Best United credit card? It might not say United on the card

With the merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines we’re getting a lot of questions about which airline’s credit card to apply for.

What might surprise you – the card with the highest earning power for United Mileage Plus miles is actually the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It lets you transfer points 1:1 instantly into any United / Continental mile account, as well as Southwest Airlines (as of 1/5/12), British Airways, Amtrak, Hyatt, Marriott, and more. And, it earns double points on all dining and travel purchases (even things like fast food, parking, and taxis).

So why carry a United branded card like the United Explorer? Its value comes in travel benefits, with a waiver on checked bag fees, priority boarding, and other travel benefits.

We carry both - the Sapphire Preferred as the ‘go to’ card for everyday spending, but a United / Continental card for the travel benefits.

You can also rack up about 80,000 bonus miles by applying for both a Sapphire Preferred and a United card. Also, if you are a Continental flyer, note that you can now freely transfer your miles between United and Continental accounts, so it’s okay to use a United card now.

There are three (actually four) actively marketed credit cards that earn United / Continental miles:

• United Mileage Plus Explorer (which has the same features as the Continental OnePass Plus)
• Continental Presidential Plus – offering lounge access
• Chase Sapphire Preferred — offering mile transfer to other programs, and higher earning

Only Chase credit cards earn full value United / Continental miles, and we think United has one of the better programs for redeeming miles. An independent study found it had the most reward seats available among the global U.S. carriers, and it’s the favorite mileage program of the world’s most frequent flyer.

We’ll discuss the credit cards more below, but first, here’s a table comparing the three major United credit cards.

Card	United Mileage Plus Explorer	Continental Presidential Plus	Chase Sapphire Preferred
Earning power
Intro bonus	Up to 40,000 miles (25,000 after first use, 5,000 for adding authorized user, 10,000 each year you spend $25,000)	$95 statement credit	50,000 points when you spend $3,000 within first 3 months
Base	1 mile per dollar	1 mile per dollar	1 mile per dollar
United / Continental purchases	2 miles per dollar	2 miles per dollar	2 miles per dollar (3 miles if purchased via UltimateRewards.com)
All other Travel purchases	1 mile per dollar	1 mile per dollar	2 miles per dollar (3 miles if purchased via UltimateRewards.com)
Dining purchases	1 mile per dollar	1 mile per dollar	2 miles per dollar
Elite qualifying miles	No	Yes, 1,000 for every $5,000 in purchases (can be used to help you reach up to 75k EQMs per year). Miles can be banked for 3 years.	No
Supplemental benefits
Primary car rental insurance	Yes	Yes	No
Bag free on United or Continental	Yes, first bag free for you and a companion.	Yes, first and second bags free for you and a companion	No
Foreign transaction fees waived	No	Yes	Yes
1:1 mile transfer to United/Continental, British Airways, Hyatt, Marriott, Amtrak, Priority Club, Korean Airlines	No -- United/Continental miles only	No -- United/Continental miles only	Yes, instant online transfer for flexibility of points
Priority boarding	Yes, after elites, before general boarding	Yes, with elite members	No
Priority security lanes	No	Yes	No
Travel delay insurance	No	No	Yes, up to $300 per 18 hour+ delay (even weather)
Hotel upgrades via lhrcollection.com	Yes	Yes	No
Lounge passes	Yes, 2 United / Continental Club single visit passes per year	Yes, full United/Continental Club membership -- access all United, Continental, US Airways lounges	No
Elite upgrades on reward tickets	Yes	Yes	No
Annual fee	$95	$395	$95
Secure application link	Apply Now	Apply Now	Apply Now

Chase Sapphire Preferred: Maximize United miles earning

If you’re serious about maximizing the value of the points you earn — this is the card for you as it offers unmatched flexibility and earning power. It earns points in a neutral currency — Chase’s Ultimate Rewards — and lets you transfer them 1:1 online into United/Continental miles, as well as Southwest Airlines (as of 1/5/12), British Airways, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Amtrak, and Korean Airlines miles.

You also get double points on all travel and dining purchases– and triple points on travel purchases if you use the UltimateRewards.com search engine to book flights, hotels, or rental cars.

No foreign transaction fee is another benefit.

What you sacrifice is the baggage fee waiver, priority boarding, and elite upgrade eligibility on mile tickets of the United Explorer credit card. You also don’t get the primary auto collision insurance protection of the United Explorer – it’s secondary coverage, as with most credit cards. To see how the card stacks up by the numbers, try our Mile Credit Card Value Calculator – it lets you input your spending habits and will factor in earning bonuses to give a sense of which card has the highest earning power for you.

Right now, the 50,000 intro bonus may be enough on its own to try the card — it’s enough for 2 domestic roundtrip reward tickets. You can read our full review of the card here.

Click here for the secure link to Chase to read details and apply.

United Mileage Plus Explorer

This card is good for people who are not quite elite member flyers with United or Continental but plan to fly them a couple times per year or more while checking baggage. The biggest benefit for this group is the free checked first bag for you and a companion — which can save each of you $50 roundtrip. So in one trip for two that involves a checked bag, you’ve saved the annual fee of $95. This benefit doesn’t matter much to elite member flyers (people who fly 25,000 or more miles per year on United/Continental), as they already receive a baggage fee waiver.

The other benefit for the non-elite flyer is priority boarding. Again, elite flyers already enjoy this benefit, but if you travel several times per year this can give you a chance to get your bag in the overhead bin before general travelers board.

United is trying to entice elite flyers to the card with one key benefit — the ability to get free upgrades on miles tickets when holding this card. Normally, elites who book with miles aren’t eligible for the free upgrades they receive on paid tickets. Note — if you are not an elite flyer, having this card will not make you eligible for free upgrades.

There are also other benefits to consider:

• Primary car rental insurance – if you have damage you don’t need to file with your insurance first, this is a feature once reserved for only very high end credit cards
• Hotel upgrades and benefits. If you book a hotel via www.lhrcollection.com you receive 1) daily breakfast for two, 2) a room upgrade, 3) early/late check-in and check-out, and 4) a special amenity like spa credit. This is similar to a program offered on the $450 per year American Express Platinum Card.
• Lounge club passes. You receive two United / Continental club lounge passes with the card, letting you use the lounge while on a future trip.

You can read our full review of the card here, or see how it stacks up against other cards for your personal spending habits using the Mile Credit Card Value Calculator.

Click here for a secure link to Chase for more details or to apply.

Continental Presidential Plus MasterCard: If you want lounge access

You’ll carry this card for one big reason — you want full unlimited access to United, Continental, and US Airways lounges. The $395 per year is competitive with buying the lounge access on its own, though somewhat more expensive than if you’re already a high level elite flyer given the discounts you receive. We think it’s good for that pretty regular business traveler who may or may not have elite status with Continental — basically someone flying 10,000 up to 50,000  or more miles per year. If you’re not yet elite, you’ll value the ‘PremierAccess’ early boarding and security lanes (things elites already enjoy).

And if you’re already elite, or aspiring to it — the 1,000 elite qualifying miles per $5,000 in spend is helpful. Just note that you can only apply them toward reaching 75,000 qualifying miles per year. Once your total elite qualifying miles exceed that amount in a given year, you can’t use the miles earned via the credit card to reach the 100,000 mile tier.

However if you’re already a mid to high level elite and don’t need the elite qualifying miles, you might be better off getting a Chase Sapphire Preferred and buying the lounge access separately. You’ll enjoy higher earning power and point flexibility with a lower annual fee. The Presdiential Plus also carries these fringe benefits:

• Primary car rental insurance – if you have damage you don’t need to file with your insurance first, this is a feature once reserved for only very high end credit cards
• Hotel upgrades and benefits. If you book a hotel via www.lhrcollection.com you receive 1) daily breakfast for two, 2) a room upgrade, 3) early/late check-in and check-out, and 4) a special amenity like spa credit. This is similar to a program offered on the $450 per year American Express Platinum Card.
• Hyatt Platinum status. Offers you late checkout and select room upgrades.
• Avis President’s Club status. For lucrative upgrades when renting cars.

Click here to read our full review of the Presidential Plus.

So what do we use?

We personally use the Chase Sapphire Preferred most often  because we value maximizing mile opportunities — and we’re elite flyers who already get free bags and priority boarding. But we also carry the Continental Presidential Plus for the lounge access and trip delay insurance.

If you want to dig deeper, we’ve created a calculator that lets you see whether carrying both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and a United branded card is worthwhile every year. It factors in the number of times you fly and the kind of purchases you make each month.

Also, remember you can apply for both the Sapphire Preferred and United Explorer or OnePass Plus, and receive up to 80,000+ bonus miles. Just space the applications about a month apart.

Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card