11 Best Ways to Earn Lots of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points [2018]

BY 

Spencer Howard

- April 13, 2018September 13, 2018

1. Earn Points  / 
2. Earn Flexible Points

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The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is without a doubt one of the best points programs on the market. Chase offers many great credit card options for all kinds of spending levels. These cards often have large sign-up bonuses and category spending bonuses to make earning Ultimate Rewards even easier.

If you’re looking for ways to earn tons of Ultimate Rewards points for award travel, then you’ve come to the right place!

Earn Chase Points by Using An Ultimate Rewards Credit Card

The backbone of earning Chase points is the credit cards that earn them. Unlike airline loyalty programs, transferable programs are only accessible by those who hold specific credit cards. While this is a tiny barrier to entry, the Ultimate Rewards program gives you access to several airline and hotel loyalty programs.

This guide will help you understand all the ways to earn points; to get started quickly you may also want to check out our quick guide to earning 100,000 Chase points in 90 days!

We also need to quickly address Chase’s 5/24 rule: if you have opened 5 credit cards within the last 24 months, Chase will not approve you for any more cards that earn Ultimate Rewards. Check out our in-depth guide to learn more about the 5/24 rule.

Now, let’s get into the good stuff.

1. Chase Credit Card Sign-up Bonuses

Chase offers numerous credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards: 4 personal cards and 2 business cards.

While the number of cards might seem limited, the sign-up bonuses and other points-earning strategies plus their amazing redemption potential make these cards extremely valuable.

Below is a list of credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points.

Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)

CHASE CARD	BENEFITS & INFO
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card	50,000 bonus points That's worth $625 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide. $0 foreign transaction fees Annual Fee: $0 the first year, then $95
Chase Freedom Unlimited®	Earn $150 bonus Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase - it's automatic. 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases & balance transfers, then a variable APR of 16.74-25.49%. Annual Fee: $0

Recommended Chase Cards (Business)

CHASE CARD	BENEFITS & INFO
Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ Card	Earn 80,000 bonus points That's $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories each account anniversary year: Travel, Shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines. Annual Fee: $95
Chase Ink Business Cash℠ Card	Earn $500 bonus cash-back Earn 5% cash back in select business categories Earn 2% cash-back on the first $25,000 (combined) spent at gas stations and restaurants each year 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 14.99%-20.99% $0 Annual Fee
Chase Ink Business Unlimited℠ Card	$500 bonus cash back after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after account opening. Unlimited 1.5% cash back 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 14.99%-20.99%. $0 Annual Fee

To apply for a Chase credit card, follow the links provided above, complete the application, and begin spending. Make sure you hit the minimum spend required to earn the sign-up bonus!

Hot Tip: You can typically receive bonus points for adding authorized users to your Chase Freedom® account in the first 3 months. They may need to make a purchase before the points show up.

Chase credit card offers don’t change very often, but when they do you can sometimes earn big bonuses! So make sure to keep a lookout for updated offers.

2. 5x Almost Everywhere with Chase Freedom® Quarterly Category Bonuses

The Chase Freedom® doesn’t have an annual fee, but this card is still a powerful tool for earning Ultimate Rewards. It offers great quarterly rotating bonus categories that earn 5 points per dollar on $1,500 spend per quarter. These rotating categories often change annually, so be sure to check out the current categories offered this year.

Hot Tip: Strategize your spending to take advantage of the Chase Freedom®’s rotating bonus category earnings. Grocery stores often sell gift cards for many retailers that you may shop at. Buy their gift cards at grocery stores to earn 5x! For a fee, you can buy Visa/MasterCard/Amex gift cards that can be used anywhere, the 5x points can be worth more than the fee when buying large amount cards such as $500.

3. 5x Almost Everywhere with Chase Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card Office Supply

Like grocery stores, office supply stores also often sell gift cards for many retailers that you may shop at. Buy their gift cards with the Chase Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card to earn 5x, up to $25,000 per year.

For a fee, you can buy Visa/MasterCard/Amex gift cards that can be used anywhere. Unfortunately, most office supply stores only sell the Visa and MasterCard versions in amounts up to $200, compared to $500 found at grocery stores..

4. 5x on Internet, Cable, and Phone with Chase Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card

With the Chase Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card your internet, cable, and phone bills earn 5x points, up to $25,000 spend per year.

Set up auto-pay on all these bills and see the points roll in!

5. 2-5x on Credit Card Category Bonuses

Each Chase card offers different category spending bonuses. In addition the ones highlighted above, there are travel, restaurants/dining, and more bonuses open year-round for cards. For everything else, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns 1.5 x everywhere.

Another great option to earn bonus points is the Chase Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card. You can earn 5 points per dollar at office supply stores when you purchase Amazon or Whole Foods gift cards. Why earn 1 point per dollar at Amazon when you could earn 5?

As always, be sure to look into your card’s specific terms and conditions to ensure you are earning bonus points whenever possible. You wouldn’t want to accidentally pay for something and not get the bonus points you expect to earn!

Bottom Line:With a little bit of planning, you can earn tons of Ultimate Rewards points in a calendar year by strategically using your Chase cards.

6. Chase Refer-A-Friend Bonus Points

You have to love earning extra points simply by referring a friend or family member. When a friend or family member signs up for a new card using your referral, you can earn a nice referral bonus.

To send a referral, send a link through Chase’s Refer-A-Friend system; your friend will have to use this link to sign up or you will not get the bonus.

Some people have reported that the link has taken up to a week to send. Luckily, there’s a trick to getting the link sent to your friend or family member quickly. Simply copy the referral link provided to you and email the link on your own instead of using Chase’s online form.

Bonus points earned for a referral will depend on the card and the current referral promotion. If there isn’t a referral offer on a particular card at the time you check, you’ll receive an “entry not recognized” pop-up window when you sign in.

The bonus can be as much as 5,000 extra Ultimate Rewards points credited to your account for each person you refer (up to 10 people). This means you can earn up to 50,000 bonus points!

Bottom Line: Earn up to 50,000 bonus points for referring friends to a credit card currently participating in the Chase Refer-A-Friend program.

7. Ask for a Better Sign-Up Offer Within 90 Days

Chase often offers different sign-up bonuses throughout the year, and some offers are higher than others. While it’s best to wait for the highest offer, sometimes waiting simply isn’t an option.

If you’ve recently signed up for a card that offers a higher bonus soon after you were approved, give Chase a call or send a secure message from your online account. Many cardholders have found that Chase will match the higher offer.

This usually only works if the better offer comes out within the first 90 days after you applied. It never hurts to ask, but it would be a shame to miss out on extra points!

8. Open a Chase Business Credit Card

If you need more points and you own a business, you can open up a Chase business credit card to earn a sign-up bonus plus category bonuses on your business spending.

Chase offers 2 business cards: the Chase Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card and the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card. You might find that adding both cards to your wallet will allow you to really maximize bonus categories when making purchases for your business.

Hot Tip: Check out 10 valuable benefits of the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card.

Don’t fret if you already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card; you can still open up a business version and earn the sign-up bonus.

9. Shop Through Chase Using the Online Shopping Portal

Online shopping portals are a great way to earn even more points for each dollar spent on purchases. Thankfully, Chase’s Ultimate Rewards mall has been revamped, and it’s now even easier to earn extra points through Chase’s retail partners.

Don’t let the “Featured Stores” dissuade you: there are 254 participating stores on the Chase portal! With so many retailers, you’re bound to find a merchant that has just what you need.

The portal is very easy to use. Here’s a quick rundown on how to use the Chase shopping portal:

1. Go to Chase Ultimate Rewards
2. Sign in to your account
3. Click on “Earn Points,” then “Shop through Chase”
4. Click on “All Stores” to browse, or type your favorite store into the search box
5. When the new page loads, it should list the additional points you will earn with each purchase at a given retailer
6. Select “Shop Now”
7. Your screen should now look something like this:

   

8. Click the “Shop at [Store Name]” button to begin shopping
9. The store’s page will load. Sometimes you’ll see a message at the top, such as “Welcome to Sierra Trading Post. Your shopping will be credited to your rewards account”
10. To be certain you will receive the extra points, confirm that you are still logged into the store through the portal before you head to check out

Bottom Line: Chase’s Ultimate Rewards mall is a super easy way to earn lots of bonus points on your everyday online purchases.

Earning Points Via Travel Purchases

Travel purchases typically earn the most points overall, so here are some great ways to earn points while you travel!

10. Airfare Purchases

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns 2 points per dollar on all travel including airfare, which can be tickets purchased directly through airlines or from an online travel agent such as Expedia.

Even more lucrative is the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card, which offers 3 points per dollar on all travel and dining out purchases.

11. Other Chase Travel Purchases

Chase has 3 cards that offer extra Ultimate Rewards points on travel purchases. The Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card both earn 3 points per dollar on all travel, while the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 2 points per dollar on all travel.

Chase defines “travel” as airfare, lodging (hotels, motels, inns), car/truck/RV rentals, taxis/cabs/limos, trains (including commuter rails and subways), tolls roads/bridges, parking lots/meters/garages, timeshares, buses, and travel agencies.

Do you use Uber, Lyft, or Airbnb? When you use any of these services, you will earn 2 points per dollar with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and 3 points per dollar with the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card.

Hot Tip: Occasionally, Chase runs promotions that allow you to earn bonus points when booking through the Chase travel portal, so keep an eye out for special offers on your cards.

No Big Spend Bonuses

Unfortunately, Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points do not offer big spend bonuses. Big spend bonuses are different from sign-up bonuses, as they require you to spend a substantial amount in a relatively short amount of time.

Basically, you can rule this out as an option for earning extra Ultimate Rewards points.

Final Thoughts

The Ultimate Rewards program provides some great ways to earn tons of points. In fact, you can earn 100k points in just 90 days if you want!

Whether you’re a small business owner, an avid Amazon.com shopper, or a frequent traveler, you’ll have at least 1 Chase card that will be great for you.

Remember that you must own one of the premium Chase cards – the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card, or Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card – to transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to airline and hotel partners.

To really boost your earnings, pair these cards with the Chase Freedom® Card, Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card, or the Chase Ink Business Cash℠ Card.

With these cards in your wallet, you’ll be ready to maximize your points. The next step is finding a transfer partner so you can redeem your points for exciting rewards!