Chase Ultimate Rewards is a rewards program offered by one of the largest and oldest financial institutions. They offer a valuable and flexible point system that customers can use to travel, earn cash back, or get a business card.
For more on the perks of this rewards program, check out our post below.
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Table of Contents
Chase Ultimate Rewards Quick Facts
| Credit Cards | Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Chase Sapphire Reserve Chase Freedom Flex Chase Freedom Chase Freedom Unlimited Ink Business Cash Credit Card Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card |
| Redemption Options | Cash equivalents – Statement credits – Direct deposits – Gift cards – Amazon purchases – Apple purchases Travel redemptions – Travel booked through Chase – Transfers to travel partners |
| Value (Per Point) | $0.008 – $0.015 Up to $0.03 |
Earning Ultimate Rewards Points
Another way of earning Ultimate Rewards points, besides using your Chase credit card, is by shopping through the Chase portal online and by referring friends and family to this great rewards program. Below, we will go over all the ways you can earn points.
Chase Credit Cards
 The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You'll earn: • 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards • 3X points on dining • 3X points on select streaming services and online grocery purchases • 2X points on all other travel purchases • 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases Enjoy new benefits such as a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit and when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll get 25% more value! This card carries a $95 annual fee. |
 The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You'll earn • 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. • 5X total points on air travel • 3X points on other travel and dining • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases When redeeming your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll get 50% more value. This card does carry a $550 annual fee and there are no foreign transaction fees. However, you're able to earn a $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year & up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre?®. |
 The Chase Freedom Flex offers a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn: • Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Enjoy new 5% categories each quarter! • 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more • 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service • Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases You cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open and there is no minimum to redeem for cash back. This card has no annual fee. |
 The Chase Freedom Unlimited Card offers 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 Ultimate Rewards, 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). In addition, you can earn (after your first year or $20,000 spent): • 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, • Unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases. There is no minimum to redeem for cash back & your cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open. This card comes with no annual fee and you'll get a free credit score that is updated weekly with Credit JourneySM. |
 The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card offers $750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business and you'll receive employee cards at no additional cost. This card carries no annual fee. |
 The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card offers $750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You'll 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, 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year, & 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn. This card comes with no annual fee. You'll be able to take advantage of employee cards at no additional cost. |
 The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers 100k bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. You'll earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year; 1 point per $1 on all other purchases - with no limit to the amount you can earn. Furthermore, points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. This card does come with a $95 annual fee but does not have any foreign transaction fees. |
Shopping Portal – As mentioned above, you can earn Ultimate Rewards points simply by shopping through Chase’s portal. With this rewards program, you can earn anywhere between 1x-15x points back at more than 350 merchants.
Refer A Friend – Give a boost to your Ultimate Rewards points balance by referring your friends and family to Chase credit cards. Once they’re approved, you’ll get your bonus points. The exact number you’ll receive depends on the credit card your referral gets.
Redeeming Ultimate Rewards Points
Before we discuss the redemption options, keep in mind that there are two types of Ultimate Rewards cards. The Chase Freedom and the Ink business Cash cards both earn “basic” Ultimate Rewards points, which means you cannot transfer those points to travel partners. On top of that, the points you earn from these cards can range from $0.008 to $0.01 per point.
All other Ultimate Rewards cards – Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred – earn Ultimate Rewards that have better value and are transferable to partner loyalty programs.
If you use the Ultimate Rewards Cards that we mentioned above (Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred) that can transfer to travel partners, you can potentially earn up to $0.03 per point.
All transfer ratios are 1:1 and must be in 1,000-point increments.
Ultimate Rewards Airline/Hotel 1:1 Point Transfer Partners
Book travel through the Ultimate Rewards travel center to use your points for plane tickets, hotel stays, rental cars, cruises or experiences. When you redeem this way, the value of your points vary according to which Chase card you carry.
| Credit Card | Point Value |
| Sapphire Reserve | $0.015 |
| Sapphire Preferred | $0.0125 |
| Ink Business Preferred | $0.0125 |
| Chase Freedom | $0.01 |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited | $0.01 |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | $0.01 |
| Ink Business Cash | $0.01 |
| Ink Business Unlimited | $0.01 |
There are no blackout dates. However, you won’t earn any hotel points or elite night credits if you book your stay through the Chase portal. Most flights, however, will earn redeemable and elite-qualifying miles.
Your Ultimate Rewards will almost always be worth $0.01 per point when you use them for cash back, gift cards or Apple purchases. If you don’t travel much, these are your best redemption options.
Cash back. In the form of statement credits or direct deposits. There is no minimum to redeem.
Gift cards. Keep a look out for discounted gift cards, which will give you a slightly better value than $0.01 per point.
Apple purchases. New in November 2018, this option lets you redeem your points for Apple merchandise via the Ultimate Rewards portal. For a special limited time, you’ll get $0.01 per point for this redemption.
Trading in your Ultimate Rewards to shop on Amazon will get you just $0.008 cents for every point. For a better deal, pay for your Amazon purchase with your Chase card, then redeem your earned points for statement credits to offset the expense.
Favorite Ultimate Rewards Travel Partners
Chase Ultimate Rewards can be one of the most flexible and valuable rewards programs you ever use. With the ability to transfer points to nearly 12 airline and hotel partners, you can really save some money using this program.
Here are some of our favorite Ultimate Rewards travel partners:
If you’re looking for short-haul flights internationally, this is the perfect travel partner for you.
The World of Hyatt program offers an award chart that’s very easy on your points.
If you tend to travel on this airlines often and have a Companion Pass, then transferring your Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest Rapid Rewards will prove to be valuable. For a single ticket, you’ll get about $0.015 per point, which is equivalent to Ultimate Rewards travel redemptions. But with the Companion Pass, it’ll double the point value to $0.03 each.
This popular Spanish airlines is part of the Oneworld Alliance and uses Avios, similar to British Airways Avios. Iberia charges according to total distance so you can dodge high surcharges if you plan your flight accordingly.
After the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program had its points devalued in 2019, the program hasn’t been what is used to be. However, you can still get some good deals and good use of your miles for Singapore-operated flights.
In November 2018, there was a shift to dynamic award pricing, which negatively affected the value of United Airlines MileagePlus miles. However, customers can still earn a good amount of value out of its Excursionist perk and Star Alliance partner awards.
Excursionist perk. This feature lets you book a free one-way award within select multi-city itineraries.
Star Alliance partner awards. The best thing about booking Star Alliance partner awards is that you don’t have to worry about United’s new dynamic pricing. Plus, there are no fuel surcharges.
Bottom Line
With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why the Chase Ultimate Rewards program is both versatile and can net you some good value for your points. The points are easy to earn and easy to redeem with multiple methods to do so.
Experienced frequent flyers can benefit greatly from this rewards program as long as they transfer their points to their desired travel partners. For more posts like this check out list of Chase Coupons and credit card bonuses!
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