United MileagePlus Explorer Vs. United MileagePlus Club

[azguy13]

Ok, so here it is. I may potentially be getting a new job that would let me fly United Airlines exclusively. I would be flying one way once a week. Each flight will be roughly 1,000 miles. Based on this travel schedule, should I even entertain the thought of the $395 AF on the Club? 

Do the benefits of the Club outweigh the AF?

My luggage each flight would consist of 1 checked bag. Does anybody have any experience with either of these cards?

[_jb_]

I can't add much, but I'll tag this for answers as I hope to be making this same decision this time next year.

[azguy13]

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@_jb_ wrote:

I can't add much, but I'll tag this for answers as I hope to be making this same decision this time next year.

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Well I hope someone can help us both out. Until now I would have never seen myself even considering such a high AF. However, with full reimbursement on all flights, it seems like the rewards have the potential for being worth it.

[09Lexie]

We have the Delta Amex and the Explorer. Didn't think our flying warranted the AF.

It was tempting but not $395 worth of tempting.

[enharu]

really depends.

do you want lounge access?

the club card has a slightly better rewards structure, on top of other perks such as upgraded avis status, etc.

However, these are all luxuries that one can also do without. So it really depends on what you preferences are.

[koalablue]

I have the Club and the Explorer but I only use the Club.  (Got the Explorer for a miles bonus)  The Club card benefits are great - premier security line, Group 2 boarding, and the Red Carpet Club.  Really nice to go to the Club before a flight and just chill out, get snacks and have a drink, especially if there's a delay and you have a stretch of time to kill.  The free wifi in the club is nice too.  I fly about once a month so I get my money's worth.  Sometimes I have to check my bag so the free checked bag (actually, you get two free checked bags) is a money saver.  

Have to say I'm getting really frustrated with United though.  Every time I fly lately there's a problem - a United problem not a weather problem - that results in at least an extra hour of my time.  One time it was an hour before they found someone to off-load the luggage from the plane.  Another time they never put the luggage carousel number on the screen that everyone was looking at, so people stood there for at least 45 minutes and missed it when the luggage finally started coming down the carousel. Just really stupid things that do not need to happen and wasted everyone's time.

Too bad your company doesn't use Virgin America.  I hear they're great.  Would love to fly them.  Best of luck with your apping.

[azguy13]

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@koalablue wrote:

I have the Club and the Explorer but I only use the Club.  (Got the Explorer for a miles bonus)  The Club card benefits are great - premier security line, Group 2 boarding, and the Red Carpet Club.  Really nice to go to the Club before a flight and just chill out, get snacks and have a drink, especially if there's a delay and you have a stretch of time to kill.  The free wifi in the club is nice too.  I fly about once a month so I get my money's worth.  Sometimes I have to check my bag so the free checked bag (actually, you get two free checked bags) is a money saver.  

Have to say I'm getting really frustrated with United though.  Every time I fly lately there's a problem - a United problem not a weather problem - that results in at least an extra hour of my time.  One time it was an hour before they found someone to off-load the luggage from the plane.  Another time they never put the luggage carousel number on the screen that everyone was looking at, so people stood there for at least 45 minutes and missed it when the luggage finally started coming down the carousel. Just really stupid things that do not need to happen and wasted everyone's time.

Too bad your company doesn't use Virgin America.  I hear they're great.  Would love to fly them.  Best of luck with your apping.

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What I will most likely do is fly the airline for a month or so and feel it out. I would love Club access but it is not a requirement by any means. The free checked baggage is definetly a plus. Also, if I travel with my wife, she would also have 2 free checked bags (from what I understand). Saving on the baggage fees is a great selling point but I am pretty sure I can expense all fee's through the company. 

Now, it doesn't neccessarily have to be United. The most convenient airport to fly out of would be Milwaukee but I could travel down to Chicago Ohare to catch the flight. That opens up the possibility for United, American, US Airways (same as american now), and Spirit. I have never heard anything good about Spirit so that is out of the question. I had a terrible experience with American when I flew to Ireland in June so I would love to stay away from them. 

So, United seems like the best decision for me for the non stop flights. 

[_jb_]

I guess the thing to do is to find out what your average weekly cost of airfare (plus lounge access costs if you would regularly use them anyways) is going to be and then find out how much you are going to put through the card annually. Then decide if the miles/points earned + other perks of the Club card outweigh the difference in fees. I would guess that with weekly flights (domestic or international, regional or cross country?), the AF would pay for itself if you use the lounges/free checked baggage.

[azguy13]

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@_jb_ wrote:

I guess the thing to do is to find out what your average weekly cost of airfare (plus lounge access costs if you would regularly use them anyways) is going to be and then find out how much you are going to put through the card annually. Then decide if the miles/points earned + other perks of the Club card outweigh the difference in fees. I would guess that with weekly flights (domestic or international, regional or cross country?), the AF would pay for itself if you use the lounges/free checked baggage.

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Great advice. I'll average out the cost of the tickets and add up just the cost of tickets. Then I will go onto Lounge access and baggage fees. Now, even without the card, I still wouldn't be paying for all this out of my own pocket. I would just buy all my tickets, baggage fees, etc on the card for the rewards and pay it off a few days later after the expense report. I wont count the lounge access when adding all this because my company wouldn't pay for it. 

The flights would be from Milwaukee or Chicago to Houston

[Crashem]

For OP, which card is better depends on 2 factors:
1) Is red carpet club access worth the difference in af?
2) will he spend enough, not fly enough, on card to take advantage of miles difference? Assuming miles are worth 1-2 cents, then difference in af would require annual spending of 30-60k.

The other benefits don't matter as much to OP:

1) 2nd free bag not used
2) premier is nice off the bat, but op should get real status soon enough given how much he will fly. I forget cost of premier access but that can be purchased per flight