I’ve long had one major criticism of the United MileagePlus Explorer card from Chase. My criticism is that the one-time club passes which you receive with each account anniversary are paper. While I love getting the passes each year, I hate that you have to have the paper versions. The paper passes are a pain because you have to have them with you to access a United Club.
This often creates a problem because I usually don’t carry the passes with me. The only time I would carry the passes is if I planned on using a United Club. However, it’s usually when I don’t plan on visiting a United Club that I want to the most. For example, about a year ago I had a long layover in Newark. I originally thought I’d have lounge access since I was arriving from a Lufthansa First Class Flight. Sadly, when I arrived at the lounge in Newark the lounge agent told me that I did not have access. It was an incredibly frustrating feeling being told that I couldn’t go inside the lounge knowing I had two passes sitting at home.
Because of my frustrating with the paper passes I was relieved when United announced digital passes. A few weeks ago United announced digital one-time passes for MileagePlus Explorer cardholders. Well, after a short wait and much anticipation my mobile one-time United Club passes finally arrived.
Receiving My Mobile One-Time United Club Passes
As promised by United, the one-time passes arrived via email a few weeks ago.
When I opened the email I found the following message.
The email explains why I am receiving the one-time passes (United MileagePlus Explorer cardholder) and how to add the mobile passes to my United App. A little bit below the above message was a second box which included one-time pass codes (which I’ve removed) which I can use to add the one-time pass to my United App.
Adding Mobile One-Time Passes To the United App And Using A Pass
After receiving the above email I decided to log into the United App to add the mobile one-time passes to the “United Clubs” page of the app. Sure enough when I logged in and reached the page my two passes were already loaded into the app.
Each pass lists the pass number (found in the above email) and a bar code. The pass also includes the dates for which the passes remain valid.
On each pass you can click the “more” button on the bottom right corner for more information. On the “more” page you’ll find options to “delete” the pass, or to view “Club pass details.” That final option pulls up a larger version of the bar code and information. I’m assuming to access a United Club you will be asked to view “Club pass details” in order to provide a bar code which is large enough to scan.
This presents an issue I see with the new Mobile One-Time United Club passes. I personally rarely use my passes and instead hand the paper versions to friends or family members who can use them. Going forward I’m not sure that I’ll be able to do that. I suppose that I can screenshot the pass and bar code and send those to a friend, but I have no idea if United will allow screenshots of mobile passes.
Final Thoughts
I’m so glad United finally switched to digital one-time United Club passes. I’m happy to know that going forward I will always have the passes with me. Digital passes will be so nice the next time I’m stranded at the airport. The next time I am stuck at an airport for several hours I’ll definitely be visiting a United Club and using my digital passes.
