Chase sent out a memo to bankers with news of changes to the United Explorer personal card which is coming on March 23, 2025. My guess is these changes will affect both branch applications and online applications starting on March 23rd:
- Annual fee increase from $95 to $150. (The fee is waived for the first year, both under the old offer and the new offer.)
- Signup bonus will be 80,000 miles after spending $3,000. (The old/current offer is 50,000 points, and we’ve never seen it higher than 70,000.)
Yesterday, news leaked of the refreshed Chase United business card which went live briefly and then was pulled. The annual fee on the business card will increase from $99 to $150, added benefits, and signup bonus increase to 125k. I expect the changes and increased bonus on the business card will also be rolled out on March 23, 2025. (This is just an educated guess, not reporting.)
We also reported on the upcoming Chase Sapphire Preferred 100,000 points bonus which will be coming to Chase branches on March 23, 2025. Reports indicate that offer will soon-after become available online as well.
Another small change coming on March 23rd is the spend requirement for the signup bonus on the Chase Sapphire Reserve card will increase from $4,000 to $5,000. The 60,000 points bonus will remain the same.
Does anyone know if you can get approved for an Explorer card while still holding a Gateway? Or does it need to be closed or converted first?
Fine by me. Approved! /s
(You probably should ask Chase though.)
You don’t need to close anything. I’m currently holding a Gateway, Explorer, Club Infinite, and Business
Wonder if we can request Chase to SM match current offer with this new offer? Match requests DPs works for past Inks/Freedom/Sapphire offer. 🤔
Cool!
Seems likely that the United Quest will also have changes soon, because it doesn’t make sense for Chase to have Quest’s eAF lower than the Explorer card. Quest is only $125 after the annual credit (well, TravelBank cash now) and it’s pretty easy to offset the rest of the AF. I’d assume Chase copies AMEX Gold and bumps Quest up to $325 AF while adding some type of $50-100 credit. (Baseless speculation here.)
Wow, I actually got the 80,000 miles SUB on 3k Spend in November. Was an in app offer
What’s so exciting about getting 80k SUB on the UA Explorer card? The last time I got one was 90k in Q4 ’23. UA miles have been so devalued since then that I wouldn’t even consider any offer south of 100k.
You must be thinking of a different product within the United Airlines credit cards portfolio (there are four cards that I am aware of, Getaway, Explorer, Quest, Club, currently). Explorer has not been above 70K, unless you found an outlier, exception, or error. Only the United Club card has had as high as 100K. Of course, if you had a P2 and they got a referral, maybe that adds an extra 10K to the overall equation, but that is likely more nuanced that your original assertion. Or, maybe you’re thinking of a different airline, bank, or card.
Higher SUB for the same 1st year AF? Seems like a win to me. Question now is, will it go even higher (in flight offer, flight attendant pin etc) or have they started with their best.
Yeah, I don’t understand why people are hating on this. Just cancel (or downgrade) after the first year.
Is there any clawback if you cancel once the annual fee hits again in year 2 and get the AF back? First year fee waived, is that 80K free miles?
These increased United bonus’ scare me. To me it signals that that another devaluation of points is coming – might be time to hedge my bets and book flights. Can always cancel and get my points back.
I was about to downgrade the Explorer. Will have to see if this turns it into a keeper.
F me. I signed up for the Explorer last night so I could get ready to pay taxes. Oh well.