The United Devaluation Equalizer

With the announcement this morning that United Airlines will be devaluing their mileage earning this coming March, many flyers who collect miles by flying on cheap tickets are left scrambling to figure out the best way of accruing award miles going forward.

The truth is that mileage running for the sake of earning award miles (not elite miles) has not been very cost effective for quite a while. The best and easiest way to accrue miles is through credit card bonuses and spending for sure. Hopefully, most of you who are racking up award miles are already doing it from your local store/computer than doing it in an airplane seat. If you are not, time to reevaluate! If you already doing your earning by spending, then hopefully this will help you earn United miles going forward.

The United Devaluation Equalizer

The social media outlets are filled with people who are outraged by this and already planning on forsaking the United MileagePlus award program. While I understand people are upset about changes, I also do not think that the adjustment in earning should be reason to forsake the redeeming of miles. For me, United is still the best program for my family and our travels from Greece. Their calendar is still the easiest of the US award programs and most awards can be booked online.

Thanks to the transfer options from the Ultimate Rewards program (at a 1:1 ratio), there are plenty of ways to earn United miles by spending. But if you want a great way to earn more miles by your spending in non-bonus categories (for cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred with restaurants and the Chase Ink cards with office supply stores), there is one card that can give you some great earning benefits!

The United Club Card – United Devaluation Equalizer!

This portion of the text is from the post I wrote after the award calendar devaluation announcement in November. It is still pertinent and relevant to our new position with the devaluation in earning.

 

application link – Chase United Club Card – $395 Annual Fee ($100 Statement Credit) (I do not receive a commission for this card)

The United Club card has been around for a while now. As a credit card for point earners, it is not the best as it does not come with any sign-up bonus and it does come with a high annual fee ($395). So what would make anyone actually desire this card?

• United Club Membership – unlike the American Express Delta Reserve which gives access to Delta lounges, this card gives membership to the United Club. That means you have access to United  without having a Star Alliance ticket.
• Avis First – it gives you Avis First status which is their mid-tier elite status that gives car upgrades
• Hyatt Platinum – this is Hyatt’s mid-tier status
• No Close-in Booking Fee – this is very valuable. When booking an award ticket within 21 days of departure, the fee is as high as $75 per ticket (for non-elite members). This card allows that fee to be waived which greatly opens up award booking flexibility
• Premier Access – this is basically the same level of recognition as United Premier Silvers receive. You receive priority baggage handling, priority check-in and boarding, and priority security screening (where available)
• First and Second Checked Bags – for yourself and one companion, you will receive two free checked bags (as opposed to the one that the basic United credit cardmembers receive)
• 50% Mileage Bonus – this is a big one. It means you receive 1.5 miles on everything you buy! Here is our devaluation equalizer!

That’s right – this card will give you 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase you make. Except for many partner first class redemptions, all of the changes (from this past February) are to the premium cabin redemption levels are less than a 50% increase. The most significant increases are partner first class redemptions to the Middle East – an increase from 75,000 one-way to 140,000 one-way. That is an increase of 86%. So how can anything help with that?  Let’s look at some math to see how the United Club card can help you as a devaluation equalizer.

Let’s see in the chart below what it would take in manufactured spending (specifically in non-bonus category spending) to earn various awards on the current chart and new chart. For our spending, we are looking at three cards that can generate United miles – the Chase Sapphire Preferred (which has the annual 7% rebate on earned points figured into the totals), the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card, and the Chase United Club card.

As you can see, in 2 of the 3 examples here, just by switching your card of choice for United miles to the United Club card, you can actually still earn enough miles to satisfy the new award chart – while spending less than you would have with the Chase Sapphire under the current award chart. And this is without any flying to earn the miles!

Spending Strategy

Obviously, the United Club card would be the preferred card of choice for earning United miles for all spending except that which falls under bonus categories of other cards (ie. office supply stores – continue using Chase Ink cards, restaurants and travel – continue using Chase Sapphire). If you do mostly manufactured spending to earn your United miles, the United Club card is the one that you want to begin using to earn those miles.

Using the United Club card, you will actually find yourself spending significantly less or equal to the amount you had to spend before to earn enough miles for premium award tickets. Even at the highest increase level, you will not be spending a huge amount more to earn the required miles. This card can truly be your United devaluation equalizer!

Is it worth it?

$395 is a hefty annual feee. It will be totally up to the earning, spending, and travel habits of the individual as to whether the cost can be justified. If you fly United domestically a couple/few times a year, it can make your travel a little easier. It gives you everything notable that Premier Silver gives (with the exception of upgrades and preferred seats) without having to fly 25,000 to earn it. Also, if you like to be able to wait until the last minute for award bookings (in the case of Lufthansa first class, that is typically released 15 days before departure), this will save you up to $75 per ticket. Between that, the lounge access, baggage fee waivers, and time saved by priority airport service, the annual fee can really be earned back in no time.

Also keep in mind that the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card already has an annual fee of $95. So, in effect, you are paying $300 more for this card. I wish I had applied for it last year when we had to make an award booking for our family. We had to make it 10 days before departure and it cost me an extra $300 in close-in booking fees. That would have wiped away the effect of the annual fee!

Here is another path to getting the fee lowered: do you have a current United MileagePlus Explorer card? If so, secure message Chase through your account on their website (or call them) and tell them you are interested in upgrading your card to the United Club card but would like to know if the first year’s annual fee could be waived. I received that extended to me when I asked last year and that is commonly offered to current cardmembers. That way, you can get the first year fee free!

According to reports from other readers, even non-United cardholders have been able to get the fee waived. Secure message Chase and ask them about it or stop in at a Chase branch.

So, does this card look like something to add to your wallet? I know it is painful to support an airline that has just really put the screws to their frequent flyers, but it is not great to hurt our own point earning just to make a point.