Definitive Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
by Lyle Daly | Nov. 9, 2020
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Chase Ultimate Rewards points can unlock exciting travel opportunities. Before you start redeeming yours, learn how you can use them to their full effect.
Of all the credit card rewards programs on the market, Chase Ultimate Rewards ranks among the best and the most popular. It lets you redeem your points as cash through the Chase travel portal. It has a long list of airline and hotel travel partners to which you can transfer your points. And it offers several rewards credit cards with large sign-up bonuses, high rewards rates, and plenty of extra benefits for Chase cardholders.
To get the most out of this rewards program, you need to understand how it works. There are many ways to redeem Ultimate Rewards points, and you could get two or three times as much value, depending on the option you choose.
This guide will teach you all about the Ultimate Rewards program. By the end, you'll know exactly how to redeem your points to book the travel you want.
Image source: Getty Images
How does the Ultimate Rewards program work?
The Ultimate Rewards program allows you to earn points that you can then redeem toward rewards, with travel being the most popular and valuable reward option.
You'll have access to the program as long as you have at least one active Ultimate Rewards credit card. Every time you earn a sign-up bonus with an Ultimate Rewards card or use one for a purchase, you'll earn more points.
Which credit cards earn Ultimate Rewards points?
Chase currently has three credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards Points:
Companion cards
There's also a way you can use Chase cash back cards to earn more Ultimate Rewards points.
Chase cash back cards don't provide the option of transferring rewards to Chase travel partners or redeeming them at a higher rate through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal. However, if you have both a Chase cash back card and one of those Chase travel cards, then you can transfer your cash back to the travel card at a rate of 100 points per $1.
Because Chase's cash back cards offer high earning rates in areas that its travel cards don't, they work well as companion cards to help you collect more travel points. You just use the cash back card on any purchases for which it would earn you more back, and then transfer that cash back to your travel card.
There are two popular choices for Chase companion cards:
How to redeem Ultimate Rewards points
There are several ways to redeem Ultimate Rewards points. The options that offer the most value are:
- Transfers to travel partners
- Travel purchases through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal
- A statement credit towards everyday purchases with Pay Yourself Back*
- Chase Dining program redemptions*
*Through April 30, 2021
Here's a closer look at these and other redemption methods.
1. Transfers to travel partners
You can transfer your points to the loyalty program of any airline or hotel that is partnered with Chase. Transfers to most partners process instantaneously, and the transfer ratio is 1:1 with every partner. After you transfer your points, you can use them with the partner to book your airfare or hotel stay.
This redemption method offers the most potential value. There is, however, a learning curve to finding the best transfer options for the travel you want to book.
These are the current loyalty programs where you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points:
Airlines: Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM, Iberia Plus, JetBlue TrueBlue, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotels: IHG Rewards Club, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt
Pro tip: Don't forget about airline partnerships and alliances. When you have points with one airline, you can also use those points to book flights with any of that airline's partners and fellow airline alliance members.
The biggest airline alliances are SkyTeam, Star Alliance, and Oneworld, and Chase has transfer partners in all three. So even though there are 10 airlines in the Ultimate Rewards program, you could use points for flights with more than 60 airlines thanks to partner bookings. Those partners include American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, the other two major domestic carriers that aren't directly partnered with Chase. You won't find many airline credit cards that give you more flight-booking options.
2. Travel purchases through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal
With this method, you search for travel on the Ultimate Rewards travel portal and redeem your points toward the cash price of the purchase. When you redeem your points this way, their value depends on which credit card you have. Here are the current point values by card:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card: $0.0125 per point
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: $0.015 per point
An extra perk with this method is that it's usually considered a cash purchase by the airline or hotel, and that means you can earn points in their own loyalty program from the booking. If you had transferred your points to make an award booking, you wouldn't earn anything.
3. Cover everyday purchases with Pay Yourself Back
Through April 30, 2021, Chase lets you redeem Ultimate Rewards points as a statement credit towards the following types of spending within the last 90 days:
- Grocery store purchases
- Dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- Home improvement store purchases
- Donations to select charitable organizations
You get the same rate that you would when redeeming points for travel through the Ultimate Rewards site. That means $0.0125 per point with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card and $0.015 per point with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
4. Chase Dining program redemptions
The Chase Dining program lets you use your points for Sapphire Private Dining series events, takeout, outdoor seating reservations, and more.
Like Pay Yourself Back, this method is also offering more value through April 30, 2021. Points are worth just as much through Chase Dining as they are for Ultimate Rewards travel purchases until that date.
5. Other redemption methods
You can also redeem Ultimate Rewards points for cash back or gift cards. You're almost always better off avoiding these methods. You only get $0.01 per point (unless there's a special gift card offer). Since you can get more value from other redemptions, it makes sense to stick to those.
What are Ultimate Rewards points worth?
An Ultimate Rewards point is worth either $0.0125 or $0.015 per point towards travel, depending on the Chase card you have. You could also get much more by transferring points to travel partners.
If you transfer your points, there is a wide range of redemption opportunities available. Some will earn you $0.01 or less. On the other end of the spectrum, you could find redemptions worth more than $0.03 per point.
Earning $0.015 to $0.03 per point is a reasonable expectation for Ultimate Rewards points. That's a range that you can typically reach if you use your points wisely, but it won't require you to spend weeks hunting down deals or booking some ridiculous trip purely because of the awesome value you're getting per point.
Do Ultimate Rewards points expire?
Ultimate Rewards points don't expire as long as the credit card with the points is open. If the card is closed, any remaining points will be lost. That's why you should never cancel your credit card without redeeming your unused rewards points first.
You'd also lose your points if Chase decided to close your account. Although credit card companies can close an account at any time, this is a rare occurrence. The most common reasons Chase would cancel your card are if you don't make your minimum payment for at least 90 days, if you declare bankruptcy, or if you commit some sort of fraud, either with your Chase card or with its rewards program.
Can you buy Ultimate Rewards points?
No, you can't buy Ultimate Rewards points. Although Chase previously allowed cardholders to purchase points, it discontinued this feature in 2012.
Combining your points onto one credit card
It's easy to move your points from multiple Chase credit cards to just one. All you need to do is log in to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account, open the "Earn / Use" dropdown menu, and click "Combine Points." From there, just follow the prompts to combine points on to the card you want.
If you're wondering why you'd do this, there are several potential reasons:
- To use your rewards for travel: If you have a Chase cash back card, you can transfer its rewards to a Chase travel card. This turns your cash back into points you can redeem toward travel.
- To get more for your points: The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has the best rate ($0.015 per point) on Ultimate Rewards travel purchases, Pay Yourself Back statement credits, and Chase Dining redemptions. If you have that card, you should combine all your points onto it before redeeming your points through any of those methods.
To simplify redemptions: It's more time-consuming to redeem points when they're spread across multiple cards. You can redeem more points at once by combining them onto a single card.
How to use your points to book the travel you want
One of my biggest frustrations I've come across as I've researched ways to maximize Ultimate Rewards points is that there are many lists with high-value redemption options, but they never explain how I can find the award travel that I want.
Sure, it's nice to know I can book a Singapore Airlines first-class ticket or a Hyatt suite in Dubai, but if Singapore Airlines doesn't go to the destination I have in mind or I'm not planning to visit Dubai, neither of those do me much good.
That's why I'm going to explain my simple method for finding the right redemption opportunities.
1. Outline the trip
Ask yourself:
- Where do you want to go and for how long? For example, "London for seven days" or "Madrid for five days, then Barcelona for four."
- What do you want to book with your points? You can use points for your flight, your hotel, or both. It all depends on your travel preferences and the trip you're taking.
- Do you have any additional requirements? Maybe you want only nonstop flights, hotels in Category 3 and above, or seats in business class or first class. Determining this upfront will help you trim down your options later.
2. Look up airline/hotel transfer partners
I use different methods for airlines and hotels.
Airlines: First, I search for all the airlines offering flights from where I am to my destination. Since there are many airlines you can book with Ultimate Rewards points, it would take forever to plug your trip into each one of them.
Once I know which airlines fly that route, I can note which Chase transfer partners are on the list. I also note airlines that are in the same alliance as a Chase transfer partner, because I could book those with my points as well.
Hotels: While Chase has a great lineup of hotel partners, it's still only three hotels, so checking them individually won't take much time. I plug my destination into each hotel's site to see what they have available in the area.
3. Narrow it down
Once I know which transfer partners are an option, I check that they offer what I want for my flight or hotel. Specifically, I'm looking at:
- Do they offer the travel class I want, such as business class and above for international flights or hotels in the right categories?
- Do they have award availability on my travel dates?
4. Compare rates and value for award bookings
Once I have some options, I see how much each one will cost me in points and how much value I'll get per point. This is what takes the most time starting out, but you'll get through it much more quickly when you have a feel for award bookings with certain travel partners.
5. Transfer and book it
When I know what I want, I transfer my Ultimate Rewards points to the travel partner and go through the award booking process.
Always do this part last, because transfers are final.
Best ways to use Ultimate Rewards points
There are a few redemption options that tend to get you an excellent value for your points.
1. Business-class and first-class international airfare
If you're aiming for peak value, expensive international flights are where it's at. Economy international tickets aren't a bad deal, either, but business-class and first-class seats are where you can hit $0.03 per point and beyond.
2. Short-haul flights on British Airways
Even though British Airways has some ghastly surcharges on many of its award tickets, Avios (the airline's rewards currency) still have their uses. Since British Airways uses a distance-based pricing chart for award tickets, short-haul flights on both that airline and its partners can be a bargain. They start at 4,000 Avios for off-peak flights going under 650 miles or 4,500 Avios if it's a peak or partner flight.
3. Saver airfare and Excursionist flights on United
I already mentioned one of United's deals above, and the airline is great for booking award flights internationally. I recommend using the airline's low-fare calendar to look for dates with Saver availability, because you'll save a lot of points that way.
Another way to maximize points with United is through its Excursionist Perk. When you're booking an award flight on United that goes to a different region of the world, you can also book one free flight within that region. Let's say you're flying from North America to Europe. You could book:
- North America to France
- France to Italy
- Italy back to North America
Using the Excursionist perk, you'd pay for only two award flights instead of three. You can book these flights with the "Multi-city" option on the United site.
4. Hyatt hotel stays
While value isn't great on most transfers to Chase hotel partners, Hyatt is the notable exception. Its awards chart has lower prices than most of the competition, and in some cases, you could get $0.02 per point on your stay.
5. Redemptions through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal
The Ultimate Rewards travel portal offers a useful alternative to transferring your points. If award bookings are too expensive or unavailable, you can still book what you want through the travel portal. It's a good idea to get the Chase Sapphire Reserve® if you think you'll use this method often so that you can take advantage of its $0.015 per point rate on these redemptions.
Worst ways to use Ultimate Rewards points
Although there are some spectacular redemption options available in the Ultimate Rewards program, there are also those that get you very little per point. Without further ado, here's the Hall of Shame:
1. Award flights with high fees
I'm looking at you, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Those are the worst offenders, tacking on enormous surcharges on award tickets that make it so you're practically paying in points plus cash. After you take surcharges into account, you typically won't even crack $0.01 per point on your award ticket.
With both of the above airlines, you're almost always better off using their points to book flights on their partner airlines. However, British Airways does have solid short-haul flight deals, which are its saving grace.
2. Award stays with hotels other than Hyatt
IHG and Marriott are lackluster choices for award stays, as you'll usually get around $0.01 per point or possibly break $0.0125 per point.
Instead, go through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal to apply the cash value of your points toward bookings with these hotels. You'll get an equal or better value this way, and you'll earn points with the hotel on the booking.
3. Cash back and gift cards
The only time you should get cash back from Ultimate Rewards points is if it's an emergency. Otherwise, stick to using your travel card for travel rewards.
Gift cards are almost always a waste of time and points. You're typically getting $0.01 per point for a card you can use with only one retailer.
Seeing the world and paying with points
The great thing about Ultimate Rewards points is their versatility. No matter where you're going, you can use your points to book a flight and a place to stay.
It may seem complicated at first, but it doesn't take that long to get the hang of redeeming your points. And as you search for award travel through the Ultimate Rewards program and its partners, you'll better understand how to get the most value on every redemption.
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About the Author
Lyle is a writer specializing in credit cards, travel rewards programs, and banking. His work has also appeared on MSN Money, USA Today, and Yahoo! Finance.
We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.
