Think you can’t afford to travel? Well, what if the money you already spend every day could earn you free travel? Meet a traveler’s best friend, the United MileagePlus Explorer card.
The Explorer card helps you earn “miles” that you can redeem for airfare, hotel rooms, car rentals and tons of other travel (or non-travel related) expenses. I’ve personally redeemed FIVE free flights with my Explorer card in the last year. If you’re currently spending money and not earning rewards, you’re literally throwing away free money!
Quick note: I’m not a financial advisor, but I’m making these recommendations based on my own personal experience. If opening a new credit card account isn’t in your best financial interest right now, save this post for later!
So, how do I earn free travel with the Explorer card?
For every dollar you spend with the MileagePlus Explorer card, you’ll earn one mile that can be redeemed for free travel. You can see the exact earnings breakdown below. But, unless you’re spending thousands of dollars each month, it’s going to take a LONG time for your points to add up enough to redeem flights or hotel rooms. Enter: the sign-up bonus.
When you’re approved for the Explorer card, you’ll earn 40,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 on the card in the first three months. Free round-trip flight? Check.
Oh, and don’t let the spending minimum for the account bonus scare you off. I’ve included a list below of all the ways I got creative to spend the money (without spending money I don’t have).
How do I know if the Explorer card is right for me?
If you live in the United States, United Airlines probably flies to an airport near you (and 369 other airports — the most of any airline in the world). So, for airline-specific travel cards, the United Explorer Card is definitely a good bet for redeeming free flights to wherever you want to go.
By the way, just because the card is for an airline doesn’t mean you can only use miles to redeem flights! I’ve used my reward miles for free hotel nights in Honolulu through the hotels.united.com booking portal.
Sign-up bonus: 40,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in the first three months your account is open (as of January 2020)
I’ve seen United award tickets start as low as 5,000 miles, but some flights will run you a bit more. Nonetheless, the 40,000 mile bonus is valued at $500+ and should get you at least one round-trip domestic flight for free!
Regular earnings:
- 1 mile per $1 spent on all purchases
- 2 miles per $1 spent on United purchases (tickets, inflight WiFi, inflight food purchases, and more)
- 2 miles per $1 spent on restaurants and hotels
The best benefits of all (seriously, I love these):
- One free checked bag ($30 value — you just saved $60 round-trip)
- Priority boarding (so you don’t have to fight for overhead bin space)
- Two United Club passes every year
- $100 statement credit for TSA Precheck or Global Entry (this means you get Precheck for FREE! Stop waiting in long security lines!)
Annual fee: The first year is free, then $95/year after that. Don’t let the annual fee scare you off — the benefits are valued at way more than the $95/year, even if you only fly once a year. (If you find that you’re not using the card as often someday in the future, you can usually call and downgrade the card to no annual fee minus the benefits — you’re not locked in forever)
How do I spend enough money to earn the bonus?
Depending on your monthly expenses, you may have to get creative to spend the minimum to earn the sign-up bonus points. This isn’t an excuse to start buying things you can’t afford! A travel credit card isn’t worth if you can’t pay off the card in full EVERY month to avoid paying interest.
Here’s a list of methods I’ve used to spend the minimum:
- If you typically use other credit cards, start putting EVERYTHING on this card as soon as you get it in the mail. (Also be sure you have any other cards paid off before adding this one into the mix!)
- Pick up the tab when you’re out with friends and family. You can offer to pay the bill when you’re at dinner and have everyone Venmo you back.
- Pay your rent if they accept credit cards. (You could also pay a friend’s rent, just make sure they send you the money first!)
- If you’re still in college, you can usually put tuition on a credit card. Just you have your tuition money in an account to pay it off right away!
- Ask your family if they have any large purchases coming up. My mom had a deposit due for a cruise, so she just transferred me the money and I paid for it with my card.
If you can’t meet the minimum spend for the bonus, the card probably isn’t worth getting, so make sure you plan ahead a bit to make sure you can find a way to cover the minimum.
Ready to earn free travel?
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