Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) Guide: New Wyndham Partner

Chase has added Wyndham as a transfer partner, but the ratio is only 1:1. In most cases, it’s not worth transferring points. Wyndham points are generally worth about 0.7–0.9 cents per point. That said, Wyndham uses fixed award levels of 7,500/15,000/30,000 points, regardless of the current cash price of the hotel, so in some special situations you may be able to get very high value. If you happen to be staying at a Wyndham hotel, check how many points are needed and then decide whether to transfer.

• Wyndham hotel program overview

Introduction to Ultimate Rewards

Ultimate Rewards (UR) is the points system for certain Chase credit cards. You can earn UR through spending and other activities. UR is also fairly flexible to use: you can redeem it directly for cash, use it for travel purchases, or transfer it to airline miles and hotel points to potentially get even more value. This article explains some basic things about UR and how to get the most value from it.

• Point value: The average value is 1.6c/p, so 100 UR = $1.6 (Point Values and Analysis)
• Direct redemption: Cash redemptions are worth 1c; travel redemptions are worth 1c (without a premium card). Premium hotel redemptions or business/first class flights can yield 1.75c (with Ink Preferred or Sapphire Preferred), and 2c with the Sapphire Reserve.
• Point transfers: Transfer 1:1 to United miles (good for China–US economy, domestic US economy, and one-way tickets); transfer 1:1 to British Airways miles (good for China–Japan and short-distance domestic US redemptions); transfer 1:1 to Hyatt points (great for Hyatt hotel stays, with value up to 1.8 cents per point).
• Point features: Ultimate Rewards points can be freely moved among your own cards. They can also be transferred to one designated spouse or partner. To transfer points to airline miles or hotel points, you need support from Ink Preferred, Sapphire Preferred, or Sapphire Reserve. You can also transfer to the mileage or points account of an authorized user.
• My take: UR’s main airline transfer partners are United Airlines, British Airways, Aeroplan, and Air France. UA can book most Star Alliance award tickets, while BA covers some domestic US AA flights. On the hotel side, Hyatt is the best option and can often deliver about 1.6c in value per point, but Hyatt has a relatively small footprint in the US, so your choices may be limited. If you have the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, booking flights, hotels, and activities through Chase Travel can get you 1.25c/1.5c in value, which is one of the best high-value options for beginners. Cash/gift card redemptions are worth 1 cent.
• Detailed analysis: Ultimate Rewards Guide >>

How to Earn Ultimate Rewards

Credit card earnings

Personal credit cards

Business card lineup:

Opening new cards is definitely the fastest way to earn a large amount of UR. For everyday spending, earning UR through the quarterly 5x categories on the Chase Freedom Flex is probably the fastest method and best suited for people with a lot of regular spending. If you spend a lot on travel, then Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred may be the better choice. If you spend a lot on office supplies or business expenses, choosing the two business credit cards is also a very good option. You can check our summary for how to combine them:

• Introduction to the Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) family

In addition, because Chase has introduced the extremely annoying 5/24 rule, as well as the absurd policy that you cannot hold the same type of UR card at the same time (Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve cannot be held at the same time), and because all six cards above are absolute must-haves, we recommend that you get Chase’s UR cards while you are still under 5/24. Don’t open cards randomly and then shut yourself out from Chase’s most valuable cards.

One last point: UR points are kept separately on each card, and as long as you keep the card open, the UR on that card will not expire. So if you plan to close a card, be sure to transfer all your UR points to another card that is still open first. No-annual-fee cards can also keep UR points, so holding at least one is enough.

Shop Through Chase

Shop Through Chase is Chase’s online shopping portal, and it’s not that different from most cashback websites. The difference is that Shop Through Chase gives UR points. The earning rates vary across the cards above, so if you have multiple Chase UR cards, you can compare which one is better to use on cashbackmonitor. For example, the Shop Through Chase rate for Staples differs by card, and Ink is twice as good as Sapphire and Freedom. In addition, this extra points earning can stack with Freedom’s quarterly 5% categories and Ink’s 5% office supply category.

Shop Through Chase is simple and straightforward, and there is no cap on the earnings. In general, after you shop through Shop Through Chase, you’ll receive a Chase email about 1–2 weeks later to let you know the points have posted. One thing to note is that you should try to check out with the corresponding card whenever possible. For example, if you entered Shop Through Chase from Sapphire, it’s best to pay with Sapphire.

Of course, based on my previous experience, you can still earn the points even if you don’t use the corresponding Chase card. The only downside is that if the points don’t track, you won’t be able to ask customer service to investigate and make up the difference.

Transferring points between accounts

Ultimate Rewards can be transferred between your own Chase credit cards’ Ultimate Rewards accounts, and you can also add another cardholder’s Chase credit card, including a spouse’s. So in theory, a household only needs to keep one annual-fee card and a few no-annual-fee cards.

Direct uses for Ultimate Rewards

Let’s first take a look at what Chase Ultimate Rewards can be used for, using the Chase Sapphire Preferred Ultimate Rewards interface as an example.

The main ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards include travel, gift cards, cash back, transfer partners, and direct use on Amazon. We’ll cover the simple options here first, and then discuss transfer partners below.

Chase Travel Portal

This is, in my opinion, the best and most practical way to use Chase Ultimate Rewards. In the Chase Travel Portal, you can use Ultimate Rewards points to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and all kinds of activities (including airport transfers, nearby day trips, private premium guides, transit passes, and much more). Different Chase Ultimate Rewards cards have different values in the Chase Travel Portal:

• Chase Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, and Ink Cash: 1:1;
• Sapphire Preferred: 1:1.25;
• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 1:1.5;
• Generally, the higher the annual fee, the higher the value of the points.

Chase previously announced that the search engine used by the Chase Travel Portal going forward—meaning for booking hotels, flights, and other travel with Ultimate Rewards points—would be upgraded to Expedia’s search engine. If you’ve ever booked a hotel or flight through a third-party travel site, you’ve probably heard of Expedia. It’s an excellent online travel agency (OTA) with a large and broad inventory of quality hotels and flights, and it’s much better than the simplified version Chase used before. A few months ago, Chase Travel Portal on Freedom cards started using Expedia’s search engine, but the value of Freedom Ultimate Rewards points was significantly reduced to only 1 point = 1 cent. More recently, Chase has rolled the Expedia search engine out to all Ultimate Rewards cards, which is a big improvement. However, in my recent use I found that there are still quite a few bugs. Many smaller hotels show as sold out on the Chase Travel Portal, so it looks like the system is not fully tuned yet. For now, we can keep looking forward to the fully upgraded version, which should bring more options.

If you usually book economy class, you can check ticket prices. For cheaper tickets, redeeming through Ultimate Rewards via the Chase Travel Portal is more worthwhile. If you hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the redemption rate is 1 point = 1.25 cents; if you hold the premium Chase Sapphire Reserve, the redemption rate goes up to 1 point = 1.5 cents. Let’s take the example in the image of a round-trip from San Francisco to Beijing in March of a certain year.

The round-trip fare is only $488. When searching with Chase Ultimate Rewards (with the Chase Sapphire Preferred), it only requires 39,000 Chase points, which is far better value than using 70,000 United miles. So when airfare is relatively cheap, using Chase points for direct redemption is definitely several steps ahead of other mileage redemptions.

Next, hotel bookings. My personal rule is to first look at chain hotel point redemptions, such as IHG, Marriott, Hyatt, and so on. In most cases, using hotel points is more cost-effective. But many places don’t have these hotel groups, or they’re not close to where you spend your time, so using Chase UR to book hotels is a good option. However, because Chase UR hotel bookings are made through third-party travel agency websites, staying at chain hotels usually does not come with elite benefits.

Let’s take Beijing in December 2017 as an example and look at the list of hotels that can be booked with Chase UR.

A total of 294 hotels were found, which is pretty impressive!! The first one, the Four Seasons, only needs 19,000 Chase UR, so it’s nowhere near as out of reach as you might think. At the same time, there are also plenty of promotions for Chase UR hotel bookings; for example, The Opposite House in the image is discounted quite a bit. Of course, hotels are different from flights: prices are real and straightforward, so you can compare across booking.com, hotel.com, and other commonly used sites to get the best deal.

As for car rentals, I’ve compared Chase UR, Costco, Hertz.com, Avis.com, and other sites, and the conclusion is that Chase UR car rentals are the most cost-effective. The downside is that you can’t do one-way drop-offs. But there’s also an advantage: if you use Chase UR points to rent a car and pay with the Chase Sapphire Preferred itself, the card’s own Primary Insurance coverage remains valid. That means you can save on insurance too, so why not?

As for activities, this option deserves more attention from many people. This year, after looking back at this feature since last year, it felt like discovering a whole new world. Many expenses that used to be unavoidable during travel can be paid with Chase, and I also found a lot of upscale activities. I used to feel bad about the money and stay away, but now that they’re sitting in Chase UR, it feels almost free. Enough talk—let’s show a few screenshots and see what’s included.

Let’s start with Beijing. There are airport private transfers, private small-group tours, and all kinds of shows, including Peking opera performances, Night Tour options, and more—over 700 activities in total, enough to keep you browsing for a whole day. Outside Beijing, Paris has inexpensive Seine river cruises and guided Notre Dame tours, and they cost only a little over 1,000 Chase UR. That’s really cheap. There are also dinner near the Eiffel Tower + a night cruise on the Seine, luxury tours of the Champagne region, transfers from Paris to Brussels, and more, meeting a wide range of needs. Whether you’re being practical or just showing off, they’re absolutely useful.

Other

• Redeem for cash: For people who don’t travel often, cash is the most cost-effective and convenient option. You can redeem UR points directly to a Chase credit card as a credit, or directly into your Chase checking or savings account. You can also redeem them into accounts at other banks; to do that, just fill in the account number and routing number in the form below.
• Redeem for gift cards: The rate is 1:1 (1 point = 1 cent in gift cards). Chase UR can be redeemed for quite a few gift cards, including common ones like Amazon, Target, Lowe’s, and Home Depot, as well as gift cards for Chase UR transfer partners such as Ritz-Carlton. Although the selection is fairly broad, the 1:1 rate means that, given how many sites sell discounted gift cards, redeeming for gift cards is basically wasting Chase UR. So I personally do not recommend using Chase UR for gift cards. That said, at certain times there may be a 10% discount on redemptions, which can be worth considering.
• Using it on Amazon: A redemption value of 0.8 c/p is completely not recommended; it’s better to cash out first and then just use your card to make the purchase.

Ultimate Rewards transfer partners

Transfer requirements

If you want to make good use of UR, you need to understand the flexible transfer system. First, to transfer UR points 1:1 to airline miles or hotel points, you need the following credit cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred (annual fee $95, first year waived)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve (annual fee $550)
• Chase Ink Preferred (annual fee $95)

Although the cards above all have annual fees, being able to increase the value of UR from its base 1 c/p (100 points = $1) to 1.6 c is still very worthwhile. Of course, in theory, you only need to hold these cards when you need to transfer points, and you can temporarily upgrade from a no-annual-fee card.

Airline partners

If you’re based in North America, Chase’s powerful airline transfer partners are also very strong. The table below includes Chase UR’s airline transfer partners, among which the most useful are United Airlines, Southwest, British Airways, Air France, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and more.

As a leader in Star Alliance, UA’s strong system and seat availability are unmatched by many airlines. After wave after wave of devaluations and redemption restrictions, it is no longer what it once was, but it is still much better than Delta and AA. UA miles are very good for booking U.S.-to-Europe and U.S.-to-Africa flights. For U.S.-China flights, they are not especially outstanding, but they make up for it with low taxes and a rich partner network. It’s often possible to book award tickets from small U.S. cities to small Chinese cities, which is also pretty good.

• United Airlines (UA) membership and miles guide "2024 full update"

Air Canada is a better fit for business class and first class awards on partners such as ANA, Asiana, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, and Air New Zealand, because it has a fixed award chart and fixed fuel surcharges. Its U.S. domestic economy awards are also good. Their infant award tickets are especially cost-effective, so if you’re traveling with an infant under two, they’re worth prioritizing.

• Air Canada Aeroplan miles guide

Using Singapore Airlines miles to book business or first class within North America is excellent. Redemptions for business or first class from the U.S. to Europe are also good, especially from the West Coast. A business-class award from the U.S. West Coast to Japan for 103,500 miles is also a decent deal.

• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles program introduction

Avianca highlights include: 6,500 miles for short-haul UA flights within the U.S., economy awards from Los Angeles to Hawaii starting at 15,000, 22,500/45,000 between the U.S. Northeast and Europe, awards from the U.S. to South America starting at 21,100/37,000, business class from the U.S. to Eastern Europe for around 70,000, and Lufthansa first class from the U.S. to Europe for 120,000. It can be used as a supplement to UA

• Avianca LifeMiles（AV）哥伦比亚航空的里程使用指南

British Airways highlights include: flights from American Airlines or Alaska Airlines to Hawaii; economy awards to Mexico or the Caribbean for 12,000 Avios; and some short-haul flights outside the U.S.:

• British Airways Avios 里程使用指南「 2025 全面更新」

Flying Blue highlights include: award tickets for ages 2-11, regular 25% off discount routes, Delta flights between the continental U.S. and Hawaii, short-haul flights between the U.S. and Mexico, the continental U.S. and Colombia, award tickets between the U.S. and Europe, the continental U.S. and North Africa, the continental U.S. and Central/Southern Africa, Kenya Airways intra-Africa flights, and award tickets with European stopovers

• Air France/KLM Flying Blue 法航里程计划介绍「 2025 全面更新」

Virgin Atlantic highlights include: award tickets + infant tickets, redemptions for ANA, Hawaiian Airlines awards, short-haul Delta flights, and New Zealand Airlines business class

• 维珍航空 Virgin Atlantic（VS）会员计划和里程介绍「 2025 全面更新」

Others

• Southwest Airlines 里程和会员计划介绍
• JetBlue 里程和会员计划介绍

Chase has added Emirates as a transfer partner, at a 1:1 ratio. In addition to redeeming Emirates miles for its own flights, you can also use them for partner airlines such as Japan Airlines JL, Korean Air, and Qantas. Using them for Emirates business class and first class, as well as Japan Airlines business and first class, can all be good options. However, taxes and fees can be very high when redeeming with Emirates, so be especially careful.

Hotel partners

UR can be transferred to several hotel partners, but aside from Hyatt, the other two are not worth transferring to. IHG and Marriott have relatively low point valuations to begin with; these two are basically only worth about 0.5 and 0.8 cents per point, so unless absolutely necessary (for example, you're only short 1,000-2,000 points to book an IHG or Marriott hotel), it's not recommended to transfer points to these non-primary redemption partners.

Hyatt is one of the best values in the hotel points world. Its points are generally worth 1.8-2.2 cents each, and there are already plenty of options in Category 1 hotels that only require 5,000 points. To get the most value from Hyatt points, it's best to use them during peak season and at higher-end properties, such as Park Hyatt New York, Park Hyatt Maldives, or resort-area Hyatt Zilara or Hyatt Ziva properties, where you can often get 3 c/p or even more.

• 凯悦天地常客计划 World of Hyatt 详细介绍

Finally! Don't miss this 100,000!