If you're a frequent flyer with United Airlines, United℠ Explorer Card sounds like an ideal travel credit card. It offers a big sign-up bonus, VIP perks and ways to earn United miles faster than buying airfares.
As with most co-branded credit cards, its extra loyalty benefits make it stand out from ho-hum general travel credit cards.
But even with all its perks, United℠ Explorer Card isn't the best choice for all United frequent flyers. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, a general travel card, could offer more value — even though it doesn't have "United" in its name.
That's partly because it lets you transfer points at a 1:1 ratio to United Airlines, as well as many other airlines and hotel chains.
In the end, we give a slight edge to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card because of the huge value of its sign-up bonus and flexibility of its points, which are a superior currency to United’s miles. Its ongoing annual fee is also cheaper.
But regular United flyers could still get more value from United℠ Explorer Card thanks to its perks, especially when it comes to free checked bags and, specifically, United Club access.
Here's how to decide which is right for you.
At a glance
How the cards compare
Annual Fee
United℠ Explorer Card
$0 intro for the first year, then $150.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
$95.
Sign-up bonus
United℠ Explorer Card
Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Rewards
United℠ Explorer Card
• 5 miles per dollar spent on hotel stays purchased through United Hotels.
• 3 miles per dollar spent on United purchases
• 2 miles per dollar spent at restaurants, and on hotel accommodations purchased directly with the hotel.
• 1 miles per dollar spent on everything else.
• Miles can be redeemed through United.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• 5 points per dollar spent on travel booked through Chase.
• 3 points per dollar spent on dining; online grocery purchases; vacation home bookings; gas and EV charging; and select streaming services.
• 2 points per dollar spent on all other travel.
• 1 point per dollar spent on everything else.
• Points can be transferred to travel partners (including United), redeemed through Chase's travel portal, or redeemed for cash back or gift cards at 1 cent each, among other options.
Additional benefits
United℠ Explorer Card
- First bag for you and a companion on the same reservation are checked free.
- Two complimentary single-use United Club passes each year.
- Priority boarding.
- Global Entry or TSA Precheck statement credit every four years.
- 25% back on in-flight purchases with United.
- 10,000-mile discount on award flights after spending $20,000 in a year.
- $100 United travel credit after spending $10,000 in a year.
- $100 in credits on United Hotels purchases each year.
- $60 in credits each year (doled out monthly) toward ridesharing services.
- $50 in United travel credits each year on Avis or Budget car rental bookings.
- $100 in credits each year for JSX bookings.
- $120 in Instacart credits per year (doled out monthly), complimentary three-month Instacart+ membership.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Up to $100 in statement credits each account year for hotel stays booked through Chase.
- Up to $120 statement credit once every four years toward TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS.
- Flexible redemption options, including multiple transfer partners.
- Through 2027, get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service.
Still not sure?
Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card wins
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card outpaces United℠ Explorer Card by offering high earning potential and maximum versatility.
Flexibility
For serious travelers, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a long list of 1:1 transfer partners for using your rewards, which come in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
Among those transfer options: You could convert 50,000 points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to 50,000 United miles.
NerdWallet values United miles at 1.2 cents each.
You also could transfer points to a different loyalty program or redeem them directly through Chase's travel portal to get more for them. This kind of reward flexibility means your credit card rewards won't be locked into a single loyalty program.
Granted, United’s miles can get you award flights on its partners in the Star Alliance. But for most people, transfer partners are just better on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
A sign-up bonus with more potential pop
This is a huge win for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, especially when its points are used optimally to buy travel through Chase.
Again, NerdWallet values United miles at 1.2 cents each.
Those tiny numbers are more revealing when applied to sign-up bonuses totaling tens of thousands of points or miles. Bonuses change periodically, but a typical bonus might net you several hundred dollars more in value from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Richer rewards structure
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card comes out ahead on long-term earning potential.
The ongoing rewards rates of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card let you earn bonus points on an array of purchases, including 5x on travel booked through Chase, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel — and "other travel" includes unconventional expenses like campgrounds and cruise lines.
That makes it a better deal than United℠ Explorer Card, which offers the higher 3-miles-per-dollar rate only on United purchases, 2 miles per dollar spent at restaurants and hotel accommodations purchased directly with the hotel, and 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases. As with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can get a 5x rate on certain eligible travel purchases, but that applies only to hotel stays purchased through United Hotels.
Duplicate benefits for Premier status flyers
If you already have Premier Silver status or better with United, getting United℠ Explorer Card would be somewhat redundant. You'd get waived baggage fees and priority boarding anyway and wouldn’t need that perk in a credit card. With Premier Gold status, you'd also get lounge access internationally, making the two annual one-time United Club passes that come with United℠ Explorer Card less valuable when traveling abroad.
Where United℠ Explorer Card shines
If you don't have Premier status and regularly check bags with United, United℠ Explorer Card becomes more compelling. Plus, it offers a host of credits and discounts that can be valuable — if you’re willing to keep track of them.
Free checked bags
United℠ Explorer Card lets you and a companion check one bag each for free if your flight is on the same reservation. Since United charges around $50 to check a bag if you don't prepay it, a single round-trip flight would cover a nice chunk of the card's annual fee. And it's a benefit you won't get with general travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Perks that have real value
Priority boarding that comes with United℠ Explorer Card can get you on the plane a lot faster, meaning a better chance of finding room left in the overhead bin. And the two one-time United Club airport lounge passes each year, which otherwise cost $59 each, can make your wait in the airport a lot more pleasant with bundles of free stuff, including free snacks and booze, free magazines and newspapers, and free showers. Get all of that plus a 25% discount on in-flight purchases.
Aside from those benefits, you'll also get a slew of perks and discounts that can add to the United℠ Explorer Card's value — assuming you can use them and/or spend enough to qualify for them.
Additional United℠ Explorer Card perks
- $150 annual fee waived the first year.
- 25% off in-flight purchases.
- A 10,000-mile award flight discount after spending $20,000 on purchases each calendar year.
- Up to $50 in United travel credits each year on Avis or Budget rentals booked through cars.united.com.
- $100 in United TravelBank cash after spending $10,000 on purchases each calendar year. (United TravelBank cash can pay for United or United Express flights.)
- Up to $260 in statement credits each anniversary year for purchases with specific merchants, including ridesharing services, stays at United Hotels, and flights with JSX. (Some of these are doled out in monthly installments.)
- A one-year complimentary DashPass: This membership for both DoorDash and Caviar provides unlimited deliveries with $0 delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible orders. After the complimentary year ends, you are automatically enrolled in DashPass at the current monthly rate. To qualify, this offer must be activated by Dec. 31, 2024. Plus, you’ll also get a complimentary Instacart+ Membership for three months, and a $10 monthly Instacart credit. Both benefits end 12/31/27.
When totaled, these benefits together can be worth up to hundreds of dollars. However, you might find that keeping track of and maximizing the value from this long list of credits requires some juggling and work that can be tedious.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers no United-specific perks, although it has limited-time offers for specific branded services, as noted in the comparison table above.
A win for versatility
While United℠ Explorer Card may be the best card for dedicated United flyers, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card will end up being the better pick for most travelers. Its versatility gives the card an edge, especially for United flyers with Premier status who don’t need some of the card’s United perks. What’s more, it gives you the freedom to spend your points a different way — if you start flying a different airline, for example.
All of that said, if you fly United enough, you might consider getting both cards: the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for rewards, and United℠ Explorer Card for United perks. But keep in mind the cards’ annual fees.
