Chase United Explorer
The internet seems united in its disdain for some recent Chase card changes. Taking a page from Amex’s playbook and somehow making it worse, Chase hiked United card annual fees and further obfuscated benefits. It’s hard to squint and see much to like here, and that’s me being positive. Not surprisingly, Chase elevated welcome offers on the cards, something travelers should be wary of pursuing – maybe with one exception. Despite these devaluations, individuals can obtain a net-win with the Chase United Explorer a few reasons.
Chase United Explorer Elevated Welcome Offer…
I’ll start off with the specifics of something I just mentioned. The card now comes with a higher-than-normal signup bonus. New primary cardmembers can earn 80k bonus miles after spending $3k within the first three months of account opening. The traditional offer sits in the 60k-mile neighborhood, so that’s a substantial increase over the norm. Plus, adding an authorized user within that same timeframe unlocks another 5k bonus miles. Perhaps the optimal option for that $3k, particularly for those with plenty of spend capacity, is purchasing in the 2x dining category. Putting it all together, that means 91k miles on $3k spend. Not bad!
…While Avoiding the Annual Fee Hike
In the meantime, new cardholders can avoid one of the unattractive changes to the Chase United Explorer. The card’s annual fee has risen from $95 to $150. But with the current welcome offer, the annual fee is waived for the first cardmember year. The moaning I’m hearing about the United cards is just as much about the annual fee hikes as the lackluster benefits, but new Explorer cardmembers get to delay the former for a year. It’ll probably only make sense for many to hold this card for one year, anyway. And cardholders can always try for a retention offer afteraffiliate link year one.
An Indirect Improvement?
Among the United card changes, one of the sneakier devaluations is on the United Gateway card. This no-fee product and its predecessors previously came with automatic access to expanded United award availability. No more freebies, though! Gateway cardholders are now required to spend $10k on that card to unlock that access. That’s no fun.
Meanwhile, Chase United Explorer cardholders continue to have expanded United award availability by simply holding the card. And given the Gateway’s new $10k spend requirement, that means fewer cardholders will have access to this expanded award space. Does this make the Explorer relatively more valuable? Maybe just a bit. Does it justify paying the hiked annual fee? Not really, in my opinion – but, full disclosure, I haven’t held a United card in many years. However, I could see this wrinkle encouraging certain United travelers to keep the Explorer, especially given the old benefits continuing (more on that in a bit).
New Credits, But Only If They Matter To You
I find most of the new credits entirely useless, perhaps with one exception. But they can bring value to individuals who already use services like rideshare, Instacart, Avis/Budget rental cars, and United Hotels. I’d be more interested in the $100 statement credit on JSX purchases. I’ve been intrigued in the airline for years but just haven’t gotten around to flying it. Tickets on JSX aren’t easily discountable otherwise, perhaps making this credit even more valuable for some.
That said, the denominations on all of these credits are relatively small, meaning cardholders will probably need to go substantially out of pocket to realize their value. For many individuals, particularly those who don’t organically use these services, that’s a self-defeating exercise.
The good news here is those uninterested in these credits can completely ignore them and hold their heads high. Just the elevated welcome offer and waived annual fee are enough to take this card on for one year. Keep things simple!
Old, Reliable Benefits Remain
The Chase United Explorer still come with a few other solid benefits, including:
- First checked bag free for the cardholder and one companion
- Priority boarding
- Two United Club passes annually
The passes will now require the cardmember or an authorized user to be present for use. No longer are these passes transferrable when one of those individuals isn’t traveling. That’s definitely a devaluation, but not one that affects everyone. Plenty of Explorer cardholders will continue to find solid uses for these passes.
Chase United Explorer – Conclusion
Am I polishing a turd here? Perhaps, particularly in cardmember year two and beyond. But many travelers can find solid value from the Chase United Explorer card while avoiding the recent devaluation deluge. As with any Chase card selection, the bigger issue at hand is how you prioritize your Chase card applications, given the bank’s draconian application rule. While certain individuals will do better with other United cards, I assess them as niche compared to the Explorer.
Why do you hold the Chase United Explorer card – or any others in the airline’s portfolio?
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People are actually complaining about the AF going from $95 to $150? How can $55 a year matter to anyone? If that minor amount matters you shouldn’t be dealing with credit cards or airline miles at all. That is less than 1 decent meal costs.
I’ll keep my business card because of the extra award inventory and the 25% bonus with MileagePlusX but it’s far from a clear cut decision.