There are new offers out today on the Chase United Explorer and Chase United Club Infinite credit cards that provide substantially increased bonuses on both cards.
The Offers & Key Card Details
For more card details and to find links to apply, see our individual card pages by clicking the card info below.
60K Miles
60K miles after $3K spend in first 3 months
(Offer Expires 9/30/2020)
No Annual Fee First Year, Then $95
FM Mini Review: Decent perks such as enhanced access to United saver level economy awards makes this a keeper for some.
Card Type: Visa Signature
Earning rate: 2X United ⚬ 2X restaurants ⚬ 2X on hotel stays
Noteworthy perks: ⚬ Improved saver award availability ⚬ Last seat standard award availability ⚬ Free first checked bag for primary cardholder and one travel companion when you pay with the card ⚬ Priority boarding ⚬ No foreign exchange fees ⚬ 2 United Club passes per year ⚬ Primary auto rental collision damage waiver ⚬ Up to $100 Global Entry or TSA Pre-check credit ⚬ 25% back on United in-flight purchases
Quick Thoughts
These offers are both substantially better than recent offers on these cards. A few months ago, Greg and I predicted in our podcast that as time wore on we would likely see increased offers on the various airline credit cards when they thought it was time to entice people back into the fold precisely because people are less focused on travel at the moment.
Increased offers like these are worth a look if you’re under 5/24 and you value United miles.
Chase’s 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months.
To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely.
While the key benefit of the United Club Infinite – club lounge access – may not be entirely useful / usable, the welcome bonus of 100,000 miles is quite useful. While United rarely has the best Star Alliance award price, the fact that they do not pass on any fuel surcharges nonetheless makes them a good option sometimes (particularly if you can maximize the excursionist perk). Of course, with the annual fee not waived in the first year, the miles don’t come cheap on that card.
On the flip side, the miles do come cheap on the United Explorer card. If you qualify for the welcome bonus on that card, I could definitely see it being a worthy contender. Keep in mind that after you test-drive the card with the waived fee in year one, you could always downgrade to the no-fee card in year two to keep access to expanded award availability (See: Sign up for cards you don’t want to get cards you do).
Overall, these offers look interesting. At the same time, I’m not sure that we have a clear enough picture of future travel to get overly excited about individual airline miles at this point. I could see a case for getting one of these cards to build your United balance for a future when travel resumes, but I’d otherwise be more interested in collecting flexible currencies in the current environment.
Oddly, according to Doctor of Credit, early reports indicate that Chase is not matching those who previously applied under the previous 40K offer on the United Explorer to the new offer. That’s kind of surprising. While I wouldn’t expect them to watch the United Club Infinite offer since the annual fee was previously waived and isn’t now, I am surprised that they aren’t extending that courtesy on the United Explorer card. Historically, they have matched those who applied within the previous 90 days. Time will tell whether this is a major change or a one-off thing.
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