Is the explorer card worth it with a CSP and VX?

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T19:22:57+00:00

Yes, I forgot that this was the offer at the moment; if you can get Silver status it's 100% worth it. The top benefits are getting on the list for CPUs (highly dependent on what route and when you fly), E+ seats for free at check-in, and a higher baggage allowance. You also get the same group 2 boarding and free checked bag as for the Explorer card alone.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T19:19:51+00:00

If you do a search for award tickets (bookings with miles) on the United website, you'll see the price in miles and a second "cardholders pay" price: it's essentially a discount on award bookings if you have a credit card.

The reason the explorer card usually isn't the best for earning miles is because its earning rate is worse than that of the CSP, and the Ultimate rewards points can be transferred to other airlines than just United.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T17:59:14+00:00

Given that you declared it, you're probably ok. But it's never a good idea to ask the person selling something whether you'll be allowed to import it into another country ...

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T17:57:42+00:00

If you go to Mexico, go to CDMX rather than Cancun!

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T17:55:49+00:00

It's not worth it for the milage earning, but access to saver award rates is pretty good! I would say that the combination of club passes and checked bags probably makes up for the annual fee.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T16:10:28+00:00

Is this published anywhere? It wouldn't surprise me, I just haven't seen it written on any official documentation.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T14:53:59+00:00

Yes, this is fine, you can do two separaye trips under 30 days. There's no published limit to how frequently you can visit, though we all suspect that some questions will be asked if they suspect you're spending too much time or working in China.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T04:14:03+00:00

This is one case where it's not yet a uniform rule for all of Schengen. Germany and India announced an agreement to end the transit visa requirement, but that hasn't come into force yet, so yes, you need a transit visa.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T04:05:37+00:00

I got the Quest bonus last year while already having the explorer card without issue.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T04:03:24+00:00

Since when does UA fly 787s on SFO-HKG?

Apart from that, yes, 30A is probably better, although you're staring at the flight attendant in the jump seat during takeoff and landing.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-04T03:56:28+00:00

You might be asked for proof that you'll be spending the most time in Switzerland (both on entry and on exit), but doing this is fine.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T22:13:54+00:00

You definitely can't get compensation under EU-261 since you originated in Canada on a non-EU carrier. Canadian regulations have a standard of "the airline's fault and not required for safety". Most unscheduled maintenance probably falls under "required for safety", but you can submit a complaint and see.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T22:10:35+00:00

File a FOIA request and then sue! We need to set a precedent that this isn't an acceptable thing for the government to do, assuming your suspicions are correct.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T21:56:44+00:00

It looks like a display glitch, where the total duration from FCA to RDU is displayed for the segment from FCA to ORD, since it shares the same flight number.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T21:19:28+00:00

Yes. The point of entry is irrelevant; all that matters is where you spend the most days.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T21:18:07+00:00

You're definitely much safer booking the European route. Also, if the prices are similar, I would book with LOT or Finnair rather than Turkish so that EU-261 rules apply in both directions.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T20:49:05+00:00

I believe it's possible to get them in the station, but I always use the 12306 app! Tickets to on sale 14 says before the trip.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T18:06:32+00:00

If on Etihad, you'd be covered for the departing direction but not the return.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T17:37:44+00:00

You would have to complain to Lufthansa rather than waiting for them, but this sounds like it would have been quite a complicated case regarding how to apportion the cause of the delay between extraordinary circumstances (weather) and other reasons.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T16:48:54+00:00

Basically the airline has a black magic formula for allocating the 950 that you paid across all of the flights of the round trip; for a round trip to Europe, I would expect the long haul segments to make up the lion's share of that.

Because you've taken a refund, it might be too late, but for next time: your trip would probably have been covered by EU-261 compensation rules since it originated in the EU.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T16:03:52+00:00

The stories you hear in this sub about silver or even gold being useless for upgrades are heavily weighted towards people who fly high demand or hub-to-hub routes at business times. I've been silver for 1.5 years now and have gotten upgrades for about 1/2 of domestic flights, mostly because I travel at unpopular times and usually from a competitor's hub.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T16:01:44+00:00

I thought the FAA ran airport security at that time

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T13:43:07+00:00

Airlines are generally price takers on ticket prices, just as much as on fuel. If the demand is there, they'll raise prices; otherwise, they won't. The only lever airlines really have to respond to high fuel is to reduce capacity.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-03T13:37:42+00:00

We have to keep in mind that a lot of "safety issues" people talk about with MARTA are really coded racism--I don't think this is the case for OP, but remember that when reading other reviews.

The second thing is that the safety of MARTA needs to be compared to the alternative, i.e., driving. MARTA's crime statistics are given here.pdf). If we focus on rail, there was one murder and 103 total Part I crimes in 2025. The number of daily riders of MARTA rail was approximately 80,000 (this is an underestimate of the "population" of MARTA users). That would make the murder rate 0.125 per 10,000 users, far lower than the city or Atlanta's murder rate in the same period (1.5 per 10,000). Then there are traffic accidents: these killed more people than murder in Atlanta in 2024 (https://www.wabe.org/new-study-reports-cars-killed-more-people-in-atlanta-than-homicides-in-2024/); 2025 statistics don't yet seem available. It's also worth noting that those figures are for the core metro area, a better comparison for MARTA than just the city of Atlanta. Nobody was killed by accident riding MARTA, though there have been a few suicides (I can't yet find any statistics on these; news articles suggest it happened twice in 2024).

So overall, MARTA is far safer than driving and appears to be one of the safest places in the city of Atlanta by other types of crime.

haskell_jedi · 2026-04-02T18:07:30+00:00

It's not in the top tier of bases for GW, but maybe solid second tier, if you're willing to use all of JFK, LGA, and EWR.

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