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For United Airlines customers wondering about the fate of their miles-earning credit cards in the wake of the airlines merger with Continental, the airline offered up an answer today. It’s a new Visa card called the Mileages Explorer. The annual fee is $95, which is more than the $60 that many United customers are paying for the entry-level mile-earning Visa currently. But the new card comes with a number of benefits.
Cardholders (and traveling companions on the same reservation) ho don’t already have elite status will be able to board early, albeit after everyone with status has already gotten on the plane. Still, this should be sufficient for everyone in that boarding group to find overhead bin space and avoid having to check their bags at the gate. Big spenders will get an extra 10,000 miles each year once they pass $25,000 in annual spending (and earn the usual one mile per dollar they spend).
Cardholders and one traveling companion will each be able to check one bag for free on united flights, a handy perk for people who don’t carry everything on ND don’t get free baggage checking due to their elite status on the airline. You’ll also get two passes to united airport clubs each year. A one-day pass normally costs $39 if you buy it ahead of time online or $50 if you buy pass at the airport. They are good for one person per pass; you don’t get to bring traveling companions along for free.
One thing cardholders wont get, however, is a waiver on those dreaded 3 percent surcharges for purchases that take place outside of the United States, something that Chaise’s more expensive united Club Visa offers. I asked David Gold, senior vice president for Chase Card Services, If Chase had determined that it didn’t need to offer that perk because customers would forget about the surcharge or shrug their shoulders and use that card outside of the United States anyway rather than switching cards for their trips. He countered with a more benign explanation. There are customers who that is a pain point for, and we have a product for that,” he said. “Not every product necessarily needs that. ” People who have the current $60 annual e Chase united card can keep that card; Chase wont upgrade you automatically. If you want to upgrade to the new one, you can call the number on the back of your card and ask to make the switch. Chances are, you will not have to change your credit card number (and redo all of your automated monthly payments with boilers) if you upgrade. So those are the basics. For the true mileage Junkies out there, however, there are a few more twists.
With this announcement, United is revealing a couple of decisions about how It Is settling conflicting rules between Its loyalty program Lubbock and that of Continentals Novenas program, according to Mr.. Gold. First off, Continental miles never expire, but united do. united policy will prevail, but miles will never expire for people with any of the combined company’s credit cards that levy annual fees. Second, United customers are able to use 50,000 miles to book any seat on the airplane for a domestic flight as long as It’s available for sale; Continental customers face capacity controls when trying to book those seats.
Here, Continentals capacity controls. Implementation of these special privileges will likely present a formidable information technology challenge to the combined carrier, so watch your program statements closely and appeal up the supervisory ladder if you are not getting what you are supposed to. If you’re a Chase Continental cardholder, you may be wondering what this all means for you. The combined airline intends for the United Explorer card to become the standard miles-earning card; people who have Chaise’s Continental Novenas Plus card will soon receive whatever benefits the
Explorer card offers that the Plus card doesn’t already. Then, sometime next year, the Continental cardholders will receive new Explorer cards to replace their Continental cards. Here too, Chase hopes to spare everyone the hassle of having to switch credit card numbers. As always, the mileage experts on Flyer Talk are picking these developments apart if you want to learn even more. Feel free to post your own assessment of the new card below as well. Will you elect to pay more than 50 percent more in annual fees to access these new perks?