibility of CPU on awards, and/or need the PQD waiver (not relevant though for 1K).

username

Wow...that is not good. I was thinking the UA card is the card to use at Costco once they move off AMEX...now I wonder if I should keep it next year.

alexperi

This is really annoying. Uch.

garykung

I won't blame UA for this as we still get it this year.

Beside - in comparison, most airlines do not do that.

Disappointed, but lives move on...

richfish13

For the club card just call every year at renewal to cancel and get $100-150 statement credit for retention. 4 years in a row of this for me.

goodeats21

Explorer card was marginally worth the $35 ($95-$60) for the 2 United Club passes.

As a 1k, it is absolutely not worth it at $95. Sapphire preferred gets the same 2X for air tickets, plus other relevant benefits.

I am surprised Chase and United has not come up with a card that makes sense for premier M+ Members.

emcampbe

They did. The Select. 3 x on UA purchases, 2 x on *A plus gas, grocery, drug and home improvement. 1 PQM for each $ spent on UA.com, up to 5000/year. Plus the ability to use points earned on the card to reimburse UA spend (even if not at the best value).

Not offered anymore, but those of us who had this before the merger have kept the same benefits if we kept the card. Would never switch to a current card, unless I really wanted a club membership. Passes are of dubious value - the only real benefit of the explorer for elites (IME) is the upgrade eligibility on award tickets. Club passes are ok as well, but not something worth switching cards for. I'm still happy with the Select.

goodeats21

Yes, I realize there was some legacy card out there from the CO side, but I was referring to something currently offered. If it was available today, I would be very interested in getting it for the 3X/2X earn rates. I don't really need extra PQD (at this point). Curious, is there an annual fee for it?

For the Explorer, I am not sure that the upgrade eligibility on award tickets is even much of a benefit when I can't even clear CPUs on higher fare buckets. If I remember correctly, it is only for domestic tickets, where upgrade space is pretty much non existent now.

jason8612

Wow More deval.
Now I just got to see if it's worth closing the Explorer card (at $95, there's 0 benefits worth that amount) or change it to a free card not to loose out the credit history.

username

The bight side is we just have to eat a few extra snack boxes to make up for the loss

Juventini

no big deal, considering 10+ beef bowl/turkey sandwiches and 20+snack boxes I took so far this year.

mahasamatman

I believe the club card offers the same, though with the hefty annual fee after the first year.

ftweb

What's ridiculous is that most of the benefits of the credit cards are redundant for a 1K anyway. The only thing you don't get is united club access on a domestic itinerary. But is that really worth $450/year? Maybe if you are a segment warrior.

Currently, I think the best card for united is the Citi Prestige. $200/year (really $450, but you get $250 off your first plane ticket purchase). Then for every dollar you spend on travel, you get thank you points worth 3.9 cents towards purchasing United tickets. When you redeem these points, you earn PQM (but not PQD) on the tickets you fly. Since I'm usually PQM limited rather than PQD, this is a much better deal for me than the miles I would earn with a chase card. (I can't usually fly award tickets without jeopardizing my 1K status.)

On top of that, the other Prestige card benefits are also great. For example, you get priority pass select with two free guests each visit. So anyplace there is a non-United priority pass lounge, you have access. The killer benefit for me is 4th night free in any hotel if you book through their concierge. That benefit alone has been worth thousands of dollars to me. (Presumably it's a loss leader they will eventually change, but it's good while it lasts.)

Another good benefit is that they'll reimburse up to $500 of meals and lodging expenses if your flight is delayed for weather reason. That's a particularly good one for United, who likes to call mechanical delays "weather."

Kacee

Club card offers 2X/1.5X.

AMEX MR Gold and Sapphire are better for earn (and apparently Citi Presige, though I'm not so familiar with that card).