Does anyone have a Delta Skymiles or United Explorer Credit Card

[explanade]

That’s funny, because I have used that card heavily over many years. Looks like in 2021 they upgraded us to this VISA infinite version.

My favorite perk is the premium services: premier check-in, first boarding etc. and especially the priority luggage handling which usually means our bags come off the plane first, or in the very first batch.

Plus the primary insurance for car rental.

And I did get it because we used the United Club a lot. The high fee matches an annual club membership with a $125 discount.

But of course it has to match the way you travel, and it covers a companion on the same reservation, so much more useful when two are traveling together.

I usually make United Gold and get those benefits. But my bags come out late even with the "Priority" sticker when I return to my home airport from an international flight. I see bags without the sticker come out first sometimes. It depends on what the baggage handlers want to do. Not a big deal either way for me.

My Chase Sapphire Preferred provides primary auto insurance car rental. Annual fee is $95.

Lounge membership is good but I've been buying more business class tickets so I usually get into lounges.

But I don't know offhand how much that United card earns, for instance other than spending with United. OK checked it:

4x United and 2X travel and 2X dining.

I get 2X travel and 3X dining with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

The 100k miles is nice though for the United Club Infinite.


Last card I got was Citi Premier, $95 annual fee and the welcome bonus was 80k points, which can't be transferred to United.

They give 3X travel, dining and groceries.

I will have to see if there are airlines worth transferring miles to.

 

[audreyh1]

I usually make United Gold and get those benefits. But my bags come out late even with the "Priority" sticker when I return to my home airport from an international flight. I see bags without the sticker come out first sometimes. It depends on what the baggage handlers want to do. Not a big deal either way for me.

My Chase Sapphire Preferred provides primary auto insurance car rental. Annual fee is $95.

Lounge membership is good but I've been buying more business class tickets so I usually get into lounges.

But I don't know offhand how much that United card earns, for instance other than spending with United. OK checked it:

4x United and 2X travel and 2X dining.

I get 2X travel and 3X dining with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

The 100k miles is nice though for the United Club Infinite.


Last card I got was Citi Premier, $95 annual fee and the welcome bonus was 80k points, which can't be transferred to United.

They give 3X travel, dining and groceries.

I will have to see if there are airlines worth transferring miles to.

My experience is that United Club access is only available for business class related to international flights and only at the departing airport, whereas club membership makes clubs available at any layover. United Club access is not available domestically for first class passengers. We have flown a lot domestically.

We often flew economy plus with the occasional gratis upgrade to first, so the perks really helped.

We’ll probably be flying more first class/business class in general, so I’ll see the difference but it doesn’t take many lounge passes for self and companion to make up the annual fee. We always have at least one layover and often two.

I only use the card for airline tickets and related perks and car rental. I don’t care much about miles accrued.

 

[explanade]

Polaris Lounges are only for departing international flights in business class, all Star Alliance.

So if I fly from San Francisco to Europe on United or Lufthansa or Swiss, I get access. They have private dining with a limited menu as well as buffet style self service, which are a cut above the food at the SFO United Club.

But in some locations like London, the United Clubs are really nice. They have private dining but you have to have a departing first class ticket.

I have Plus Points for the first time this year so I've booked a Premium Plus (not Economy Plus) flight to France but applied the Plus Points for upgrade to business class. Don't know if I'll get it, there's a lot of competition flying out of SFO to Europe or anywhere.

Some other premium cards to have some universal lounge access. But they are usually over $200 annual fees. The lounges they have are okay, not special.

Apparently in the last year or two, lounges are getting packed because all these credit cards give lounge access with regular economy tickets. So there are long lines and Delta is supposedly limiting lounge time or making their employees not use the lounges in some airports.

 

[tulak]

Apparently in the last year or two, lounges are getting packed because all these credit cards give lounge access with regular economy tickets. So there are long lines and Delta is supposedly limiting lounge time or making their employees not use the lounges in some airports.

I use Priority Pass to get lounge access and can confirm that it’s gotten worse, especially at busy airports. I have yet to get into a lounge at Heathrow and it’s hit and miss at Amsterdam. And usually when you get in, the lounge isn’t that great.

I find that Priority Pass works best at smaller airports. I used it last in Florence and the lounge was simple, but had a good breakfast buffet which was perfect before our early morning flight.

 

[Crewer]

I'm probably too late to this game but here goes. DH and I both have United CCs and have for years. He just switched to a different one so gets all those signup bonuses. We're already lifetime United Gold because of all DH's previous flying so already got free bags, free priority seating and boarding (of course group 1 goes 5th or 6th now days). I don't know if club eligibility during international flights is included with the gold status or the CCs but it is generally wonderful. I know that so many more people have access to clubs now so it isn't like it used to be (what is?).

We also use United to book cruises and usually do at least one a year. We get 2x to 7x the miles per $ spent for that. We built up miles on the CCs during Covid and with the signing bonuses are doing it again. In 2022 we got two international round trip tix each (priority seating not business class but that 2 or 3 person seating by the emergency exit or the first row in the section are good for us. This year we'll again get two RT international tix each and have miles left to spare so I expect at least another 2 RT international tix each in 2024.

The extra club passes have also been good, though clubs in the US are not nearly as nice as in Europe and Japan.

Well worth the $95/year fees in my opinion.

The cards are through Chase and their fraud detection is excellent, though maybe that's standard these days. DH has way too common a name and we've fought that battle for years - thank goodness Amex caught one fraud 15 or so years ago before the live chickens were shipped. The no fee for international transactions and the exchange rates they use are excellent.

 

[YoungSaver]

Explorer for 11.5 months, then cancel, then Sapphire for 11.5 months, then wait, then transfer to United, then cancel, then Explorer for 11.5 months, then cancel ...

You get the point.

 

[kgtest]

I have the Delta Amex Platinum, comes with a companion pass each billing cycle after paying $250 renewal. Since we are a family of 5 it saves me a little bit when we travel to Florida each year. You can transfer the companion ticket which is nice when booking 4 people on the same plane. I rarely use the Delta Sky Lounge unless I am travelling alone since DW no longer has the Platinum. During COVID we cancelled her card realizing we wouldn't be travelling as often.

The thing with the companion certificate is you need to be ON the reservation or else you don't get ideal flights (layovers, longer duration flights, or just not available).

It's not perfect, but it has saved us money over the long-term. I have 2 companion tickets right now so DW and I are sort of "fishing" for a place to travel so the one certificate doesn't expire before we use it. I might call Delta and see if I can delay the expiration of it...or maybe we find somewhere to go for a date weekend.

 

[erkevin]

You can only get the Chase card every 48 months.

 

[fh2000]

I use Priority Pass to get lounge access and can confirm that it’s gotten worse, especially at busy airports. I have yet to get into a lounge at Heathrow and it’s hit and miss at Amsterdam. And usually when you get in, the lounge isn’t that great.

I find that Priority Pass works best at smaller airports. I used it last in Florence and the lounge was simple, but had a good breakfast buffet which was perfect before our early morning flight.

Yea. In LAX, there used to be a Korean airline lounge, PF Chang restaurant, and an Alaska airline lounge to choose if you flight international. Today, there is no lounge available to PP anymore.

 

[Bigdawg]

I have the United card. Worth the $95 because:
Gets you Global Entry for Free.
Gets you a free bag and priority boarding.
Is a card without foreign transaction fees.

+2 lounge passes each year. You get the car, refer your spouse, get the miles and the 4 annual lounge passes. Maybe after that initial bonus offer for spouse, get rid of one card to save $95

 

[athena53]

Yea. In LAX, there used to be a Korean airline lounge, PF Chang restaurant, and an Alaska airline lounge to choose if you flight international. Today, there is no lounge available to PP anymore.

I was an early subscriber to PP and it was great but that was in the 1990s. It even gave access to all the Northwest (remember them?) clubs. Last time I bought a day pass at a lounge in DFW it was a generic one (The Club at DFW) that took PP as well. The receptionist "suggested" a seat in a nearby chair with a tray that swung away so you could get into it. Yeah, that was about the only seat available. Snacks were OK but not stellar.

I wouldn't consider that a great perk as part of a credit card offer.

 

[FIYes]

After not playing the credit card card frequent flyer game since before Covid, I got a United Explorer card this spring. I decided to apply for TSA pre check and the card covers the $78 cost. Since the first year is fee free, I am definitely $78 ahead. I will cancel when the first year is up and I need to pay the annual fee.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the only card that I’m willing to pay an annual fee for. However, using the airline cards to build mileage balances has helped stretch our travel budget in the past. For me, the airline cards are not worth an annual fee. The big payoff is in the initial sign on balance.

 

[Jimmie]

We have the United Explorer. Used to live in Denver, so it was easy to fly United. United flies where we live but it's not a hub so have to change flights somewhere typically. We run everything through the card we can, so we rack up the miles quickly enough where we get 2 or 3 free trips per year. My only complaint is the two annual club passes. That isn't enough and should be based on prev year usage of the credit card.