Disclosure: this post is not sponsored and nobody paid me to write it. It does contain my referral link, and I earn a bonus if you are approved through it. Fleming and I have carried this card for years and we pay the annual fee ourselves.
Many of you know we are NY/NJ based and fly out of Newark Airport (EWR) constantly. Fleming and I have carried the United Explorer Card for years, and I recommend it to almost everyone locally. Chase renamed it in 2018, so if you are searching for the United MileagePlus Explorer Card, this is the same product. I have earned the signup bonus on this card three separate times. This post is the math on why I keep coming back.
The highlights
As of September 2026, the United Explorer Card has a $0 annual fee for the first year and $150 after that. You and one companion each get a free first checked bag on United and United Express flights, worth $90 to $100 per round trip domestically per person ($180 to $200 for a couple on the same itinerary) as long as you buy the tickets with the card and put your MileagePlus number in the reservation. Award tickets count if you pay the taxes and fees with the card. You also get two United Club one-time passes a year. The current welcome offer is 50,000 miles after $3,000 of spend in three months, plus 10,000 more for adding an authorized user in that same window. With the first year free it is really easy for this card to more than pay for itself.
Why the card is worth it
1. Free the first year, then $150
The card is free the first year, then $150 per year after that. Chase refunds the annual fee if you close the card within 30 days of the fee posting. I usually recommend keeping the card until right at your third anniversary year. That is what makes the next part work: open it, cancel just before the third anniversary, and you pay $150 total for almost three years of benefits.
2. Free checked bags for you and a companion
You and one companion on the same reservation each get a free first checked bag. Great for a couple or a family. Two free checked bags cover the fee on a single trip.
As of September 2026, United charges $45 for a domestic first checked bag (and short international like Canada/Mexico/Caribbean and certain latin american countries) if you prepay online and $50 at the airport each way. So around $180-200 for a couple round trip. $30-50 more than the fee which is waived the first year. Take two trips in two years eleven months and you are positive $200+ not counting signup bonus miles or any other card benefits.
International basic economy is even better. United gives you a free bag on long haul international flights unless you are flying basic economy. On an international basic economy fare the first bag runs $75, so two free bags cover the annual fee one way (note United groups Canada, Mexico, Caribbean and certain Latin America in with the domestic flights.) You are up $150 by the time you land back in the states. One exception worth knowing: most transpacific basic economy fares already include a checked bag, so on those routes there is nothing for the card to save you.
For a couple flying transatlantic, you can book basic economy, save the fare difference, and still check a bag for both of you. That is the entire annual fee covered on one trip.
You have to pay with the card
You have to buy the tickets with the Explorer Card. Your MileagePlus number also has to be in the reservation.
Two more conditions. The free bag only covers flights operated by United and United Express, so a United-marketed flight actually operated by Lufthansa or Air Canada will not get it. And if you are already exempt from bag fees for some other reason, you do not get an additional free bag on top.
Award tickets do count, as long as you pay the taxes and carrier charges on the award with the card. If you have United Travel bank money you can book with that as long as some portion of the flight is on the card.
3. Two United Club passes a year
You get two United Club one-time passes every year the account is open. United sells the same pass for $59 a person. In practice the value is whatever you would have spent at the bar, and at Newark that adds up fast.
The United Clubs are not my favorite lounges and pale in comparison to our top three at JFK (the Capital One Lounge, the Chase Sapphire Lounge and the Centurion Lounge). Nevertheless, we don’t have any other good lounge access at Newark so its acceptable.
On the year 3 passes, before you cancel: they have always landed in my account on the anniversary, ahead of the cancellation. Chase reserves the right to pull United Club passes when you close the card, so treat it as a nice-to-have rather than something to plan around.
One annoying thing. United Clubs are frequently closed to one time pass users due to capacity. I wouldn’t count on access.
I live with it at Newark because the alternatives are thin. There is no Chase Sapphire Lounge and no Capital One Lounge at EWR, and the only Priority Pass options are a Be Relax spa in Terminal A and Minute Suites in Terminal C, neither of which is a lounge in the sense of free food and drinks. Amex has announced a Centurion Lounge for Terminal A, still unopened as I write this, which does not help me because I usually fly out of Terminal C.
4. The signup bonus, and paying the fee with miles
Currently 50,000 miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open, plus 10,000 more if you add an authorized user in that same window. I never do. I prefer for Fleming to just get her own cards.
One thing I learned while researching this post. Chase now lets you redeem MileagePlus miles against the annual fee through Pay Yourself Back in the rewards dashboard. It takes 10,000 miles to pay the $150 fee. Points optimizers may tell you 1.5 cents a mile is not the best redemption but that means you could theoretically have this card for six years with no cash out of pocket: year 1 free, years 2 through 6 covered by miles. That is six years of free checked bags and two lounge passes a year for nothing.
I do not actually recommend that plan if you travel with a companion. More on that below.
Otherwise the sign up bonus is worth at least $400 in flights. Points maximizers can definitely do better. I will note I may consider using the points to offset the fee in the future, I am not the best at maximizing value from airline miles.
5. The small credits
Benefits I do not lean on much, but that are worth knowing: up to $10 a month in Instacart credit (up to $120 a calendar year, and the benefit is scheduled to end 12/31/27), up to $5 a month in rideshare credit (up to $60 a calendar year, and you have to opt in every year), up to $120 every four years toward Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS, and at least 10% off award bookings, which rises to at least 15% with MileagePlus Premier status. There is also up to $100 in JSX credit per cardmember year.
The award discount applies to United and United Express award flights only. Not partner bookings.
The free Global Entry or TSA PreCheck deserves to be higher if you don’t already have it. Both are good for five years. You can also use this for your partner if you already have PreCheck or Global Entry. The fee credits based on the charge, not the name of the person.
How Fleming and I get six years out of one card
This works perfectly for a couple, because Chase gives you two lounge passes a year and extends the free checked bag to your companion. Here is how we do it:
- Partner 1 opens the card and earns the welcome bonus. Year 1 has no annual fee.
- Pay the $150 fee at the first anniversary. I like to keep a card open past two years so as not to annoy the bank.
- At the third anniversary, wait for the fee to post, then call and cancel within 30 days. Chase refunds the fee and closes the account, unless they offer a retention bonus worth keeping.
- Shortly before cancelling, Partner 1 refers Partner 2 through Chase’s Refer-a-Friend. It currently pays 10,000 miles per approved referral, up to 100,000 miles a year, and it pays out on any United MileagePlus card the referred person is approved for, not only the Explorer.
- Partner 2 opens the card, earns their own welcome bonus, and the couple gets three more years of free checked bags and lounge passes.
That is six years of benefits for $300 total.
Quick note on Chase’s 5/24 rule if you aren’t familiar. If you have opened five or more credit cards from any issuer (not just Chase, Amex, etc.) in the past 24 months you will be automatically denied the card. A denied application does not count, only cards you actually open. Being an authorized user on someone else’s card does count, though you can call Chase and ask them to disregard it.
One other thing, the fee, the benefits and the offer can all change, so check the current terms before you apply.
I would not use miles to pay the fee year after year. If you travel as a couple you can swap which one of you has the card every 3 years or so and get the first year free again.
Why you can do this again in year six
Amex generally limits welcome bonuses to once per card per lifetime, with occasional offers that drop the lifetime language. Chase’s rule is different. Chase’s current wording for this card is that it is not available to current cardmembers, or to previous cardmembers who received a new cardmember bonus on it within the last 24 months.
So guess what? In year 6 you can start all over again with Partner 2 referring Partner 1 for the card, referral bonus, new signup bonus and new first year free. Things change, but I have personally earned three welcome bonuses on this card. Like I said in the title, it is a no-brainer.
Who should get this card
You need this card if your home airport is one of United’s hubs:
- Newark Liberty (EWR)
- Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
- Denver (DEN)
- Houston Intercontinental (IAH)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Washington Dulles (IAD)
The card also works if you fly United at least once a year with a companion. One round trip with two checked bags pays for it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the United Explorer Card worth it?
Yes, if you check a bag and fly with a companion. Two checked bags on one domestic round trip run $180 to $200 against a $150 fee, so one trip covers it. The first year is free anyway.
Do I have to pay with the card to get the free checked bag?
Yes. You have to buy the ticket with the United Explorer Card and have your MileagePlus number in the reservation. The free bag also only applies to flights operated by United and United Express, not to codeshare partner flights.
Does the free checked bag work on award tickets?
Yes, as long as you pay the taxes and carrier charges on the award with your Explorer Card.
Does the free checked bag work on basic economy?
Yes. Chase’s benefit terms contain no basic economy exclusion. This is where the benefit is most valuable, because basic economy fares are the ones that do not include a bag to begin with.
What is the United Explorer Card annual fee?
$0 for the first year, then $150. Chase refunds it if you close the card within about 30 days of the fee posting. I wouldn’t cut it too close, call to cancel within days 10-20.
Can you pay the United Explorer annual fee with miles?
Yes. Chase’s Pay Yourself Back lets you redeem MileagePlus miles against the fee, 10,000 miles for the $150 charge. The fee has to have posted within the last 90 days, and partial redemptions are allowed. I haven’t personally done this so I am unfamiliar with the mechanics.
Which airports are United hubs?
United operates seven hubs (not counting Guam): Newark (EWR), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Denver (DEN), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO) and Washington Dulles (IAD).
Can you get the United Explorer signup bonus more than once?
Yes. Chase’s terms make the card unavailable to current cardmembers and to previous cardmembers who received a new cardmember bonus on this card in the past 24 months. Outside that window you are eligible again. I have earned it three times.
Last updated: September 6, 2026. Card terms, bag fees and welcome offers change often. I re-check this post twice a year, but confirm the current terms with Chase and United before you apply.
If this was useful, here is my referral link. I earn a bonus if you are approved, at no cost to you.
Apply for the United Explorer Card through my referral link here. Every United card is on that page, so make sure you pick the Explorer and not one of the others.