The United℠ Explorer card can save you time and money even if you only fly occasionally! On top of earning 80,000 United Airlines miles after meeting the minimum spending requirements, you also get perks such as airport lounge access, free checked bags and access to member pricing on award travel redemptions .

Who is this card for?

If you fly United Airlines a couple times a year or more, you should consider owning this card. With just the free checked bag perk, one round-trip flight for you and a companion will virtually cover the entire annual fee.

You can apply for the United Explorer Card here.

Card Features

Bonus Offer

You’ll earn 80,000 miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months.

Annual Fee

The card comes with a $150 annual fee, but it’s waived for the first year.

Earning Rates

The United Explorer Card earns:

• 2 miles per $1 spent on purchases from United Airlines
• 2 miles per $1 spent on dining and hotels booked directly
• 1 mile per $1 on all other spending

The earning rates are nothing special, but they are in line with other similarly priced airline cards. If you’re looking to build up your United MileagePlus miles balance, this is a decent way to do it.

However, you can earn the same 2x rates on dining and hotels with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, but you’ll also earn 2x points on all air travel purchases. On top of the better earnings rate, United is a transfer partner in the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, so you can always move those points to your United account.

Redeeming Miles

United makes it very easy to redeem miles on their website. Plus, you can use them to book travel on Star Alliance partners, like Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and more.

What’s unique about United Airlines is they don’t add fuel surcharges to award flights. This can save you several hundred dollars per ticket when compared to some other airlines!

Card Benefits

This card has some really excellent benefits and a few are very unique ones you don’t get with other airline cards at this price point.

Free First Checked Bag

You and one companion receive a free first checked bag on United®-operated flights when you purchase your tickets or pay taxes on award flights with your Card. At $35 per first checked bag, you can save up to $140 per roundtrip!

Two United Club One-time Passes 

Take some time to relax before your flight with two United Club one-time passes, which will be deposited into your account after account opening and each year for your Cardmember anniversary. Enjoy complimentary beverages, snacks, and amenities like workspaces, free Wi-Fi and more. These passes can only be used by the primary cardmember or an authorized user (must be presented to redeem).

Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® Fee Credit

Receive a statement credit of up to $120 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card. Remember that Global Entry includes PreCheck®, so going with Global Entry is the smarter choice.

Priority Boarding

The primary Cardmember and companions on the same reservation will be invited to board United-operated flights after First Class and prior to general boarding.

25% back on In-flight Purchases

When you use your card to pay for food, beverages and Wi-Fi onboard United-operated flights, you’ll get 25% back as a statement credit.

Award Flight Discount

Earn one 10,000-mile award flight discount after spending $20,000 in a calendar year. The discount can be used on eligible award travel on a United or United Express operated flight. The award flight discount will be deposited into your MileagePlus account within 6 to 8 weeks after meeting the spend requirement. 

United Travel Credit

Earn $100 in United TravelBank cash after spending $10,000 in a calendar year. The travel credit will be delivered in the form of TravelBank cash and will be added to your MileagePlus account within 6-8 weeks after meeting the spend requirement.

Expanded Award Availability

This is one of the really unique perks that United offers to primary Cardmembers. You will enjoy expanded award availability when you use miles to book any United-operated flight, any time, at the applicable Everyday Award level – with no restrictions or blackout dates.

This gives you much more flexibility as you’ll be able to find award flights for less miles! Compare the two calendar views below (the first is a non-cardholder and the latter for a cardholder). Looking at one-way fares from ORD to SFO, you can see that for the non-cardholder it would cost 15k, 16k or 18k miles to fly on December 16, 17 or 18 respectively. However, for the cardholder it would cost 12,500 miles each of those dates.

Primary Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)

This is another unique perk that isn’t found on any other airline credit cards except United Airlines.

The vast majority of credit cards offer some type of coverage when it comes to auto rentals. However, there are two different coverage categories (primary and secondary) and knowing the difference is key. Secondary coverage is what most credit cards offer and it applies after your own personal auto insurance policy. Typically it means that your auto insurer pays the claim, but the card will reimburse your deductible and potentially other costs not covered by your personal policy.

Primary coverage, however, applies before your own personal auto insurance policy and will cover full damages due to collision or theft of most rental cars. That means you can avoid paying a deductible and potentially seeing your premiums rise.

There are only six consumer credit cards that offer primary auto rental CDW coverage:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred®
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• United℠ Explorer Card
• United Quest Card
• United Club Infinite Card
• Capital One Venture X Card

There are also five business credit cards that offer this as well. You’ll only be covered by primary insurance while renting for business purposes, renting outside your country of residence for personal reasons or if you do not have automobile insurance:

• Chase Ink Business Preferred® Card
• Chase Ink Business Cash® Card
• Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Card
• United Club℠ Business Card (only when renting for business purposes)
• United Business℠ Card (only when renting for business purposes)

$50 Avis or Budget Travel Credit

Earn up to $25 in United TravelBank cash on your first eligible Avis or Budget purchase and up to $25 in United TravelBank cash on your second eligible Avis or Budget purchase. You must use your card on Avis or Budget rental car purchases made directly through cars.united.com, up to a maximum accumulation of $50 annually. Annual means the year beginning with your account open date through the first statement date after your account open date anniversary.

The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection

The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection is a hotel and hospitality management company that owns a suite of luxury hotels. Card-members will receive the following benefits when booking a room at one of the eligible hotels on the LRH website:

• Daily complimentary breakfast for two people
• A special benefit unique to each property, such as a dining or spa credit
• Complimentary WiFi
• Complimentary room upgrades (when available)
• Early check-in and late checkout (when available)

$100 Hotel Credit

A statement credit of $50 will be automatically posted to your account for your first and second hotel stays of $50 or more when you book and pay with your card directly through United Hotels, up to a maximum accumulation of up to $100 annually. Annual means the year beginning with your account open date through the first statement date after your account open date anniversary.

$60 Rideshare Statement Credit

Earn up to $5 back as a statement credit each month when you pay for rideshare purchases using your card. That means you can earn up to a maximum of $60 in statement credits each calendar year. You must enroll each calendar year to receive this benefit.

$10 Instacart Credit

Receive one $10 credit in your Instacart account each month you have an active Instacart+ membership after you activate your complimentary Chase Instacart+ membership on instacart.com/chase from 3/23/2025 through 12/31/2027. The monthly credit will be made available to you in your Instacart+ account at the beginning of each month and will only be available on that platform for the remainder of that calendar month; the monthly credit will not roll over into a subsequent month. 

$100 JSX Statement Credit

A statement credit will automatically be applied to your account when your card is used to make purchases directly with JSX, up to a maximum accumulation of $100 annually. Annual means the year beginning with your account open date through the first statement date after your account open date anniversary.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

For those who travel internationally, this card does not charge foreign transaction fees.

Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance

If your trip can’t start, is cut short or interrupted by sickness, severe weather or other covered situations, you can be reimbursed for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses up to $6,000 per covered trip.

Baggage Delay Insurance

If you experience baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier, you can be reimbursed for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing, up to $100 a day for 3 days.

Trip Delay Reimbursement

If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for non-reimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.

Lost Luggage Reimbursement

If you or an immediate family member check or carry on luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier, you’re covered up to $3,000 per passenger.

Purchase Protection

This benefit covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account per calendar year.

Extended Warranty Protection

With this benefit, you can extend the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year. This applies to eligible warranties of three years or less.

Who should look for another card?

If you don’t live near a United Airlines hub and typically fly other airlines, then this card doesn’t make sense to own. I would encourage owning at least one airline card, however, so that you can take advantage of perks for your preferred airline. The free checked bag perk on these airline cards pays for the annual fee after just one round-trip flight. 

If you don’t have a preferred airline, stick with a credit card that earns flexible points like American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards. Points in those ecosystems are transferable to various airline partners and gives you virtually unlimited options.

Some good transferable points cards to consider with similar annual fees are:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Citi Premier® Card
• American Express® Gold Card
• Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card

Bottom Line

The United Explorer card comes with 80,000 miles once you complete the minimum spending requirements. That’s enough to travel round-trip in coach within the continental United States or one-way to Europe, Asia or South America.

This card comes with many perks and a few are quite unique for a card at this price point. You’ll save money with free checked bags, lounge passes and 25% off snacks and Wi-Fi in-flight.

The really unique perks for this card are the Global Entry credit ($120 credit for your application every 4 years), lounge access, the expanded award availability and primary car rental insurance. These perks are typically found on cards with a higher annual fee.

While the card’s earnings rate aren’t the best, if you fly United Airlines at least a little bit, you can find great value.

Apply here for the United Explorer Card.