The two cards, side by side
Everything below is resolved from each issuer’s current terms at build time. Sort by whichever column is binding for you — bonus value if you are optimizing a single year, net annual cost if you are deciding what to keep.
| Welcome bonusPoints / spend / window | Purchase APR | Apply | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Explorerverified Terms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 19.74% – 28.24% variable APR | 50,000 / $3K in 3 moPlus 10,000 bonus miles after you add an authorized user in the first 3 months — Chase advertises the pair as "up to 60,000". The 10,000 is awarded once, for the first authorized user only, and neither half counts toward Premier status. | $675at 1.35¢/pt | $0 intro, then $150 | -$93Credits exceed the fee | 19.74% – 28.24% variable | 3.9out of 5 | View at Chase for the United℠ Explorer Card at Chase (opens in a new tab) We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place. |
| Delta GoldmodeledTerms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 20.24% – 29.24% variable APR | 50,000 / $2K in 6 mo | $600at 1.2¢/pt | $0 intro, then $150 | -$42Credits exceed the fee | 20.24% – 29.24% variable | 3.4out of 5 | Read our review |
Rates, fees and terms for all 2 cards aboveHide rates, fees and terms
United℠ Explorer Card Chase
Terms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 19.74% – 28.24% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Purchase APR
- 19.74% – 28.24% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.74% – 28.24% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Chase’s pricing disclosure also notes that this account may not be eligible for balance transfers at all.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Up to 29.99%, variable. Applies if you fail to make a minimum payment by its due date or a payment to Chase is returned unpaid, and can remain in effect indefinitely.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
Rates and fees reconciled against Chase’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Chase rates & terms · Chase card page
Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card American Express
Terms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 20.24% – 29.24% variable APRmodeled — see issuer for current rates
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Purchase APR
- 20.24% – 29.24% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 29.99% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you make a late payment or a payment is returned.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
These figures model American Express’s published terms and have NOT been reconciled against American Express’s pricing-and-terms disclosure. Last edited (not verified) . Confirm current terms on the issuer’s page before you apply. American Express rates & terms
Which welcome offer is worth more?
| United Explorer | Delta Gold | |
|---|---|---|
| The offer | 50,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, Plus 10,000 bonus miles after you add an authorized user in the first 3 months — Chase advertises the pair as "up to 60,000". The 10,000 is awarded once, for the first authorized user only, and neither half counts toward Premier status.† | 50,000 miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 6 months from account opening† |
| Worth, at our valuation | $675 | $600 |
| Spending required, per month | $1,000 for 3 mo | $333 for 6 mo |
| First-year value | $918 | $792 |
On first-year value — offer plus the credits we count, minus the year-one fee — the United Explorer is ahead. That is the right column for a single-year decision and the wrong one for deciding what to keep, which is what the net-cost section below is for.
Both offers are modest and both are easy to earn — the United requirement runs over three months, the Delta over six at a lower threshold.
Price both in dollars rather than in miles. Both currencies sit below the transferable bank currencies in our model, and the Delta mile sits lowest of the two, so the headline mile counts overstate the gap between these offers and a bank card’s.
Which card earns faster on real spending?
A multiplier is only half an earn rate. The other half is what the currency is worth, so both columns below convert each rate into cents back per dollar at our published valuations — which is the only basis on which two different currencies can be compared at all.
United Explorer
- 9×Eligible United flights — 6x from United on the primary Cardmember’s fare as a MileagePlus member, plus the card’s 3x on the whole United purchase12.15¢ back per dollar
- 3×All other eligible United purchases — seat upgrades, Economy Plus, inflight food, beverages and Wi-Fi, baggage service charges and other United fees4.05¢ back per dollar
- 2×Dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services2.7¢ back per dollar
- 2×Hotel accommodations purchased directly with the hotel2.7¢ back per dollar
Delta Gold
- 2×Delta purchases made directly with Delta2.4¢ back per dollar
- 2×Restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the US2.4¢ back per dollar
- 2×US supermarkets2.4¢ back per dollar
- 1×Everything else1.2¢ back per dollar
Both are unremarkable. United pays an elevated rate on its own purchases, dining and hotels booked direct; Delta pays an elevated rate on its own purchases, restaurants and US supermarkets.
Delta’s supermarket category is the more useful of the two for an ordinary household, but it pays in the weaker currency, which cancels most of the advantage.
Neither belongs on general spending. Put airline tickets on them and earn everything else on a transferable-points card.
Whose perks survive contact with reality?
Issuers publish a benefits total that assumes you claim every credit, in the right channel, in the right month. We discount each one for how hard it is to claim and publish the discount in each card’s full review. The totals below are what survives that discounting.
| United Explorer | Delta Gold | |
|---|---|---|
| Credits at face value | $445 | $455 |
| What we actually count | $243 | $192 |
| Benefits with no dollar value assigned | 12 | 9 |
The checked bag is the benefit on both cards and the mechanics differ in a way that decides the comparison for families: Delta covers everyone on the reservation, United covers the cardholder plus one companion.
United adds two annual lounge passes, a Global Entry credit, rideshare credits and — the one that matters — expanded award availability. Delta adds a stays credit locked to its own booking channel and a flight credit gated behind an annual spending threshold, both of which our model discounts heavily.
United’s rental-car coverage is primary; Delta’s is not comparable. For a traveler who rents, that is a real gap.
Which points are worth more when you redeem?
United miles are best spent on partner business class, which still prices off a semi-fixed chart, and through the Excursionist Perk, which adds a free one-way inside a qualifying multi-city award. United-operated awards price dynamically and often cost close to cash.
Delta miles have no award chart at all. Value appears in occasional unannounced domestic flash sales and on partner awards with a European carrier, and almost nowhere else. Delta miles never expire, which is a genuine advantage for a slow accumulator.
Both currencies are reachable by transfer from a bank program, which is usually the better way to hold them: transfer when you find the seat rather than accumulating exposure to a devaluation.
Which card actually costs less to keep?
Annual fee minus the credits a realistic person claims. It is the number that decides what stays in your wallet after the welcome offer is spent, and it is the column almost no comparison publishes — because it makes premium cards look worse than an issuer’s own benefits arithmetic does. A negative figure means the card pays you to hold it.
| United Explorer | Delta Gold | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $0 intro, then $150 | $0 intro, then $150 |
| Credits we count | −$243 | −$192 |
| Net annual cost | −$93 | −$42 |
On our discounting the United Explorer is the cheaper card to keep, which is not always the one with the smaller fee — a large fee returned in credits you cannot fail to claim beats a small fee returned in credits you can.
Fees are close and both are waived in year one. Neither card carries enough usable credit value to move its net cost far from the sticker price once channel-locked credits are discounted.
The honest test for both is the same: count the bags. Two round trips with a checked bag covers the fee; none does not.
Which is easier to get approved for?
Being declined costs a hard inquiry and returns nothing, and in almost every case the cause is an unpublished issuer rule rather than a credit score. Both sets are below in full.
The United Explorer is a Chase product and falls under 5/24, so it consumes one of the five slots governing the whole Chase portfolio.
The Delta Gold is an Amex product, subject to the once-per-lifetime bonus rule and Amex’s approval velocity of roughly one card every five days and two every 90.
United Explorer
Credit profile expected: Good to Excellent (690+)
- The welcome bonus is not available if you currently hold this card, or received a new-cardmember bonus on it in the past 24 months. This one is stated in Chase’s own offer details.
- Chase’s offer details add that cardmembers who have or have had a Chase card in the same rewards program may not be eligible for a second card in that program — in practice, one open United personal card at a time.
- Chase 5/24: applicants who have opened five or more personal credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months are generally declined. Chase does not publish this rule, so it is reported here as an observed pattern rather than a term read off the issuer’s page.
Delta Gold
Credit profile expected: Good to Excellent (690+)
- American Express applies a once-per-lifetime rule: the welcome offer is not available if you have or have previously held this card.
- American Express generally approves no more than two new credit cards in any 90-day period, and one card in any five-day period.
- Most consumers are limited to five American Express credit cards open at once, counted separately from charge cards.
- Amex shows your eligibility for a welcome offer before you apply — this card’s product page carries no public offer at all, so check the pre-application eligibility notice rather than relying on any figure you have read elsewhere.
So which should you pick?
Read both columns and stop at the first line that describes you. If lines appear on both sides, the tiebreaker is the net annual cost above — a card you keep for five years is worth more than a bonus you earn once.
Pick the United Explorer if
- You live at or near a United hub and fly them more than twice a year.
- You search award space often and would benefit from cardholder-only inventory.
- You rent cars and want primary damage coverage.
- You want the stronger of the two currencies for partner redemptions.
Pick the Delta Gold if
- You live at or near a Delta hub and fly them more than twice a year.
- You travel with a larger group — the bag benefit covers the whole reservation.
- You want miles that never expire on an inactivity clock.
- You are over Chase’s 5/24 threshold and cannot be approved for the United card.
The bottom line
Fly United, take the Explorer; fly Delta, take the Gold; fly neither reliably, take a bank card that can transfer into whichever one has the seat.
Both cards in full, with their current terms attached. The full reviews carry the per-credit discounting, the transfer partner tables and the application rules in detail: our United Explorer review and our Delta Gold review.
United℠ Explorer Card
Chase · Visa
- Welcome bonus
- 50,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, Plus 10,000 bonus miles after you add an authorized user in the first 3 months — Chase advertises the pair as "up to 60,000". The 10,000 is awarded once, for the first authorized user only, and neither half counts toward Premier status.
- Bonus value at our valuation
- $675 — 50,000 points at our 1.35¢ valuation
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Top earn rates
- 9×Eligible United flights — 6x from United on the primary Cardmember’s fare as a MileagePlus member, plus the card’s 3x on the whole United purchase
- 3×All other eligible United purchases — seat upgrades, Economy Plus, inflight food, beverages and Wi-Fi, baggage service charges and other United fees
- 2×Dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Read our full United Explorer reviewTerms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 19.74% – 28.24% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Purchase APR
- 19.74% – 28.24% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.74% – 28.24% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Chase’s pricing disclosure also notes that this account may not be eligible for balance transfers at all.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Up to 29.99%, variable. Applies if you fail to make a minimum payment by its due date or a payment to Chase is returned unpaid, and can remain in effect indefinitely.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
Rates and fees reconciled against Chase’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Chase rates & terms · Chase card page
Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
American Express · American Express
- Welcome bonus
- 50,000 miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 6 months from account opening
- Bonus value at our valuation
- $600 — 50,000 miles at our 1.2¢ valuation
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Top earn rates
- 2×Delta purchases made directly with Delta
- 2×Restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the US
- 2×US supermarkets
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Read our full Delta Gold reviewTerms Apply$0 intro, then $150 annual fee · 20.24% – 29.24% variable APRmodeled — see issuer for current rates
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $0 intro, then $150
- Purchase APR
- 20.24% – 29.24% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 29.99% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you make a late payment or a payment is returned.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
These figures model American Express’s published terms and have NOT been reconciled against American Express’s pricing-and-terms disclosure. Last edited (not verified) . Confirm current terms on the issuer’s page before you apply. American Express rates & terms
Frequently asked questions
Which airline card is better overall?
The United Explorer, on the merits — its expanded award availability has no Delta equivalent, its rental-car coverage is primary, and our model values United miles above Delta miles because United partner awards still price off a semi-fixed chart. But "better overall" rarely decides this: a co-branded card is only worth holding for an airline you actually fly, and geography settles that before features do.
Do I need an airline credit card at all?
Only for the benefits, not for the miles. A free checked bag, priority boarding and — on the United card — access to award inventory other searchers cannot see are things no transferable-points card provides. The miles themselves are worth less than any major bank currency, so the sensible structure is to earn flexible points on a bank card and hold the co-branded card purely for the benefits on the airline you fly.