In the past, I’ve posted about a way to generate a targeted offer for the United MileagePlus Explorer card with a 50,000 mile signup bonus which involved shopping through United’s shopping portal. A lot of people had success with that approach and I attempted it for my wife recently as I would like her to apply for this card since it has been past 24 months since she received the signup bonus and we are running a bit low on our United miles. The public signup bonus is just 30,000 miles and I only wanted her to apply if she received the 50,000 mile offer. My wife just got her mailer (from trying the approach mentioned above) in the mail but it looks like United has rolled out a new offer I have not seen previously: 30,000 miles + $100 off a United flight.

Here are the details for this offer:

• 30,000 United Miles after spending $1,000 in 3 months
• $100 off a United flight after spending $1,000 in 3 months (the $100 will deposited into your United Travel Bank)
• 5,000 United Miles for adding an authorized user
• 2 United Club Passes
• Priority Boarding and First Free Checked Bag

On the mailer, there was a link to apply online which is unitedexplorercard.com/100credit. Just like most other links for the United card that are not directly from Chase, it will ask you to signin with your United MileagePlus account to access your personalized offer. If successful, you will see a page like this:

While this offer is an improvement over the public signup bonus of 30,000 miles, I’d still much rather have the 50,000 mile offer on this card for two main reasons. The first being the additional 20,000 miles that come with the larger signup bonus are worth significantly more than $100 – depending on your valuation, they are worth anywhere from $200-$300. Secondly, the $100 off sounds nice but you will most likely be paying something out of pocket for a United flight unless you happen to find a flight right around $100. I don’t like paying for flights and if I did, I’d rather it be on Delta or American where I still have hundreds of dollars in gift cards stockpiled thanks to the airline credits from the America Express Platinum and Chase Ritz Carlton cards.

In short, while it’s nice to see an offer that is better than the public signup bonus, my wife will be passing on this offer and waiting it out for a 50,000 mile offer. For anyone who is currently considering the public 30k offer, I’d advise waiting for a 50k offer but if you must get the card now, at least check this link to see if you also get the $100 off a United flight.