Chase Ultimate Rewards points are perhaps the most valuable points out there. In fact, thanks to their flexibility and transfer options, we regularly give them one of the best valuations in our monthly valuations. There are plenty of great ways to earn Ultimate Rewards points, and even more fun ways to redeem them for award flights and hotel stays.
In this post, we’ll show you all of Chase’s transfer partners, how to transfer Ultimate Rewards to these partners, and much more. After reading this you’ll be ready to book an amazing getaway!
Chase Airline Transfer Partners
The Chase Ultimate Rewards program currently has 11 airline transfer partners — the latest program, Air Canada Aeroplan, was added in August 2021.
Points transfer to all these airlines at a 1:1 ratio, which is one of the reasons Ultimate Rewards points are so valuable.
| Chase Airline Transfer Partner | Min Transfer | Transfer Ratio
(Chase > Airline) | Transfer Time |
|---|
| Aer Lingus AerClub | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| British Airways Executive Club | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
| 1,000 | 1:1 | 1 hour |
| Emirates Skywards | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost instant |
| Iberia Plus | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| JetBlue | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
| 1,000 | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| United Airlines MileagePlus | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Chase Hotel Transfer Partners
Ultimate Rewards can also be transferred to 3 hotel rewards programs. Like Chase’s airline partners, all transfers to hotel partners occur at a 1:1 ratio.
Hot Tip: Use our transfer partner tool to see how many points you’ll get when you transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards to partner airlines and hotels!
Earning Ultimate Rewards
With several Chase card options available to you, there are ample opportunities to earn Ultimate Rewards points that can help you book your next trip.
Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - This is our favorite beginners travel rewards card, which is currently offering a 60,000 point bonus after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
The card earns 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3x points on dining and 2x points on all other travel purchases, plus more. Enjoy a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, and other travel benefits such as excellent travel insurance coverage, including car rental insurance and no foreign transaction fees, this card is a very rewarding card. |
Chase Sapphire Reserve® - This premium card will get you access to 1,300+ airport lounges. as well as a number of other card benefits. The current sign up bonus is 50,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You'll also get a $300 travel credit per year which wipes away a big chunk of the $550 annual fee.
Earn big with this card, earn 5X total points on air travel 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 & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. |
Chase Freedom Unlimited® - A solid, no-annual-fee card that earns you a $200 bonus after you spend $500 in your first 3 months. The newest intro offer earns 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! This means you'll enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 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 purchased through Ultimate Rewards, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases. |
Recommended Chase Cards (Business)
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card - this is our #1 recommended business card and right now comes with a 100,000 sign up bonus after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after account opening. This bonus is worth $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Pay your cell phone bill with this card to receive up to $600 in cell phone insurance coverage per year; as well as a number of other benefits.
Earn 3x on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year, plus 1x on all other purchases — with no limit to the amount you can earn. All for an annual fee of $95. |
Ink Business Cash® Credit Card - Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
This no annual fee business card earns up to 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, plus 2% cash-back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary. |
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card - Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back rewards on every purchase made for your business.
Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. There's no annual fee. |
You can also shop through the Chase shopping portal to earn extra Ultimate Rewards points when making purchases online. This is an easy way to boost your earnings on purchases you were going to make anyway.
How to Transfer Ultimate Rewards
Once you have some Ultimate Rewards points and are ready to transfer them to a partner to book your next big vacation, here are the simple steps to make the transfer process easy.
Here are the steps to make after logging into the Ultimate Rewards site.
Step 1: Select the appropriate card. If you want to transfer points, you will need to select a premium Ultimate Rewards card with an annual fee — these include the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, Chase Sapphire Preferred® card, and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. You can combine Ultimate Rewards points under your chosen card from others that don’t have annual fees.
Combine the points earned from your Chase cards together. Image Credit: ChaseStep 2: Select Transfer to Travel Partners under the Use Points drop-down menu.
Click Transfer to Travel Partners to begin a transfer. Image Credit: ChaseStep 3: Choose your desired airline or hotel partner and select Transfer Points.
The 10 Chase airline transfer partners. Image Credit: ChaseHere are the 3 Chase hotel transfer partners. Image Credit: ChaseStep 4: If you haven’t already added your frequent flyer number or hotel rewards number, you will be prompted to do so.
Save your frequent flyer number for a quicker transfer experience next time. Image Credit: ChaseStep 5: Once you have linked your airline or hotel account to your Ultimate Rewards account, choose how many points you would like to transfer. Transfers must be done in increments of 1,000.
Select how many points you’d like to transfer. Image Credit: ChaseStep 6: Confirm the number of points you are transferring and complete to transfer.
Review your details and confirm. Image Credit: ChaseStep 7: Head over to the appropriate airline or hotel program’s website to book your award flight or award stay.
Booking Travel With the Chase Travel Portal
In some cases, it can make a lot of sense to make your flight or hotel booking through the Chase travel portal. With the Chase travel portal, the points needed for specific redemption are tied to the cash cost. So, if a flight or hotel stay is relatively inexpensive, to the point where the point cost ends up being less than going through a transfer partner, then the Chase travel portal is a perfect option.
If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, each Ultimate Rewards point is worth 1.5 cents when booking through the portal. If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Ink Business Preferred card, each point is worth 1.25 cents when booking with the Chase travel portal.
Hot tip: Check out the valuable benefits of the Ink Business Preferred, there are bound to be a few that you’re not aware of!
Similar to the transfer process, you simply select Explore & Book Travel under the Use Points drop-down menu.
Check out an example of a travel portal booking below:
Image Credit: ChaseThis round-trip economy class booking is with Star Alliance airline Air Canada from Boston to Dublin (connecting in Toronto) and costs 35,717 Ultimate Rewards points.
Should You Transfer to a Partner or Book Through Chase?
Let’s think about the booking discussed above. If you were to book this same itinerary by transferring the points to Chase partner United Airlines, it would cost 60,000 points. In this case, booking through the portal would be a much better deal.
To ensure you get the most out of your points, it’s important to check both the portal and transfer options when booking economy class.
Other Ways to Use Your Points
The Chase travel portal also allows you to book hotels at the same 1.5 cents per point for cardholders of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, or 1.25 cents per point with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Ink Business Preferred card.
You can also redeem your points for gift cards to merchants like Airbnb, Lowe’s, Home Depot, or Amazon. Additionally, you can redeem your points for statement credits. Unfortunately, these options are a very poor use of points in terms of value and we do not recommend them!
Combining Ultimate Rewards From Different Accounts
Combining Ultimate Rewards from your different Chase accounts is a simple process. In the menu bar, you will see the points you have earned on your selected card. If you hover over the points available, you will see a drop-down menu of your cards and the available points from each.
Select Combine Points to consolidate your points under a single card. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, make sure to hold your Ultimate Rewards points there since they’ll be worth a minimum of 1.5 cents each.
Combining your points across cards is easy! Image Credit: ChaseHot Tip: You can also combine points with 1 other household member. This is a great way to pool points with your significant other for a great redemption.
Redeeming Ultimate Rewards
It’s clear that using your Ultimate Rewards points for travel is the best way for getting the most value out of them. With multiple transfer partners and countless ways to redeem points for travel, it can be overwhelming!
Fortunately, we’ve compiled multiple lists of the best ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards for some incredible travel experiences. See below:
Final Thoughts
The Chase Ultimate Rewards program should be a staple in your points-earning strategy. In fact, if you are just starting your miles and points journey, we recommend earning Ultimate Rewards initially. Check out our Beginners Guide to get started on the right track.
Simply put, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are easy to earn, easy to redeem, and can get you excellent value when you use them properly. Before you know it, you’ll be taking a trip of a lifetime… and then doing it again!
