Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards points

Written by
Geoff Williams
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Chase Ultimate Rewards points— What are they? How do you earn them? How valuable are they?

In short, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are something you earn by using certain Chase credit cards, which can then be redeemed for things like gift cards, cash back or travel.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are considered one of the most valuable loyalty currencies in the credit card industry thanks to their flexible redemption options. In addition to gift card and cash back redemption, points can be transferred to a number of travel partners, or redeemed for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal, usually at an increased value. For example, points earned with the CardName are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, meaning 60,000 points are actually worth $750 in travel.

We’ll cover more card details shortly, as well as provide answers to the questions above, but for now, let’s start by looking at a few pros and cons of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program.

Here are some reasons to love Chase Ultimate Rewards:

  • With certain cards, points are worth more when redeemed for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
  • There are a number of travel partners (11 airline and three hotel programs, to be exact), so there’s a good chance you can use your points to go almost anywhere you want.
  • Points don’t expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.

However, no loyalty program is perfect. Here are a couple of reasons Chase Ultimate Rewards points may not be a good fit for you:

  • There’s potential to get confused if you are planning travel hastily.
  • Annual fees, if your card has one, are never fun to pay. But the idea, of course, is that you only get a credit card with an annual fee if you believe that you’ll collect enough perks and discounts to pay for that annual fee.

Which credit cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points?

Among the cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you’ll find there are a variety of ways to earn your points and, perhaps more importantly, a variety of ways to redeem those rewards in order to maximize their value; in fact, because Chase allows you to combine all of your rewards into the account of whichever card makes rewards the most valuable, if you hold several credit cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, all of your rewards have the potential to be worth more. We cover how to maximize your Chase Ultimate Rewards points later in this article, but for now, let’s start with some of the top features of the Chase credit cards that will be part of that strategy.

BONUS TIP!

You’ll notice that some of the cards below earn “cash back” instead of “points,” but don’t be so quick to rule them out if it’s Chase Ultimate Rewards points you’re after. Your cash back for the cards below does accumulate as Ultimate Rewards points and points are transferable among any of these cards. Remember, you can transfer your rewards to the account that makes your rewards worth the most whether they’re called “points” or “cash back.” We’ll go more into card use strategy below.

Chase Ultimate Rewards consumer credit cards

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  • New cardholders earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) – worth up to $300 cash back!
  • Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on Chase travel; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining; and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
  • Enjoy a 15 month 0% intro APR period on purchases and balance transfers, then RegAPR.
  • Free credit score, updated weekly with Credit Journey.
  • AnnualFees annual fee
  • Read our full CardName.

CardName

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  • New cardholders earn $200 cash back once spending $500 in the first three months from opening an account.
  • Earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
  • Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in categories that rotate quarterly (activation is required each quarter).
  • Earn 3% cash back at restaurants, including takeout and delivery.
  • Earn 3% cash back on drugstore purchases.
  • Earn 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases.
  • Enjoy a 15 month 0% intro APR period on new purchases and balance transfers, then RegAPR.
  • AnnualFees annual fee
  • Read our full CardName. Information related to Chase Freedom FlexSM has been collected independently by CardRatings and was neither reviewed nor provided by the card issuer

CardName

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  • Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards or transfer your points to one of multiple airline or hotel loyalty partners (see below) for possibly even more value.
  • Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That’s $750 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Earn 5X total points on all travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal; 3X points on dining, including eligible delivery services and takeout; 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs); 3X points on select streaming services; 2X points on travel purchases; and 1X point on all other purchases.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Earn a $50 annual credit on hotel stays purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Enjoy a 10% anniversary bonus each account anniversary, equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year. That means $25,000 in spend will earn an additional 2,500 bonus points.
  • AnnualFees annual fee
  • Read our full CardName.

CardName

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  • Points are worth 50% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That’s $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Earn $300 annual travel credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
  • Earn 5X total points on flights and 10X total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3X points on other travel and dining and 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass Select.
  • Up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
  • Enjoy a complimentary Lyft Pink membership, a $199 minimum value.
  • AnnualFees annual fee
  • Read our full CardName.

Chase Ultimate Rewards business credit cards

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  • Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That’s $1,250 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Earn three points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary. Earn one point on all other purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Employee cards at no additional cost.
  • AnnualFees annual fee
  • Read our full CardName.

CardName

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  • Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
  • Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.
  • Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year.
  • Earn unlimited 1% cash back on everything else.
  • Employee cards at no additional cost.
  • Enjoy 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases, then RegAPR.
  • AnnualFees annual fee
  • Read our full CardName.

CardName

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  • Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business.
  • Employee cards at no additional cost.
  • Take advantage of a 0% introductory APR for 12 months on your purchases, then RegAPR.
  • AnnualFees annual fee
  • Read our full CardName.

What are Chase Ultimate Rewards points worth?

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are, at a baseline, worth about 1 to 1.5 cents each, and you can redeem for, well, a lot of things, such as cash back, gift cards, Amazon purchases, Apple purchases through the Apple Ultimate Rewards store, and more. Cash back is one option through which you’ll redeem at a flat rate of one cent per point; however, where your points will be worth the most is towards travel. There are two main ways to go about redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points for travel:

  1. Transfer to travel partners. Points can be transferred in 1,000-point increments at a 1:1 ratio to numerous Chase Ultimate Rewards travel partners. Overall this is where the real value is with these points. If an airline’s reward flights, for instance, require significantly fewer points than the cash value of the flight, your points will go far further than $.01 per point. The same is true with hotel loyalty rewards.
  2. Redemption though the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. This portal allows you to use points to pay for things like plane tickets, hotel stays, car rentals, experiences and more. What’s great about this option is that some Chase credit cards offer extra value on your points when redeemed this way: points can be worth either 25% or 50% more, depending on the card. And the big thing when it comes to value with these points is that you can make your points worth more just by combining them under a particular Chase card. More on that below.

FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT: Traveling with a family gets expensive, but that’s where credit card rewards, specifically my Ultimate Rewards points, come in.

Thanks to credit card rewards, my family of four has traveled to several countries and countless domestic locations in the past few years. Ultimate Rewards points play the biggest role in our travel rewards strategy.

Our best redemption to-date involved transferring our Ultimate Rewards points to my World of Hyatt account where we redeemed those points for eight nights at an all-inclusive property in the Dominican Republic. In that case, we paid nothing but 249,000 Ultimate Rewards points for our accommodations, room and board with a cash price of over $5,000. That means we got a value of more than two cents per point.

Brooklyn Lowery,
Editorial Director, CardRatings

Who are Chase Ultimate Rewards travel partners?

The Chase Ultimate Rewards airline partners are, in alphabetical order:

  • Aer Lingus AerClub
  • Aeroplan
  • 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

Chase hotel partner programs include those with the following properties:

  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy
  • World of Hyatt

There are a few things you’ll want to remember about using a Chase partner, however. First of all, if you’re transferring your points to a partner, you are still in the Chase galaxy, but you are no longer on planet Chase. In other words, you’re subject to the rules, fees and price charts of its partners— and not those of Chase. So you want to make sure you check any differences related to partners, such as blackout dates for the airlines. And when you transfer points to a partner, it’s non-reversible, so it’s important to make sure you are clear on the terms before making a transfer.

Sounds a little intimidating, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t transfer points. Plenty of people do, and what’s nice about using points for airline miles in particular is that many of Chase’s airline partners participate in airline alliances. So you can use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to fly on more airlines than you might think. For instance, British Airways, a Chase partner, is part of Oneworld Alliance, and Singapore Airlines, another Chase partner, is part of Star Alliance.

Why is that important?

Because maybe you don’t have a big need to fly on British Airways, but American Airlines is a Oneworld Alliance Airline, and maybe that’s exactly what you need for your next trip. Meanwhile, EgyptAir is part of Star Alliance Airlines, and so you can start to see how these alliances can allow you to use your points to pretty much take you anywhere in the world if you play your cards (er, points) right. If you do wind up using your points to help you reduce your costs for flying on EgyptAir, be familiar with that airline’s rules on blackout dates or any hidden fees, so you gain maximum advantage from your points.

How to maximize Chase Ultimate Rewards points

Thanks to the ability to combine Ultimate Rewards points earned through the use of several different cards under a single card, savvy cardholders can make the rewards they earn with a no-annual-fee card go as far as the ones they earn with a card that charges an annual fee… and maximize how they earn those rewards as well.

To truly earn the most rewards and then get the most value out of them, you’ll want to carry (and regularly use) two or even three Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points. Let’s say you have CardName and you earn 5% back on the first $1,500 you spend in the rotating categories each quarter you activate. Instead of earning just 1% back on your other purchases outside of bonus categories, why not carry CardName, another no-annual-fee card, so that you can earn 1.5% cash back on those purchases. Better still, if you carry the CardName, you’ll earn two points per $1 on all travel purchases AND you can combine all your points earned with your CardName and your CardName in the CardName bucket so all those points are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal.

Taking things one step further, if you can justify the annual fee of the CardName, you could add it to mix and make your points worth a whopping 50% more. That means if you have 50,000 points to redeem towards travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, you’re looking at a value of $750!

Can you combine Ultimate Rewards points with another cardholder?

Yes, Chase allows cardholders to combine points with one other cardholder as long as both cardholders are members of the same household. In other words, it doesn’t have to be your spouse or a family member, but you do have to live together. Under those conditions a room mate would certainly qualify.

To combine points, you’ll need the card number of the person you want to combine points with. You used to be able to add the other account via your Chase app or account, but lately it seems you’ll need to contact Chase customer service to get it. It isn’t a long phone call and shouldn’t be a surprise activity for the customer service rep you speak with, as this is a fairly straightforward and common request.

Keep in mind that Chase does not take it well if you try and manipulate the system and can claw back points, cancel cards and even blacklist you from future cards if they think you’ve broken the rules. It’s not a risk worth taking, so stick with combining points with one qualified household member.

Do Chase Ultimate Rewards points expire?

No, Chase Ultimate Rewards points do not expire, but that doesn’t mean you can lose them.

It is possible to lose Chase Ultimate Rewards points if:

  1. You close the credit card account with points still left in it.
  2. You return items that you’ve bought with your card. In other words, you bought something with your Chase credit card. You got 11 points. You returned the item. Alas, Chase will be taking back those 11 points.
  3. You made a late payment. If you’ve been collecting points for a long time, don’t worry— all your hard work isn’t for naught. But you’ll lose the points that you collected during the month that the payment was due.
  4. If you transfer your points to a Chase partner, there could be a case in which those points expire since they are no longer Ultimate Rewards points then, but are the rewards/points for whatever program you transferred them to. In that case, your rewards’ expiration status will be subject to the rules of that other program.

Otherwise, you’re safe.

author
Geoff Williams
CardRatings Contributor

Geoff is a freelance journalist and has been since the 1990s. He specializes in personal finance and small business issues and has seen his work published with numerous news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney.com, Reuters, The Washington Post and Consumer Reports. He also...Read more

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