Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. United Explorer Card [Detailed Comparison]

Should you get an airline or a travel credit card — and is there really a difference between the 2?

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card and the United℠ Explorer Card exemplify this common debate you may have when opening a new account. Both cards are issued by Chase and carry reasonable annual fees under $100, but there are more significant differences between the 2 popular cards than you may think.

Buckle up for an in-depth comparison of these starter cards!

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. United Explorer Card — Overview

First, let’s see the earning rates, benefits, and ongoing fees side-by-side:

Benefit	Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card	United℠ Explorer Card
Welcome Bonus Offer	Earn 75,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.	Earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Earning Potential	5x points on Lyft (through March 31, 2025) and travel purchased through Chase Travel  3x points on dining, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services 2x points on other travel 1x points on other purchases	2x miles on United Airlines purchases, dining, and hotel stays 1x miles on other purchases
Redemption Options	Transfer points to airline and hotel partners, including United Chase travel portal bookings Cash-back/statement credits, Pay Yourself Back, gift cards, online shopping, PayPal purchases	Redeem miles for United or Star Alliance partner award flights Upgrade your flight Hotels, car rentals, cruises, merchandise, gift cards, events
Statement Credits and Partner Benefits	$50 annual hotel credit when booked through Chase Travel DoorDash DashPass $15 quarterly Instacart+ credit and membership	Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit DoorDash DashPass
Travel Benefits and Protections	Primary car rental insurance Trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, lost and delayed baggage coverage Access to Visa Signature Concierge 24/7	Free first checked bag on United flights, priority boarding, 2 United Club one-time passes per year, and more Primary car rental insurance Trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, lost and delayed baggage coverage Access to Visa Signature Concierge 24/7 and The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
Shopping Benefits and Protections	Purchase protection, extended warranty No foreign transaction fees
Annual Fees and Authorized Users	Annual fee of $95 No additional fee to add authorized users	Annual fee of $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 No additional fee to add authorized users

The Value of a Welcome Bonus Offer

When applying for any card, you may be eligible to earn a welcome bonus as a new applicant. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll earn a big boost of Ultimate Rewards points, while the United Explorer card comes with a sizable offer of MileagePlus miles.

Here are the current welcome offers you can expect from these 2 cards:

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

United Explorer Card

Hot Tip:

Before applying for any new card, you’ll want to get the best welcome offer available. Using the CardMatch tool is a great way to see if you have targeted offers based on your credit history and other factors.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Points vs. United MileagePlus Miles

As a general travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns points through the Ultimate Rewards program. Since these points are tied to Chase and not to 1 specific airline or hotel program, you have the flexibility to redeem your rewards for virtually any purchase.

On the other hand, the United Explorer card earns miles through the carrier’s loyalty program, known as United MileagePlus. Your miles can be redeemed for flights on United’s website, meaning they’re mostly locked into redemptions for United flights or its Star Alliance partners, like Air Canada or Singapore Airlines.

Earning Potential

Bonus Earning Category	Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (Ultimate Rewards Points)	United Explorer Card (United MileagePlus Miles)
Travel Purchases	5x points on Lyft (through March 31, 2025) and travel purchased through Chase Travel  2x points on all other travel purchases	2x miles on purchases from United, including tickets, Economy Plus seats, inflight food, beverages, and Wi-Fi 2x miles on hotels booked directly  1x miles on all other travel purchases
Dining	3x points	2x miles
Online Groceries	3x points (excludes Target, Walmart, and warehouse clubs)	1x miles
Select Streaming Services	3x points (includes popular options like Apple TV, Spotify, and YouTube Premium)	1x miles
All Other Purchases	1x points	1x miles

Another point of consideration is our valuations of points and miles of various reward currencies. We value Chase Ultimate Rewards points much higher at 2 cents, while we estimate that United MileagePlus miles are worth 1.2 cents — especially in the wake of constant devaluations to the loyalty program.

Bottom Line:

In most cases, you’ll see that the Chase Sapphire Preferred outearns the United Explorer card. In addition, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers bonus points on everyday spending categories, such as online groceries and streaming services, allowing you to earn rewards beyond travel.

Redemption Options

Redemption Option	Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (Ultimate Rewards Points)	United Explorer Card (United MileagePlus Miles)
Redeem for Travel	Yes, 1.25 cents per point toward travel in Chase Travel	Redeem for United- or Star Alliance-operated flights (value varies) Redeem for upgrades on eligible United flights (value varies)
Transfer Points/Miles to Airline and Hotel Partners	Yes (Chase transfer partners)	N/A
Redeem for Gift Cards and Merchandise	Yes	Yes, for 0.3 to 0.6 cents per mile
Redeem for Cash or Cash Toward Statement Credit	Yes, 1 cent per point	N/A

With the United Explorer card, the best use of your miles is redeeming them on United or partner award flights or upgrading your existing flights. While other options like gift cards and hotels exist, they will likely result in a suboptimal value and are generally not recommended.

But let’s say you’re not loyal to 1 airline — say United Airlines in this case. Earning rewards through a general travel card (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card) is almost always the better long-term option.

That’s because the Chase Ultimate Rewards program offers many opportunities to book travel that are not limited to 1 carrier. You can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio to 10+ airline and hotel loyalty programs — including United MileagePlus. In other words, if you’ve got 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points, you can transfer any amount in 1,000-point increments to the United MileagePlus program (up to 60,000 miles in this case).

But you can turn those Ultimate Rewards points into other reward currencies, too, like Marriott Bonvoy, Southwest Rapid Rewards, and World of Hyatt, to name a few. There’s a great deal of international airline loyalty programs in the mix, and understanding those sweet spots is where you can get maximum value from your Ultimate Rewards points — to the tune of 2 to 4+ cents per point.

Conversely, you can redeem your Ultimate Rewards points to book virtually any flight, hotel, rental car, or excursion through Chase Travel. In this fashion, your points are worth 1.25 cents apiece, which is still a great value compared to the (much more) limited use of United MileagePlus miles.

Hot Tip:

Use our unique transfer partner tool calculator to determine exactly how many points or miles you need for your redemption. It also considers any active transfer bonuses, which is a great way to get even more value from your transferable points like Chase Ultimate Rewards!

Statement Credits and Partner Benefits

Both cards offer useful statement credits and partner benefits that can be used to offset the cost of the annual fees.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

• $50 Hotel Credit: Receive an annual statement credit of up to $50 towards hotel stays booked through the Chase travel portal.
• Instacart+ Benefits: Cardholders are eligible for a free 6-month Instacart+ membership plus a $15 quarterly credit if you activate by July 31, 2024.
• DoorDash DashPass Subscription: Get a 1-year membership to DashPass and unlock free delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible DoorDash and Caviar orders. Activate by December 31, 2024.

United Explorer Card

• Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS: Receive up to $100 as a statement credit when you charge your Global Entry ($100), TSA PreCheck ($78), or NEXUS application fee ($50) to your United Explorer card. The statement credit is available once every 4 years.
• DoorDash DashPass Subscription: Get a 1-year membership to DashPass and unlock free delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible DoorDash and Caviar orders. Activate by December 31, 2024.

Bottom Line:

The United Explorer card is one of the most affordable credit cards with a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit. This benefit can be quite valuable even if you’re already part of either Trusted Traveler Program, as you can pay for anyone’s application fee with the card and get reimbursed with a statement credit.

Travel Benefits and Protections

When you sign up for a United Explorer card, you’re likely in it for the carrier-specific perks. The most commonly advertised benefit on the card is the free checked bag (more on this below), which can be a substantial money-saving perk depending on how often you fly with United.

Chase also offers one of the best-in-class travel protections for its cardholders, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the United Explorer card are certainly no exceptions. Let’s see what’s on the table if you need to tap into your credit card’s travel benefits and protections.

Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance

Next time you rent a car, decline any car rental loss and damage insurance the rental car company provides. Both cards offer primary rental car insurance that covers theft and collision damage on most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. If you ever need to tap into this benefit, you’ll receive reimbursement up to the car’s actual cash value.

Trip Interruption, Cancellation, and Delay Coverage

When you purchase eligible trip costs with either card, and your trip is interrupted or canceled by a covered reason, you may qualify to get reimbursed for your nonrefundable travel expenses. However, the coverage limits are different for each card — let’s take a look.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card can reimburse you up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip in prepaid travel expenses. The maximum for a 12-month period is $40,000. Your immediate family members will also be covered as long as you purchased their trip expenses with your card — even if you are not on the same trip. You’ll also receive trip delay coverage for disruptions of more than 12 hours or requiring an overnight stay. You can receive up to $500 per person per trip when a covered delay disrupts your travels for more than 12 hours.

The United Explorer Card also provides similar trip interruption and cancellation insurance terms. However, the maximum coverage limits are up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip, which is significantly smaller than the benefit amounts on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. However, the trip delay coverage remains the same: if your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family can receive up to $500 in reimbursement.

Lost and Delayed Baggage Coverage

Both cards offer baggage coverage, reimbursing up to $3,000 per passenger for checked or carry-on luggage damaged or lost by the airline or other common carrier travel provider.

Concierge and Travel Assistance

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and United Explorer cards are Visa Signature cards, so you can contact the Visa Signature Concierge 24/7 via the dedicated phone line. The concierge can assist with a variety of everyday or special requests, such as purchasing concert tickets, making dinner reservations, or booking travel.

United Explorer Card — Additional Travel Protections and Benefits

United-Specific Benefits

The United Explorer card comes with a slew of perks when you’re flying with the carrier:

• Free first checked bag for the primary cardholder and 1 companion on your reservation when you fly on United-operated flights
• Premier upgrades on award tickets if the primary cardholder has United elite status, the primary cardholder and 1 companion on your reservation get placed on the upgrade list on United flights
• Priority boarding for the primary cardholder and travel companions booked on the same reservation
• 2 United Club one-time passes after account opening and every cardholder anniversary
• 25% back on United inflight and Club premium drink purchases, received as a statement credit

The most valuable perks are the free checked bags, which can cost $35 each way. And if you’re the type of flyer who likes to visit the United Club but can’t justify paying hundreds of dollars for a more premium card with lounge access, getting 2 passes per year may be just the happy medium, as one-time passes normally cost $59 out of pocket.

Access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection

The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection by Chase allows United Explorer cardholders to book premier hotels and receive elite-like perks, such as a room upgrade (upon availability) and complimentary breakfast for 2 guests. This unique perk could help you save on an upcoming luxury hotel stay.

Shopping Benefits and Protections

Outside the scope of travel, these cards offer excellent everyday benefits worth mentioning.

Earn Bonus Rewards for Shopping

Shopping portals are an underrated way to earn bonus points and miles on your card purchases.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Chase offers a shopping portal at chase.com/ultimaterewards, which allows you to earn up to 20x additional Ultimate Rewards points per dollar at hundreds of online retailers.

United Explorer Card

The United shopping portal operates similarly but does not actually require you to hold the United Explorer card to access it. Anyone with a MileagePlus frequent flyer number can shop through the portal and earn bonus miles.

Purchase Protection

Both the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the United Explorer card offer purchase protection for damage or theft of eligible items purchased with your card for the first 120 days. Purchase protection provides up to $500 per claim, with a maximum of $50,000 per cardholder account in reimbursements.

Extended Warranty

If you purchase an item with either card with an original manufacturer’s warranty of 3 years or less, the extended warranty benefit extends coverage by an additional year.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Any solid travel card should waive foreign transaction fees when you purchase abroad in a different currency. Fortunately, both the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the United Explorer card do not charge any foreign transaction fees whatsoever.

Annual Fees and Adding Additional Users

Annual Fees

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the United Explorer card are both beginner-friendly thanks to their approachable annual fees:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred: $95 annual fee
• United Explorer card: $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 annual fee

Adding Additional Users

There is no charge to add additional authorized users to either the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the United Explorer card. Authorized user cards also earn rewards, and they’ll be pooled into the primary cardholder’s balance.

Everything Else You Need To Know

It’s recommended to have a good to excellent credit score to qualify for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the United Explorer card. And as they’re both issued by Chase, you’ll need to brush up on the Chase 5/24 rule before applying.

Even if you have the necessary credit requirements to qualify, if you’ve opened more than 5 credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months, you’ll have a hard time getting approved for either one.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve considered applying for either card, we hope this in-depth comparison guide has made that decision much easier for you.

The United Explorer card is worth applying for United loyalists who want extra perks when they fly on the Chicago-based carrier. Its earning rate is not as competitive as other travel cards on the market, and United MileagePlus miles are always subject to devaluation.

On the other hand, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is far superior if your goal is to rack up points and save money on travel across various airlines and hotels. The flexibility of Ultimate Rewards points simply can’t be beaten by most credit cards.

That said, there’s no reason why you can’t have both cards, especially since neither one comes with an exorbitant annual fee. While the Chase Sapphire Preferred card provides better earning rates in almost every bonus category, the United Explorer card comes with interesting perks like a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit and a free checked bag just by holding the card.

As always, you’ll want to crunch the numbers to see if both annual fees are worth paying in the long run. No matter which card you end up with, understanding the perks that come with each card can help you make the most of your yearly membership cost.