Aussienarelle

Looking for input on keeping my MP Explorer vs replacing with a Platinum Amex.

I have had a MP card for many, many years but I now have to pay an annual fee as the previous credit for the fee got taken away. I am 1K so the PQD waiver is not an issue for me (and I am 1MM so *G). I am starting to do more domestic travel and have used my two Club access cards and the annual fee for the Club membership is $450. UA no longer pays for GE. I probably spend approx. $45k/year on the CC and pay off the balance each month so I certainly understand Chase does not see me a great customer as they make no interest from me.

A friend guested me into the Centurion lounge in LAS - wow! So am considering Amex Platinum. It costs $550/year but you get access to the Centurion lounges in LAS and SFO for domestic travel. They also provide $100 credit to GE.

It seems to me switching to the Amex Platinum is a no brainer - cost vs benefit.

Am I missing anything with this analysis? Thank you.

JHake10

These are two pretty different products and target different markets. One is a 95/yr card while the other is 550/yr. A better comparison would be United Club Card vs AMEX Platinum.

However, as you mentioned you get many of the benefits already from having status with UA. The Centurion lounges are great but can be very crowded. I routinely go the SFO Centurion lounge for a bite to eat and go sit in the United Club. With that said, I do use my AMEX 200/yr airline credit to also pay for a UC membership. To me I get good coverage for lounges this way.

Either way these cards aren't good for everyday spend. I only put airfare on my AMEX Platinum since you get 5x now. You should look into the Chase Sapphire Reserve. This would get you 3x per dollar on travel and dining which transfer 1:1 to UA among other use cases. Even the Chase Sapphire Preferred gets 2x in travel and dining.

TL;DR
AMEX Platinum - Great Benefits
Chase Sapphire Reserve - Fastest way to rack up UA miles (assuming you spend heavily in travel and dining)

Hipplewm

$200 in uber credits per year ($15 per month and an extra $20 in December - doesn't carry over)

$200 in credits to a single airline (Can change which airline once a year on January) goes towards baggage fees and other things

Free, unlimited companion tickets - You have to buy full fare refundable tix thru AMEX, but depending on where you are going, sometimes it is cheaper than 2 cheapo tix Replaced by a new program talked about below

Priority Pass membership - free guest

Delta sky club access (when flying on delta)

Hilton gold membership

SPG gold (by proxy Marriott gold)

popoemt

Amex:

Also get the $15 Uber credit each month, and the $200 towards airline fees.

JHake10

This isn't a thing anymore (at least for US cards). IAP has been re-launched as a discount program for Premium Economy, Business, and First Class tickets departing from the US and select Canadian cities.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...2017-a-10.html

http://iap.americanexpress.com

Hipplewm

Well, maybe that will turn out better.....the old program was very very limited on when it was actually a good deal.

JHake10

The new one seems to be a good idea. The only limitation is you need to call in and pay a ticketing fee. From what I read Premium Economy isn't much of a discount but Business/First can be a few hundred off.

Kacee

Agreed. Not an either/or situation IMO.

Most dedicated UA flyers will benefit from holding one of the Chase UA cards. And a dedicated traveler should certainly also consider having one of the premium cards (AMEX Plat, CSR, or Citi Prestige).

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Well, not quite. Chase makes good coin off of you at $45k/yr solely on the fees they charge the merchant. Although the percent fee doesn't seem like much, annualized it's a pretty good return for Chase on the time period between your charge(s) and your payoff.

I've thought about AMEX Plat - the lounges at IAH, SFO, and LAS are all relatively convenient to UA gates. *G gets me int'l UC access. The big AMEX hole for me is LAX.

J.Edward

The current credit card darlings are in no particular order:If you're looking for a simpler card and redemption experience, Chase is the winner.

While Chase's Ultimate Rewards (UR) lacks the potential maximizing opportunities of American Express's Membership Rewards (MR), the 3x bonus categories, such as travel and dining, are broad and easy to take advantage of. Likewise, Chase's $300 annual "travel" rebate is easy to use and is not tied to the limitations AX puts on their $200 "fee" rebate. Redemptions via Chase's travel portal net you $0.015 per point if you find yourself needing to buy airfare, hotels, and other travel outright, and the list of programs partnered with UR is both extensive and includes UA's MileagePlus.

Chase lacks the strong Centurion lounge offerings AX brings to the table, but the Priority Pass issued in conjunction with the CSR is nothing to sneer at. Yes, the lounges will be limited at UA hubs but Priority Pass's concept of adding ~$30 credit at restaurants as "lounges" appears to be expanding - and honestly, at the end of the day a full-service, dedicated restaurant is for some a better venue than a lounge.

Finally, the travel interruption insurance offered by the CSR for free is actually worth something. While one must be sure to carefully document the reason, expenses, etc., related to a delay to successfully file a claim, it does pay out.

OTOH if you care enough to maximize the benefits of your cards (i.e. you do not mind complexity) AX can offer more.

The personal AX platinum card comes in multiple flavors: the "plain" one noted on AX.com as well as co-branded ones - Schwab, Mercedes-Benz, etc. -
which can offer some unique opportunities. I believe all flavors of the personal Plat carry the same $550 although some co-branded ones will offer fee rebates (e.g. if you have $1M+ of assets with Schwab, they'll kick back $200 of the fee). I am not aware of any co-branded AX Business Platinum cards.

AX brings their Centurion lounge network to the table in addition to Priority Pass, although the AX Priority Pass only allows for two (2) free guest while the CSR's does not charge your at all for extra guests. Also of note is AX's personal and business Platinum cards will also offer same-day access to DL's SkyClubs if flying DL. I am unsure how to weigh this benefit from the perspective of a UA flyer but nonetheless, AX offers this where Chase does not.

Just like UR, MR can be transferred to partner program but note United MP is not a partner...Chase is a jealous mistress, I guess. But even with AX > UA transfers off the table, you can redeem on *A through AC and SQ as both are partnered with AX's MRs. At times this may work to your advantage and at other times this may not depending on the ever-evolving award charts of the carriers.

Both the business and personal AX Plat cards offer up to a $200 fee rebate - a narrow fee rebate - per calendar year. Unlike Chase's very general $300 rebate, the $200 AX fee rebate only will apply to a specific carrier you choose and you can only change your selection once a year.

The personal AX platinum offers $200 in uber credits as well, but not all at once. IIRC they offer $15/month with an extra $20 in December. If you're spending at least $15/month on uber, then you'll benefit from this.

While the Business Platinum card does not offer Uber credits, it does offer 10 gogo passes that the personal platinum card does not. If you travel on UA involves Gogo equipped 752s or regional aircraft, you can redeem these passes for wifi access. These passes will also work on any other domestic gogo aircraft (AA, AS, DL, etc.) too.

AX.com offers a portal where you can redeem MRs at $0.010 for travel, and while not as generous as Chase's $0.015 for CSR travel redemptions, AX generally counters with increased earning opportunities (e.g. 5x on airfare vs. the CSRs 3x on airfare.) Note ANY airfare booked through the PERSONAL platinum card will earn 5x. This is not the same with the business platinum card as ONLY airfare booked through the AX.com portal will earn the 5x bonus.

If you opt for the Business Platinum card AX will also kick in an extra 50% in base points on all purchases over $5k, up to 1M points per year. If you book your own travel, if you can book via AX's web portal, and if your bookings run over $5k, you can earn MRs at an impressive 5.5x of the base price.

Also unique to the Business Platinum card is the 35% point rebate. AX will refund at 35% all MR points used to book travel through their portal, up to 500k per year. This effectively brings the redemption value of MRs to $0.015 in line with CSR. But again you must pay attention to the caveats with AX - you only score the 35% rebate for airfare redemption on the carrier you selected for your $200 fee waiver OR if you book a business or first class ticket.

One last consideration AX brings to the table - the Centurion card...aka the black card. If you spend enough to make AX's cut, you might be able to open the door to this. It may be a blessing. It may be a curse. The rumored $7.5k initiation fee + $2.5k annual fees makes even me blush and I struggle to think of a way to justify these short of wishing to indulge in sheer opulence. But if you're a high spender and money is no object, AX offers a tier above their personal and business Platinum cards. Notable differences are a 50% rebate on pay-with-points (vs 35% for business platinum cards), better booze at the AX centurion lounges, and access to LH's IFL at MUC, perhaps with other LH F lounges included in the future.

So that said, here's the tl;dr

The Chase CSR offers a simple, powerful card. What they lack on lounge access when compared to AX, they make up on a lower annual fee, easier to use benefits, and direct point transfers to UA.

AX offers more sophisticated, more expensive cards for those willing to understand their nuances and maximize their point earning and redemption opportunities. While they run at a higher effective annual fee than the CSR, they offer stronger, narrower earning opportunities and a superior in-house lounge network at two of UA's major hubs (IAH and SFO).

If you do opt for AX, my suggestion is to strongly consider the Business Platinum card over the personal one. Not only is the annual fee less ($450 vs $550), but can deduct it from your business income and it also offers material benefits beyond the personal platinum card - mainly the 35% redemption rebate and 10 gogo passes.

Hipplewm

Amex Plat PP now includes a guest as of this summer

"Now when you enroll in Priority Pass Select and visit a lounge, you can bring two accompanying guests for no charge, where applicable"


LAX - PP includes Alaska lounge on domestic and KAL lounge for Int'l

drowelf

The IAH Centurion Lounge is over in the D Terminal. I don't find that all convenient to UA Gates at all. UA does not fly out of D at all and its hike back to the C/E terminal from D. Never tried the LAS one, but the SFO one is convient to one section of Domestic UA Gates and the International ones. Only trouble I have with the AMEX Centurions clubs is that they always seem packed when I go in.

Last time it was so full, the one of the lounge dragons was detailed full time just finding seating for people coming in.

moops380

Excellent write up. I'll add that the prestige is $450-$250(easy enough to redeem credit on airfare), priority pass plus 2 guests, 3x on airfare, and .0133(?) towards airfare, but importantly has a 3-hour trip delay insurance (CSR is 6 I believe) and 4th night free benefit. I think 3x for dining is notable for CSR above the rest of this group but that is not a great reason only to get the card.

@ J. Edward... what card(s) do you have of these and why?

I have CSR, prestige, and AX biz and won't keep them all as annual fees are coming up and there are too many overlapping benefits. I always do better than .015 so that consideration is irrelevant to me. For car rental insurance I have the UA explorer card which is also a benefit of the CSR which I don't need. I'm thinking about cancelling all three and getting the AX personal plat due to 5x mainly and I will use the uber credits (in the least to order somebody some food!). I value MR>UR>TYP and have an old ink bold that covers UR. Maybe end up with the AX personal and Ritz card, just for kicks.

Let me know if I am missing something .

moops380

Overcrowding is becoming an issue. I have been to SEA, SFO, LAS, IAH, DFW, LGA, SYD lounges and have not be turned away but the DFW always seems packed. There are a few more lounges that AX has access to like AirSpace in CLE and SAN that are basic but better than nothing usually.

As a UA flyer that does some flying, for lounge access, you could consider qualifying for a program like Agean, which also has a nice award chart.

If they ever open an AX lounge at ORD it will need to be massive.

ridgebackpilot

I have the UA Explorer card, the UA Club card, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

I may cancel the UA Explorer card because it only gives 2X miles for my UA purchases, while the CSR gives me 3X miles for ALL travel purchases, including my UA tickets. And UR points can easily be transferred 1:1 to UA miles. I'll probably keep the UA Club card for two reasons: United Club access and 1.5 UA miles per dollar spent on all purchases.

By my analysis, among premium cards the CSR is by far the best. As others have commented, UR points are far more flexible than MR points. UR points can be transferred to UA and a variety of other airline and hotel programs. For me, Centurion lounges and Uber credit just isn't enough to justify the high AF. Of course, YMMV!