notquiteaff

As far as I know, the Select Visa does not award 5k PQM for $35k spend. That was a feature of the even older Visa Platinum card. I recall switching from the Platinum card to the Select card when it came out because I determined that the Select card was better for my needs (low AF, 3X UA RDM, 5000 RDM bonus).

Old thread from 2009 when the Select card was introduced:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...dit-cards.html

boat9781

Correct.

Kacee

I put a fair number of tickets on my AMEX for the bonus as well.

But the Chase travel insurance benefits are much better, so I keep my fingers crossed nothing goes wrong on the AMEX ticketed-flights.

entropy

I'd still consider 2SPG points > 3 chase points...

raehl311

Indeed... I value SPG points at about 2.2 cents and Chase at closer to a penny... would much rather have 3 SPGs than 2 Chase points.

tarheelnj

Wouldn't Chase have to agree on the benefits of a new card, since they're paying UA for those benefits? Or would they just pay whatever they're paying for the RDM's and the rest is at UA's discretion?

764toHI

I signed up for the Amex before the CSR came out and Amex offered Starpoints my way to retain me so I obliged. I also don't mind building a nice Starpoint balance because like UR, it is a valuable currency (at least through the end of this year).

entropy

Its also valuable to have a diversified set of points, even if some are more useful than others. I've had a time or two when even SkyPesos were immensely useful booking premium awards on AF and AZ for the exact times I needed.

svirfnebli

The fact that any united card has less than 5mi/$ for united purchases is ridiculous. Using MPX and or a shopping portal it's not uncommon to get 15-20mi/$ for tons of stores. A paltry 2-3 miles per dollar for the cards namesake is just stupid - and it's not just united

I'd love to see a mid level visa signature card from united that included the following

5mi/$ on united purchases
2mi/$ on travel
1mi/$ on everything else
5 x 1 hour Inflight Internet Passes Annually
5 x One Time Club Passes Annually (Non transferable, tied to MP #)
Access to additional inventory (same as Explorer and Club Card)
Board in Group 2, but no priority baggage handling
$50 Annual Inflight Travel Credit

Annual free should be about $250

Kacee

There's a reason the rebate on most credit cards caps out at about 2%, and it's not "stupid." It's called generating a profit vs. operating at a loss.

The fact that some retailers are currently willing to bonus higher tells you something about (a) retail margins, and (b) the relative desperation of the brick & mortar retail chains.

dinanm3atl

Seems that way. I use Amex Platinum on actual DL purchases at 5x points. I use the DL Amex Plat to get MQM/Miles Boosts when all of that stuff is 1x on both anyways.

Ari

I apologize; you are correct. It is the old Platinum one. Now it just says "Mileage Plus Card" on it. It is a Visa Signature card. $140 annual fee still. Still works.

Howard

I'm a 1K member with both the Club Card and the Select Card. To me the greatest FF benefit is upgrades, which as we all know are much harder to get these days, even with RPUs/GPUs. UA still takes cash for upgrades, but it only makes sense if you can get an agent to waive the change fee per GG BUYUP.

I've honestly been thinking about cancelling these cards and getting an ordinary cash back card, and then using the cash back to pay for my upgrades.

Theoretically you can redeem miles for $0.01 each via the Choices program, but it only applies to united.com purchases. I don't think it applies to buyups where you have to call the 1K desk, which is often the case for me, since for some reason united.com rarely offers me a cash upgrade ("online upgrade not available").

So there you have it - the only way to get upgrades with a credit card may be to forget Chase/United cards and just get good, old-fashioned cash back.

GrayAnderson

3/2/1 mileage earning is common enough out there (as is 3/1/1). Aside from Amex and their odd system, does anyone have a more generous offering (aside from the bank cards themselves)?

entropy

That and Amex is trying desperately to keep the platinum card attractive for air purchases.