Credit Cards By Issuer
Best Cards By Type
Credit Card Reviews
Credit Card Comparisons
Popular Guides
Business Credit Cards By Type
Business Credit Card Reviews
Popular Business Credit Card Guides
Airlines
Airport Lounges
Hotels
Travel Product Reviews
Popular Travel Guides
Get Started
Credit Card Points
Airline Miles
Hotel Points
Advertiser Disclosure
Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. You can also review our credit card rating methodology.
Stella Shon
Senior Features Editor
164 Published Articles 916 Edited Articles
Countries Visited: 28U.S. States Visited: 30
Keri Stooksbury
Editor-in-Chief
55 Published Articles 3545 Edited Articles
Countries Visited: 50U.S. States Visited: 28
Juan Ruiz
Senior Editor & Content Contributor
278 Published Articles 924 Edited Articles
Countries Visited: 41U.S. States Visited: 28
We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.
Our seasoned and experienced team brings years of expertise in the credit card and travel sectors. Committed to integrity, we offer data-driven guides to help you find the card(s) that best fit your requirements. See details on our intensive editorial policies and card rating methodologies.
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!
First, let’s see the earning rates, benefits, and ongoing fees side-by-side:
Benefit
Welcome Bonus Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Earning Potential
Redemption Options
Statement Credits and Partner Benefits

Travel Benefits and Protections
Shopping Benefits and Protections
Annual Fees and Authorized Users
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:
A fantastic travel card with a great welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.
Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
With priority boarding privileges, no foreign transaction fees and more, MileagePlus members will definitely enjoy their partnered 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!
United MileagePlus Frequent Flyer Program
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.
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.
Bonus Earning Category
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (Ultimate Rewards Points)

United Explorer Card (United MileagePlus Miles)
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.
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 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
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.
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!
Both cards offer useful statement credits and partner benefits that can be used to offset the cost of the annual fees.
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.
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.
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.
The United Explorer card comes with a slew of perks when you’re flying with the carrier:
The most valuable perks are the free checked bags, which can cost $40 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.
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.
Chase 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.
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.
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.
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.
Outside the scope of travel, these cards offer excellent everyday benefits worth mentioning.
Shopping portals are an underrated way to earn bonus points and miles on your card purchases.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the United Explorer card are both beginner-friendly thanks to their approachable annual fees:
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a classic traveler’s card that will likely appeal to a broader audience as it earns Ultimate Rewards points redeemable on virtually any airline, hotel, or other travel expense. With over a dozen transfer partners, you can find outsized value with your rewards, making the Chase Sapphire Preferred card the best option for those who want to book award-winning travel. The United Explorer card is a popular pick for United flyers as you can get a free checked bag, priority boarding, and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit.
Yes, you can transfer your Chase points to United’s frequent flyer program at a 1:1 rate.
Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the most valuable credit card currencies out there. You can transfer your points to 14 airline or hotel transfer partners, book travel through the Chase travel portal at an elevated 25% rate, get gift cards or cash-back, and more.
Yes. Chase is the co-branded credit card issuer of United credit cards, including the United Explorer card.
Was this page helpful?
With a degree in media and journalism, Stella has been in the points and miles game for more than 6 years. She most recently worked as a Corporate Communications Analyst for JetBlue. Find her work in The New York Times, USA Today, and more.
INSIDERS ONLY: UP PULSE^™
Get the latest travel tips, crucial news, flight & hotel deal alerts…
Plus — expert strategies to maximize your points & miles by joining our (free) newsletter.
We respect your privacy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. Google's privacy policy  and terms of service  apply.
Top Partner Offers
The Platinum Card^® from American Express
Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card
The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express
Top Partner Offers – Our Selection Approach
×
At Upgraded Points, our team has rigorously evaluated nearly every travel and rewards credit card available for both consumers and businesses. Our recommendations are based on direct experience: we endorse cards that we’re currently using, cards we’ve used in the past and found valuable, or cards that we truly believe could offer real benefits to our readers.
Advertisement
Upgrade your travel experience
Privacy Policy | All Guides | Terms & Conditions | Web Accessibility Policy | Cookie Policy
© 2025 Upgraded Points™, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer: Upgraded Points, LLC and its website, UpgradedPoints.com, provides information on credit cards, reward programs, travel information and ancillary information concerning travel and credit cards. The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, tax or legal advice.
Upgraded Points, LLC uses reasonable efforts to maintain accurate information on the site — and prior to applying for any credit card offers found on UpgradedPoints.com, all visitors should review other features of such credit cards including but not limited to interest rates, annual fees and transaction fees, and should determine the suitability of such credit cards considering their own individual financial position.
Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. For more information on our advertisers and how we make money, see our advertising policy here. In addition, as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Editorial Disclosure: The content featured on UpgradedPoints.com has not been influenced, provided, or reviewed by the credit card companies mentioned. Any and all options, reviews, comments and analyses are the responsibility of the author(s) and not any Advertiser or credit card issuer.

source