KEY LINK: United Mileage Plus Explorer – up to 65,000 United miles – I may receive a commission if you’re approved for the card with my link
Chase and United released an offer last month where you can earn a sign up bonus of 65,000 miles. This is more than the typical 40,000 or 50,000 miles that this card typically carries as a standard sign-up bonus. The required minimum spend is a bit more, but if you can manage it, the return is a lot better. The bonus also is more than enough for a one-way business class flight to Europe, or a round-trip in economy.
I’ve generally not paid attention to Chase cards anymore, especially since it now appears that 5/24 applies to all of them. But I do like to highlight the better offers for readers when they come around. And this is one of them.
Details of the increased United card offer
The current offer is one of the better ones we’ve seen in a while for the personal version of the United MileagePlus Explorer Visa card. You can earn up to 65,000 bonus miles via the following offer terms:
- Earn 40,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open
- Plus, earn an additional 25,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $10,000 total on purchases in the first 6 months your account is open
The spend to earn the additional bonus is substantial, but it shouldn’t be all that difficult to do in 6 months. It amounts to less than $2,000 per month. Once you meet it, you’ll be sitting on at least 75,000 United miles, which are enough for three domestic economy round-trips, two round-trips to Central America or the Caribbean, or a one-way business class ticket to Europe on a Star Alliance partner. Not shabby from a single card.
Other benefits of the MileagePlus Explorer card include:
- Free checked bag for the primary cardholder and one companion when you use your MileagePlus Explorer card to purchase the ticket (or pay the fees on an award ticket)
- Priority Boarding for the primary cardholder and companions traveling on the same itinerary
- 2 United Club one-time passes each account anniversary
- Up to $100 credit for TSA pre-check or Global Entry
- 25% back on in-flight transactions with United
- No foreign transaction fees
The card will also give you access to XN award space, additional award seats that United reserves for cardholders and their premier members.
LINK to offer. The offer ends January 8, 2019.
Conclusion
This sign up bonus was enough to get me to carefully check my wife’s 5/24 status. I previously jumped off the “get under 5/24” bandwagon that we’d been on for over 18 months. The new World of Hyatt card was enough to tip the scales. However, now she is exactly at 5 new cards in the last 24 months, which means this offer is off the table. I have no regrets. 60,000 Hyatt points and 40,000 Alaska miles were worth jumping ship. I already used her bonus to book 8 award nights for our travels next year.