What Is the Best-Ever 80,000 Mile Bonus on the United Explorer Card Worth?

The United℠ Explorer Card is currently floating its best-ever welcome offer, but if you’re not familiar with the program, you might be wondering what a welcome offer of that amount is actually worth.

In this article, we’ll provide examples of several redemptions to give you an idea of how much value you could expect out of this new welcome offer, along with highlighting a few of the card benefits to help you decide if it’s an offer you’d like to take advantage of.

United Explorer Card: New Welcome Bonus Offer

New cardholders of the United Explorer card can earn:

• Earn 70,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

How much exactly is this bonus worth? The value of the miles depends on how you redeem them. Here is a look at a few potential redemptions.

United Explorer Card Benefits

In addition to the increased welcome offer bonus on the United Explorer card, here are the other rewards and benefits of the card:

• 3x miles on all other eligible United purchases
• 2x miles on dining purchases (including delivery services), and hotel stays when you book with the hotel
• 1x mile on all other purchases

ELEVATED OFFER

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

United℠ Explorer Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

With priority boarding privileges, no foreign transaction fees and more, MileagePlus members will definitely enjoy their partnered card.

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United℠ Explorer Card

With priority boarding privileges, no foreign transaction fees and more, MileagePlus members will definitely enjoy their partnered card.

Welcome Offer

Earn 70,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.

Up to 80,000 miles

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$960

Annual Fee

$150

APR

19.99% - 28.49% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

You travel United all the time, but you have heard that there could be ways to make your travel experiences even better, including priority boarding, free bags, and more miles.

You should consider the United℠ Explorer Card, because this card does all that and more!

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 9x total miles per $1 on eligible United flights
• 3x miles per $1 on all other eligible United purchases
• 2x miles per $1 on dining purchases (including delivery services), and hotel stays when booked with the hotel

Cons

• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150
• Does not earn transferable rewards

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Card Highlights

• Earn up to 80,000 bonus miles
• $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150
• 9x total miles on eligible United flights and 3x miles on all other eligible United^® purchases.
• 2x miles on dining and hotel stays when booked with the hotel. 1x mile on all other purchases.
• Free first checked bag - a savings of up to $200 per roundtrip. Terms Apply. Plus, Group 2 priority boarding on United^® flights.
• 2 United Club one-time passes per year - over a $100 value
• Over $500 in partner credits each year
• Save 10% or more when booking flights with miles. Premier members save even more.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.99% - 28.49% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

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United MileagePlus Frequent Flyer Program

You also receive perks that come in handy on your United flights, like your first checked bag free for you and up to 1 traveling companion, a 25% statement credit on United inflight purchases, priority boarding, 2 United Club one-time passes each year, a 10% savings when booking flights with miles, and more.

1. Round-Trip Flight to Europe in Economy ($800 or More)

Flights between the U.S. and Europe just seem to be getting more and more expensive. This is where your points and miles can really come in handy.

Starting from 30,000 United miles, you can fly one-way in economy class or 60,000 miles round-trip on United to many European cities, including Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam, and Barcelona.

Better yet, unlike with many other carriers, award flights booked with United miles do not incur fuel surcharges, keeping your total out-of-pocket expenses lower than they would be booking through other airline programs.

Additionally, since this round-trip book only costs 60,000 miles, you’d still have 20,000 miles left over from your welcome offer to use toward a future trip.

It is not uncommon for round-trip flights to Europe to cost $800 or more nowadays, especially if you don’t want to fly basic economy and would like to select your own seat, giving you excellent value overall for your United miles.

2. Several Domestic United Flights ($1,000 to $1,500)

If you’re looking to travel domestically, your United miles can come in handy for these flights, too.

Economy flights covering a short distance, like Chicago to St. Louis, can be booked for as low as 6,000 to 9,000 miles. Longer flights like Chicago to San Francisco can be booked for as low as 15,000 miles. There are plenty of opportunities for you to receive great value out of your miles for domestic trips.

The exact value you receive out of booking these sorts of flights depends on where you’re flying and how expensive it is to travel during that time of year. That said, even on the conservative end, using 80,000 miles to book 5 one-way flights at 15,000 miles per ticket is likely to yield you at least $1,000 in value but could easily be much more.

3. One-Way Flight to Europe in Business Class ($2,000 or More)

Dreaming of visiting Europe but want to splurge on a business class experience?

You can fly United Polaris business class on a trip from the U.S. to Europe for 80,000 miles one-way with virtually no taxes and fees. This allows you to sit in the lap of luxury, enjoying premium food, beverages, and a fully lie-flat seat to start your trip off with a bang.

While you would need to spend your entire welcome offer bonus on this one flight, it definitely offers the maximum value for your miles, as it is not uncommon for United Polaris flights to Europe to be $2,000 to $3,000 or even more, depending on the route and season.

Additionally, if you’d prefer to visit Asia instead of Europe, you have options starting at 100,000 United miles, though award availability for these flights can be significantly harder to come by.

Final Thoughts

To make a long answer short, the value of the 80,000-mile welcome offer bonus on the United Explorer card comes down to how you decide to redeem it — and there are tons of different ways to do so.

We value United miles at 1.2 cents per mile, making 80,000 miles worth $960. Not only should that value be pretty easily achievable, but generally speaking, it is also possible for you to get far more value than that.

That makes now a great time to take advantage of the best-ever welcome offer on the United Explorer card.