Chase Ultimate Rewards: How to earn, redeem, and maximize your points in 2024

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• Chase Ultimate Rewards points are incredibly valuable because they can be redeemed in many ways.
• The only way to collect these points is by holding a Chase credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards.
• Read Business Insider's guide to the best Chase cards or learn more about the Chase Travel℠.

Introduction to Chase Ultimate Rewards®

The Chase Ultimate Rewards® rewards program is frequently considered one of the top credit card point systems available today — and for good reason. Ultimate Rewards points, which you can earn from some of Chase's best credit cards, offer some of the most generous and diverse travel redemption options across all loyalty programs. 

But you don't have to redeem rewards for travel if you don't want to. You can cash them out, trade them for gift cards, or even pay for your Amazon cart with them at checkout. Not all these redemptions are a good idea, but it's nice to know all your options.

Let's look at all the ways to earn and redeem Chase points.

Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points

The only way to earn rewards in the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem is to open and use a Chase card that operates within this program.

Fortunately, Chase points-earning cards are some of the best travel credit cards available today. Each card offers a generous welcome bonus and ongoing rewards for everyday spending.

Credit cards that earn transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points

If you're looking to open a Chase rewards card, you may be wondering whether you should get the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a lower annual fee of $95 compared to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which has a $550 annual fee. On the other hand, the Reserve also offers higher points-earning rates and more bells and whistles, such as a $300 annual statement credit for travel purchases. 

If you're trying to decide between these two cards, our Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve card comparison offers a side-by-side evaluation with more detail.

If you're a small-business owner, on the other hand, you may want to opt for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, or another of the best Chase business credit cards.

What to know before applying for a Chase Ultimate Rewards card

Most credit card issuers have some guidelines that dictate whether or not they will approve you for their cards. Most restrictions have to do with your credit score. There's one limitation, however, that's unique to Chase.

You'll typically need good to excellent credit

Chase cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® require high credit scores in the good to excellent range. According to the FICO scoring model, an excellent credit score is anything above 800.

While you may get approved for one of these cards with a score in the high 600s and above, it's key to avoid taking on debt you can't pay off each month: Credit card rewards are never worth incurring high interest fees. 

Chase's 5/24 rule

The "5/24" rule from Chase means you won't be approved for most Chase credit cards if you've opened five or more credit cards in the last 24 months. This doesn't mean five or more credit cards from Chase; this means five or more credit cards from any issuer. Keep this limitation in mind if you're planning to open multiple rewards credit cards in the near future, and strongly consider prioritizing applications for Chase cards so you don't run into this limit.

How to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points

It helps to know your options if you're considering a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, but want to make sure you can use them effectively.

You'll have more redemption opportunities if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred Credit Card. Without at least one of these cards, you won't be able to transfer points to airline and hotel partners, and your points will only be worth 1 cent apiece toward travel booked through the Chase Travel℠.

If you do have one of the above cards, Chase lets you pool all your points in one place for optimal redemptions. So you can move points over from, say, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and get 1.25 cents per point for travel booked through Chase, or transfer your Ultimate Rewards to an airline or hotel program to book an award.

Here are the most common redemption options you can look forward to:

Book travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal (up to 1.5 cents per point)

You can also book hotels, airfare, vacation rentals, activities, and rental cars directly through the Chase Travel℠ Portal, which is similar to an online travel agency. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you get a 50% bonus when you book with points, thus giving your points 1.5 cents each in value.

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, you get a 25% bonus when you redeem points through the portal, or 1.25 cents per point.

As far as the top travel destinations you can visit with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, the sky is pretty much the limit (well, the entire globe, not the sky). You can use points to book flights and accommodations almost everywhere. But as far as value goes, Chase Travel℠ will usually get you the best value for cheap hotel stays and flights, while transferring Ultimate Rewards points to partners is generally a smarter move if you're looking to book a first-class flight or an expensive luxury hotel.

Pay Yourself Back with Chase points (up to 1.5 cents per point)

During the pandemic, Chase introduced a compelling new way to redeem points for everyday, non-travel expenses. Chase Pay Yourself Back lets you redeem Ultimate Rewards points toward purchases in eligible categories. 

However, this option has become less lucrative with Chase's recent devaluation of Pay Yourself Back. The return you'll get for your points varies depending on the card you have, with the best value coming from the Chase Sapphire Reserve card (1.25 cents per point in eligible categories, 1.5 cents per point for charitable donations) and Ink Business Preferred Card (1.25 cents per point in eligible categories).

If you don't have any travel plans in the near future, this could be another option for using your rewards to cut down on expenses — and you don't have to feel any guilt about missing out on optimal points value.

Transfer points to airline and hotel partners (2 cents per point or more)

Similar to Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards lets you transfer points to a wide range of airline and hotel partners. All Chase transfer partners let you move your points at a 1:1 ratio, which is not only valuable but also easy to understand. 

Transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards to Chase's travel partners is the best way to get the most value from your points, since there's no limit to how much your points can be worth. It all just depends on what kind of award flight or hotel stay you book — and if you book a first-class flight or luxury hotel, you could be looking at hundreds if not thousands of dollars in value.

Because most of Chase's airline partners are in an alliance, you can redeem your airline miles (after you transfer points from Chase) on any of the carrier's alliance partners.

For example, you could transfer your Chase points to United Airlines, then use your United miles to book award flights on Star Alliance partners like Air Canada, Lufthansa, or Singapore Airlines. The same goes for British Airways (Oneworld alliance, which includes American Airlines and Cathay Pacific) or Air France-KLM Flying Blue (SkyTeam alliance, which includes Delta and Korean Air).

Redeem points for experiences (point values vary)

You can also use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book special experiences, including one-of-a-kind events hosted by Chase. It's hard to say what your exact point value will be for these redemptions since Chase often sets the "price."

Past examples include VIP dining experiences, sports games with VIP seating, and Broadway-style shows. Point requirements are all over the place from as low as 10,000 points for a single-day ski resort lift ticket to 760,000 points for a VIP weekend experience at the Sundance Film Festival. These redemptions were largely put on hold due to the pandemic, but are ramping up again.

Redeem for statement credits or gift cards (1 cent per point)

No matter which Chase card you have, you can trade points for statement credits at a rate of 1 cent per point. This option can be a good one if you don't want to travel or if you want to use your points to cover a splurge purchase of some kind. All you have to do is charge the purchase to your credit card, then redeem your points at a rate of 1 cent each in order to wipe all or part of the charge away.

Gift cards are another redemption option Chase offers, and you'll normally get 1 cent per point if you go this route. Sometimes Chase even offers gift cards with a better value for specific retailers, which can be a good deal. It's not unusual to see gift cards for retailers like Apple, Panera Bread, or Old Navy for 2,250 points per $25 gift card.

Pay for merchandise (point values vary, not a good deal)

If you prefer to shop directly with your points, you can redeem them for purchases on Amazon.com, PayPal, or with Apple. You'll get 0.8 cents per point when you use points to shop on Amazon or with PayPal, and 1 cent per point when you purchase electronics through Apple.

However, this isn't a good deal. Considering you can redeem points for statement credits to cover any purchase you want at a rate of 1 cent per point, you should make the purchase on your card (and you'll earn points for the purchase). Then, you can erase the charge from your statement by cashing in points for a statement credit at a rate of 1 cent each. 

Best ways to redeem your Chase points

While the best way to use points depends on your personal goals, there are plenty of redemptions that can pay off big time. Here are some of the most valuable ways to cash in your rewards if you aim to book epic and unforgettable travel experiences for free.

Score cheap flights through Chase Travel℠

Transferring Chase points to airlines often provides the best value, but don't forget you can also save big by booking flights through Chase Travel℠. This is especially true when you find a cheap fare online because the lower the price, the fewer points you'll need to book through Chase.

Here's a good example of how this works: When I was trying to find award flights to Milan, Italy for my family of four and my parents, I almost booked using 30,000 American Airlines miles each plus airline taxes and fees each way.

I ultimately found cheap one-way flights on TAP Air Portugal for $287.80 each. Since you get a 50% bonus value (1.5 cents per point) when you book flights through the Chase portal with points from the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, I was able to book six one-way flights worth $1,726.80 in total through Chase for just 115,120 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

That's $287.80 apiece, or 19,186 points per person — a much better value than redeeming American Airlines AAdvantage miles. With the American AAdvantage program, I would have paid 180,000 American miles plus around $100 per person (or $600 for six of us) in airline taxes and fees.

Transfer points 1:1 to Southwest Airlines

If you're OK with flying economy and mostly travel in the US and to the Caribbean or Mexico, you'll definitely want to consider transferring points 1:1 to Southwest Airlines. This frequent flyer program is revenue-based, meaning lower prices mean you can score award flights for fewer points. In fact, you can frequently find one-way flights for as little as 5,000 points during one of Southwest's countless sales.

Southwest also gives each customer two free checked bags, making it a good choice for families who travel with checked luggage. Finally, the airline has a generous cancellation and rebooking policy which means you can usually reschedule your flight — even at the last minute.

Fly cheap economy to Europe with Air France-KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue (the loyalty program for Air France and KLM) is a truly underutilized Chase Ultimate Rewards partner. This partner lets you fly for cheap to and from Europe from most major cities, and often for less than you'll pay with other airline programs.

You can frequently find one-way awards to European cities like Amsterdam and Paris for less than 30,000 miles one-way with this program, making them a solid option to check out if you're dreaming of a European getaway. Best of all, awards are generally plentiful and you can usually find four or more economy awards on any given flight.

Transfer to airline partners to fly business class

Using airline miles to fly business class makes a lot of sense, and this is particularly true with airlines that have fixed award charts. Fortunately, Chase has several airline partners that make it easy to book premium cabins for a reasonable number of miles.

For example, you could transfer your Chase points to these airlines for an epic redemption:

• Use 107,000 Singapore Airlines miles to fly business class from the West Coast to Singapore with Singapore Airlines
• Use 50,000 Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Delta One from the US to Europe (outside of the UK)
• Use 87,500 Air Canada Aeroplan points to fly business class from the US to Asia (under 11,000 flown miles) on Star Alliance partners

These are just a few of the options to consider, although there are many, many ways to utilize Chase points for profitable transfers to airline partners. 

Book hotels through Chase Travel℠

While the Chase Ultimate Rewards program partners with IHG Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt, it's important to price shop awards before you transfer Chase points to these programs.

For example, you may find that a Marriott stay that costs 50,000 points will only set you back 12,000 Chase points through the portal. In that case, it makes more sense to book your hotel stay with points through Chase than it does to transfer all those extra points over to book the same room.

Here's a good example of the exact same hotel stay on the same dates with the IHG Rewards program. While you can book the Holiday Inn Montego Bay Resort for 50,000 IHG points through IHG.com, the same hotel on the exact same dates will only set you back around 18,000 points through Chase Ultimate Rewards with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Also note that the Chase portal lets you book hundreds of thousands of independent and boutique hotels and resorts, meaning you can use your points to shop around for a good deal.

Book fun excursions you don't want to pay for

Another way to use Chase Ultimate Rewards is for fun day trips and excursions you wouldn't normally want to pay for. Think of snorkeling trips in the Caribbean, a sunset booze cruise in Hawaii for your anniversary, or a cooking class in Florence, Italy. You can use Chase points to book these experiences and more, and often for less than you think.

Remember that you'll get 25% more travel for free when you use points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred to book travel through the portal, but this amount goes up to 50% more travel if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

I have used Chase points to snorkel with stingrays in Grand Cayman, swim with sharks in Bora Bora, and see some of the world's oldest ruins in destinations like Italy and Greece. I see splurging for excursions as a fun way to treat myself and my family. And they're my points to spend, so why not?

Chase Ultimate Rewards frequently asked questions

Holly Johnson

Freelance Writer

Holly Johnson is a credit card expert, award-winning writer, and mother of two who is obsessed with frugality, budgeting, and travel. In addition to serving as contributing editor for The Simple Dollar and writing for publications such as Bankrate, U.S. News and World Report Travel, and Travel Pulse, Johnson owns Club Thrifty and is the co-author of "Zero Down Your Debt: Reclaim Your Income and Build a Life You’ll Love."

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