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How to Redeem Ultimate Rewards® Points from Chase
How do I redeem my Chase points? Stress no more, here's how — including how to transfer points for outsized value.
Ariana is a travel rewards expert who has been covering points, miles and free travel for over seven years. She previously served as managing editor for FlyerTalk and Frugal Travel Guy. When she's not contributing to NerdWallet, she runs her own travel hacking blog, PointChaser.com.
Mary Flory leads NerdWallet's growing team of assigning editors at large. Before joining NerdWallet's content team, she had spent more than 12 years developing content strategies, managing newsrooms and mentoring writers and editors. Her previous experience includes being an executive editor at the American Marketing Association and an editor at news and feature syndicate Content That Works.
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You’ve banked the big welcome bonus and now you’re ready to get maximum value from your Ultimate Rewards® balance. If this is your first foray into the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program, you may wonder, “How do I even redeem points?”
We’ve got you covered with a step-by-step tutorial on how to redeem Ultimate Rewards® points from Chase.
Steps to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards® for travel
It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to master redeeming Chase points. Shopping for a wise redemption may be the most time consuming part of the process!
Here's what to do:
Log in to your Chase account.
On the right sidebar, look for the Ultimate Rewards® box and click “Redeem rewards."
If you have multiple Chase cards, you’ll be prompted to choose which card's points you'd like to redeem.
Once you're redirected to your Ultimate Rewards® dashboard, you can choose how you want to redeem your points.
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Other ways to redeem Ultimate Rewards® points
Gift cards and miscellaneous purchases
In addition to travel redemptions, Chase allows you to use Ultimate Rewards® points for gift cards, purchases at Amazon and Apple, cash-back credits, experiences (e.g., concerts and events) and gift cards.
All of these other options allow you to redeem points for around 1 cent each, except for Amazon, which offers around 0.8 cent per point. That’s not as good of a deal as using points for travel bookings or transferring them to partner airlines and hotels. This is especially true for gift cards, which you can often buy at substantial discounts through retails. In general, we wouldn’t advise redeeming your Ultimate Rewards® for gift cards when they can be so much more valuable for travel.
If you find yourself wanting to redeem your points for cash-back rewards or purchases with Amazon or Apple, you may want to consider switching to a 2% cash-back card like the Citi Double Cash® Card. This card earns 2% on all purchases, 1% when you buy something and 1% when you pay it off. If you like to redeem points this way, you’ll get a better value with this card than you would with a similar Ultimate Rewards® redemption.
Transfers to airline or hotel partners
If you want to maximize the value of your Chase Ultimate Rewards®, redeem them via a transfer to a specific airline or hotel partner. This maximized value can be particularly realized when redeeming points for high-end hotel stays or business and first class award flights. Because of this out-sized value, many deem transfers as the best way to redeem Chase points.
Chase has more than a dozen travel partners to choose from. If this is how you want to redeem your points, here’s how to transfer Ultimate Rewards® to airline and hotel partners:
Click on “Transfer to travel partners” in Chase's travel portal dashboard.
Scroll down to your desired airline or hotel rewards program. Click “Transfer points.”
If this is your first time transferring points to a specific program, you’ll be prompted to enter the recipient’s name and their airline or hotel rewards membership number (“Member ID”). Keep in mind that you can only transfer points to rewards programs belonging to you or a household member who is an authorized user on your account.
Next, you’ll be prompted to enter the number of points you want to transfer, in 1,000-point increments. Most transfers are instant, though some take up to seven days. Keep this in mind if you’re in a time crunch to top off your rewards account for a specific redemption.
You’ll see one last confirmation page before the transaction is complete. Once points have been transferred, this cannot be undone. So only transfer Ultimate Rewards® points when you’re 100% sure of your intent to use them with that partner.
Pro tip: Cross reference prices on Chase before transferring
Depending on which Chase card you have, you may be eligible for Chase's Points Boost program, which offers a higher redemption value on select airline and hotel reservations. While not all purchases will qualify for Points Boost, it's still worth checking the travel portal before transferring points to a loyalty program.
Here’s how you can use your Ultimate Rewards® points for bookings in the travel portal:
On your Ultimate Rewards® dashboard, click on “Travel.
You’ll be taken to a page that looks like any other online travel website. Here, you can search for flights, hotels, car rentals, activities, vacation rentals and cruises. Simply click on the option you want and search for your preferred dates
In the search results, you’ll see the cost of your booking using either points or cash. This is great for comparison purposes. If you think the cash price is low enough, you can just book it directly with your Chase credit card and save the points (an added bonus: You'll earn Chase points on the purchase).
The great thing about booking travel through Chase's portal is that your bookings are eligible to earn additional points through the respective airline programs. Just be sure to enter your rewards number during the booking process.
Many travel hackers have at least one credit card from Chase. Redeem points for travel, gift cards or other miscellaneous online shopping, or opt to transfer your points to an airline or hotel partner to maximize value. These redemptions can be made quickly from your Chase account.
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