I’ve used many rewards programs, but none of them compare to Chase Ultimate Rewards.
The Chase Ultimate Rewards program has made it possible for my wife and me to fly to St. Martin, Aruba, Fort Lauderdale, New York City, Houston, and Charleston all free of charge.
A couple things I love about the program are:
- Variety of Options to Gain Points – There are a bunch of credit cards with sign-up bonuses that can quickly give your points balance a boost, as well options for getting points from ongoing spend.
- Partner Programs – There’s a variety of airlines and other rewards programs that you can move your Chase points to 1:1, including United Mileage Plus which we’ve taken full advantage of.
These two perks are more than enough to make me a huge fan of Chase’s rewards program, but they also offer additional benefits such as ability to convert your points to cash and the option to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, which sometimes has even better rates than if you had transferred the points 1:1 to a partner program.
This simple guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards will tell you how to earn your points, options for redeeming your points, and finally some quick tips for maximizing your points.
How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Chase currently has three credit cards available that allow you to gain Ultimate Rewards points directly.
Chase Sapphire Preferred
When people reach out to me and ask what travel rewards credit card they should get, the first question I ask is if they already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred? If they don’t, then this is the card I typically recommend.
You can get 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 on your card within the first three months. Those points are worth $750 in travel when booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal (1.25 cents per point), or you can transfer the points to Chase’s travel partners, such as United Airlines (see all the travel partners in the “How to Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points” section below.
Signup Bonus: 60,00 points after spending $4,000 within three months of account opening
Annual Fee: $95
Chase Sapphire Reserve
For the average person who travels a few times a year, but not super frequently, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card. But if you travel frequently or already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred then the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a great option.
With this card you get 50,000 points after spending $4,000 on the card within the first three months. When you book through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, your points go further as you will get 1.5 cents/point instead of 1.25 cents/point. That means your 50,000 points end up being worth $750 when you book through the portal. This card also comes with a $300 annual travel credit that can be used on any type of travel, which helps offset the $550 annual fee. One additional perk that is worth pointing out is the complimentary Priority Pass Select Membership, which gives you access to 1,000+ airport lounges.
Signup Bonus: 50,00 points after spending $4,000 within three months of account opening
Annual Fee: $550
Ink Business Preferred
If you’re a business owner, you’re in luck: the Ink Business Preferred card is a business credit card that has an amazing signup bonus of 80,000 points when you spend $5,000 within three months of account opening. When you book through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, those points are worth $1,000 in travel.
There are some business-specific perks that come with this card as well, such as 3x points on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each year, and 1x point on all other purchases. A great credit card for any business owner, and one that I highly recommend.
Signup Bonus: 80,000 points after spending $5,000 within three months of account opening
Annual Fee: $95
How to Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
There are a few different ways you can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points, some of which I’ve mentioned already. At a high level they include:
- Redeeming through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal
- Transferring 1:1 to Chase Travel Partners
- Redeeming through cash back
Redeeming through the Chase Chase Ultimate Rewards portal can be a solid option. First of all, it’s pretty straightforward what you will get. As mentioned earlier, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred you have the opportunity receive 60,000 points with their signup bonus, which equals $750 when redeemed through the Chase portal (1.25 cents per point). In a similar way, you have the opportunity to get a 50,000 point signup bonus when you sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which also equates to $750 of travel through the Chase portal (with this card you get 1.5 cents per point). There is also a variety of travel you can book through the portal, from flights to hotels and more.
Another option is to transfer your points 1:1 to Chase travel partners. This is the approach that my wife and I took with our points. We transferred 1:1 to United Airlines, mainly because we were certain we could get a better value on the flights we booked than if we kept the points in the Chase travel portal. What I like about United airlines is that they fly everywhere and offer a ton of options if you are redeeming rewards points. This contrasts to an airline like American Airlines where the options are pretty limited.
The current travel partners that you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to include the following airline reward programs:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- British Airway Avios
- Emirates Skyward
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
- United Airlines MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
These hotel programs are also partners that you can transfer points 1:1:
- World of Hyatt
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
You can also receive your Chase Ultimate Rewards points in the form of cash back. Receiving cash is hardly a bad thing, but the reality is that your points will go further if you book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, and could go even further when you transfer the points to certain travel partners.
Tips for Maximizing Chase Ultimate Rewards
Once you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points, it’s tough to go wrong with the Chase portal. But if you want to stretch your miles further, take a look at what the value of a flight or hotel is and compare it to the cost of redeeming through the portal. For some hotel rewards you may get a better deal booking through the portal instead of transferring the points to the hotel rewards program. This can be true of flights as well.
The reverse can be true as well. Let’s say you can get a $1,200 flight for 35,000 points via the airline’s rewards program. This is clearly a better deal than using the portal to purchase the flight. Taking advantage of this difference is what has allowed my wife and I to travel to so many places for free. We transferred our Chase Ultimate Rewards points to our United Airlines MileagePlus accounts, and then booked flights through that rewards program.
I didn’t mention this redemption option earlier because it’s so bad: do not redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for merchandise. Once you have some Chase Ultimate Rewards points you will get mailers or online offers to redeem your points for merchandise. The amount of points you need to trade to get the merchandise simply does not make sense.
Summary – Chase Ultimate Rewards Simple Guide
As a quick recap, here are the cards that allow you to gain Chase Ultimate Rewards points directly:
Chase Sapphire Preferred: signup bonus of 60,00 points after spending $4,000 within three months of account opening
Chase Sapphire Reserve signup bonus of 50,00 points after spending $4,000 within three months of account opening
Ink Business Preferred signup bonus of 80,000 points after spending $5,000 within three months of account opening
And the primary ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points:
- Redeeming through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal
- Transferring 1:1 to Chase Travel Partners
- Redeeming through cash back
I hope you’ve found this simple guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards useful. If you are new to the program I’m excited for you – it’s the best travel rewards program out there with a ton of perks. Click here or any of the links on this page to get started!
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