Have I told you how much I love Chase Ultimate Rewards? Well, if I haven’t, let me tell you. I love them soooooo soooo much! Sometimes almost more than dollars 😆. I kid, but I do really love them! But before I get into why I love them, let’s talk about what they are and how you can get them.

Chase has many cards that issue Ultimate Rewards. Ultimate Rewards can be transferred directly to Chase’s airline and hotel partners and used within Chase Travel℠. When used in the portal, each point is worth 1.25 cents. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, that rate goes up to 1.5 cents per point.

Chase Ultimate Rewards can also be cashed out. We don’t recommend this because you get so much more value by using one of the first two options. For example, if you cash out the welcome offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you will get $600 back. If you use it in the travel portal, your points are worth $750. Oftentimes the value will well exceed $750 when you use transfer partners.

Here is a list of all the Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards. The first four cards are personal cards, while the last three are business cards. It’s just to give you an overview, compare cards, and be there for you to reference if needed. Scroll down if you just want to get to the 7 reasons.

 

 

Why I love Chase Ultimate Reward Cards

 

#1 Transfer Partners

My favorite way to use Chase Ultimate Rewards is to transfer them to their partners. To transfer, you must have either the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. I love being able to top off accounts, like my United Mileage Plus account, when I am short on points.

When I went to Greece, I transferred Ultimate Rewards to my United account so that I could have enough points to book a business-class flight. Points transfer to all of their partners at a ratio of 1:1. Make sure your hotel or flight is available before transferring your points. Once you transfer your points, you cannot move them back into your Chase Ultimate Rewards account. Here are the Chase travel partners:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Canada/Aeroplan
• British Airways
• Emirates
• Flying Blue (KLM/Air France)
• Hyatt
• Iberia
• IHG
• JetBlue
• Marriott
• Ritz-Carlton
• Singapore Airlines
• Southwest
• United
• Virgin Atlantic

 

Their partnership with Hyatt is my very favorite. I can get a nice stay at a  Hyatt in Hawaii for 30,000 points a night. If I want to stay at a comparable Marriott hotel, I am looking at anywhere from 60,000-95,000 points a night. This is why I always transfer with Hyatt. My points go way further!

Some of those airlines might seem a little random, but many of them are partners to ones we hear of more in the United States. For example, you could transfer your points to AirFrance or Virgin Atlantics and fly on a Delta plane, all for fewer points than what Delta is charging. Plus, these points don’t transfer to Delta so this is a nice little workaround when it works out. 

 

#2 Chase Travel℠

Sometimes there might be a hotel you want to book that isn’t a Chase transfer partner. In those situations, I like to book through the Chase Travel. When we are spending more than a couple of days somewhere with kids, it can be nice to have a room that has a separate living area and bedroom. That can be difficult to find when using points from your hotel credit card. It’s easier to find in the portal.

We booked a 2-bedroom with a kitchen at the Grand Pacific Palisades in Carlsbad, California, using the portal when we went to Legoland. It was perfect for our family and made for a much more enjoyable vacation. The portal can also be a great option when cash rates are low. For example, we’ve seen some really low rates for flights to Europe and booking these in the travel portal can be cheaper than using transfer partners. 

 

#3 Pooling Points

Another HUGE reason I love Chase Ultimate Rewards is that Chase allows you to pool your points together with another member of your household! Many reward programs don’t allow this, or if they do, they charge you or put a limit on the number of points you can transfer in a year.

 

#4 Maximizing Category Bonuses

Ultimate Rewards cards all earn at different rates depending on where you are spending your money. I carry a few of these cards around at all times and use different ones depending on where I am spending. Placing my grocery pickup order? Sapphire Preferred. Getting Gas or paying my internet bill? Ink Business Cash® Credit Card. Anything that doesn’t fall into one of the categories? Chase Freedom Unlimited®.

I always make sure to see what the 5x categories are each quarter on the Chase Freedom Flex® Card and make sure to activate those. Sometimes that 5x category is warehouses or Amazon! By holding a few of these cards and maximizing the category bonus, you can really rack up points quicker. It sounds like a lot to remember, but before you know it, you’ll have it all down!

 

#5 Combining Points Across Cards

Chase allows you to combine the points you earn from your spending across your cards. If I earn points with my Freedom Unlimited card, I can combine them with the points I earned on my Sapphire Preferred. The Sapphire Preferred, Reserve, and Ink Business Preferred are the only cards that allow you to transfer your points to airline and hotel partners and are worth more than 1 cent in the portal. By transferring your points earned into one of the premium cards, you now have given yourself many more options for using those points towards travel.

 

#6 Chase Referral Program

If you refer your family and friends to sign up for the same Chase Ultimate Rewards Card, you will earn bonus points! You will earn 20,000 points when you refer someone to an Chase Ink Business Card and 10,000 points when you refer someone to the Sapphire Preferred Card. The Freedom cards also offer a referral bonus of 5,000 points.

 

#7 Benefits that Come with the Cards

Last but definitely not least are the great benefits, like travel insurance,  that come with some of the cards. I love the primary car rental coverage that comes with the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve. Likewise, I really love the lost/damaged baggage policy as I scored $300 by taking advantage of that when my stroller was damaged on a flight.

 

Bottom Line

Chase Ultimate Rewards win in my book for the best transferable points currency out there. When I am not working on meeting the minimum spend on a new card, I am using some of these cards to earn all the Ultimate Rewards I can! If you do nothing else in the world of free travel with points, at least get yourself a couple of Ultimate Rewards earning cards.

Want to know more about these points? Get our FREE Ultimate Guide to Ultimate Rewards.