United MileagePlus Explorer Miles

[Tim_S]

Iced - Like I said, I'm a new Explorer cardmember.  My wife and I mainly travel Southwest and United.  We only fly 1-2 times a year domestically but we put about $50,000 spend on our cards per year.  Any other co-branded card suggestions that reward non-frequent flyers based on spend? Or would you suggest something like CSR that we can convert points to airlines?

[iced]

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@Tim_Swrote:

Iced - Like I said, I'm a new Explorer cardmember.  My wife and I mainly travel Southwest and United.  We only fly 1-2 times a year domestically but we put about $50,000 spend on our cards per year.  Any other co-branded card suggestions that reward non-frequent flyers based on spend? Or would you suggest something like CSR that we can convert points to airlines?

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I have actually moved all of my dining/travel spend to the CSR - its ability to earn miles is stronger than any of the United co-branded cards (or really, any card on the market). You don't get the United-specific travel perks, but as a Premier those are redundant anyway.

If you have the spending power in dining/travel, the CSR grows valuable very fast. $10,000 in dining/travel spend is 30,000 miles for $150. I run about $50,000/year in dining/travel through it, so I'm looking at 150,000 miles for $150 - that's a roundtrip international business ticket for $150.

Anything that's not dining/travel of mine is put on the MileagePlus Club card. I could use a Freedom Unlimited for 1.5 UR per dollar on everything, but that lacks UC membership, so I'm essentially using the MP Club card as a FU with lounge membership.

From a pure mileage-earning perspective, the Explorer only comes out ahead on very low spends (less than $300 travel and $1000 dining per year), and in those cases I would question if it's worth the $95 for 1300 miles. That same spend on the CSR will cost you $150 for 3900 miles, already a better value. 

[Tim_S]

Thank you again. I appreciate the input.

[UpperNwGuy]

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@icedwrote:

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@Tim_Swrote:

Iced - Like I said, I'm a new Explorer cardmember.  My wife and I mainly travel Southwest and United.  We only fly 1-2 times a year domestically but we put about $50,000 spend on our cards per year.  Any other co-branded card suggestions that reward non-frequent flyers based on spend? Or would you suggest something like CSR that we can convert points to airlines?

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I have actually moved all of my dining/travel spend to the CSR - its ability to earn miles is stronger than any of the United co-branded cards (or really, any card on the market). You don't get the United-specific travel perks, but as a Premier those are redundant anyway.

If you have the spending power in dining/travel, the CSR grows valuable very fast. $10,000 in dining/travel spend is 30,000 miles for $150. I run about $50,000/year in dining/travel through it, so I'm looking at 150,000 miles for $150 - that's a roundtrip international business ticket for $150.

Anything that's not dining/travel of mine is put on the MileagePlus Club card. I could use a Freedom Unlimited for 1.5 UR per dollar on everything, but that lacks UC membership, so I'm essentially using the MP Club card as a FU with lounge membership.

From a pure mileage-earning perspective, the Explorer only comes out ahead on very low spends (less than $300 travel and $1000 dining per year), and in those cases I would question if it's worth the $95 for 1300 miles. That same spend on the CSR will cost you $150 for 3900 miles, already a better value. 

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Iced and I both use the CSR as a means to earn United miles.  However, iced has elite status, and I lost my elite status after retiring (no more business trips to accumulate the necessary miles).  I downgraded my Club card to the Explorer to save on the annual fee.  Not having elite status, I gain back many of the elite perks with the Explorer card.  The only charges I make to the Explorer are the taxes and fees for my United award tickets, but I gain the following:  miles don't expire, additional award flight availability, early boarding, first bag free, and two lounge passes each year.  If I were still making business trips, I would definitely do what iced does and carry both the CSR and the Club card.

[iced]

There is one case I thought of this morning (not likely applicable to the OP) where packing an Explorer and running some spend through it may make sense.

If one runs $25,000 in spend (any type) through it, two things happen. First, there's a 10,000 mile bonus given, making the $25,000 spend now worth 35,000 miles. It's less that what one would earn on the Club/FU for the same spend, but it helps. The other benefit that kicks in is the PQD waiver for status up to Platinum. This is a bit niche, but for someone who buys lowest fare tickets and is slanted toward longer distance travel, this can be a major boon.

I've priced out discount economy roundtrip for EWR-PEK at under $700 before, which will earn over 12,000 PQM. Similarly, tcon flights can be had for a few hundred dollars while adding around 3,000 PQM each way. Someone who accrues 50,000 to 100,000 PQM but is buying cheap enough tickets to not make PQD can then leverage this benefit to jump in status. The question then becomes whether this person should go Explorer or Club, but that's whether the person is slanted toward heavy domestic vs. international IMO since gold and up gets the lounge for free on international itineraries.