Chase offers several personal and business credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points after meeting spending requirements.
See our best credit card bonuses here.
So what’s the best you can get for these Ultimate Rewards® points? Keep reading to find out…
Chase also offers great sign-up bonuses for their Checking/Savings accounts.
| Credit Cards | Chase Freedom FlexSM Chase Freedom Unlimited® Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Chase Sapphire Reserve® Ink Business Cash® Credit Card Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card |
| Redemption Options | Award travel, statement credits, direct deposits, gift cards, Amazon purchases, Apple purchases, transfers to travel partners |
| Average Point Value | $0.02 |
Earning Ultimate Rewards Points
Chase issues four personal cards and three business credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points. There are two different tiers of Ultimate Rewards cards. Basic cards earn Ultimate Rewards points that don’t hold as much value and aren’t transferable. Because of this, we’ll focus on the higher-tier Ultimate Rewards cards:
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CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED® CARD
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently has an offer for 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Redeeming the 60,000 bonus points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, which is praised by users, will get you $750 in value towards travel. The 60K bonus points are worth $750 because you get 25% more value whenever you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Even better, strategize with Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer partners to potentially get even more value. Each point can be worth up to 2 cents apiece (60k points = ~$1,200). Read more on this here.
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CHASE SAPPHIRE RESERVE®
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® card is offering 80,000 bonus points (worth up to $1,600 in travel per our valuations). You’ll need to spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening to qualify for the bonus. These 80k points are redeemable for $1,200 toward travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
This is a premium travel card with a premium annual fee of $550. But, you’ll receive premium benefits such as 5X points on air travel, 10x points spent on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after earning your $300 annual travel credit, 3X points on all other travel and dining, and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
The card also features an application fee credit (up to $100) for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®, access to 1,300+ airport lounges with Priority Pass Select, and 50% more in travel redemption through Chase Ultimate Rewards. With Pay Yourself BackSM, your points are worth 50% more for existing purchases in select, rotating categories.
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INK BUSINESS PREFERRED® CREDIT CARD
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card from Chase has a new cardmember offer for 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after opening.
These bonus points are worth $1,250 towards travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Or, transfer points over to Ultimate Rewards travel partners to potentially get even more value – up to an average $2,000 for 100k points. Read more about this here.
This card earns 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. You’ll earn unlimited 1 Point Per $1 spent on all other purchases.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns Ultimate Rewards points. This makes it a great choice for pairing with the non-business Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®. You’ll be able to pool points together for faster rewards.
This card has a $95 annual fee.
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There are plenty of other ways to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. For more details, click here.
Best Ways to Redeem Ultimate Rewards Points
The value of your Ultimate Rewards points varies, but your two best redemption options are:
Use your Ultimate Rewards points to book flights, hotel stays, rental cars, cruises and experiences through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
How much can you get for your points this way? Well, that depends on which Ultimate Rewards card you carry. Here’s a sample based on having earned 60,000 points:
| Credit Card | Point Value | Value of 60k Points |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | $0.015 | $900 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | $0.0125 | $750 |
| Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card | $0.0125 | $750 |
This is the easiest option to maximize the value of your Ultimate Rewards points. Simply book your travel as you normally would, with no blackout dates to work around.
If you’re looking for the best value for your points, we recommend you transfer to a partner loyalty program at a 1:1 transfer ratio.
If you take the time to strategize your redemptions, you could get great value for your Ultimate Rewards points.
Best Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners
Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the most versatile and valuable point programs out there, thanks to its ability to transfer to 13 airline and hotel partners.
Below are our favorite Ultimate Rewards travel partners and their sweet spots that cost less than 60k Ultimate Rewards points:
British Airways offers good deals on partner award flights within and from the United States. We especially like the following itineraries:
| Flight Details | Airline | Points/Avios |
| Short flights within N. America Roundtrip | Economy | Alaska Airlines American Airlines | 15,000 |
| U.S. West Coast to Hawaii Roundtrip | Economy | Alaska Airlines American Airlines | 25,000 |
| U.S. East Coast to Ireland Roundtrip | Economy | Aer Lingus | 26,000 |
| Boston/Chicago/New York to Madrid Roundtrip | Economy | Iberia | 34,000 |
| Miami to Madrid Roundtrip | Economy | Iberia | 42,500 |
| U.S. East Coast to Ireland One Way | Business | Aer Lingus | 50,000 |
| U.S. West Coast to Japan Roundtrip | Economy | American Airlines Japan Airlines | 50,000 |
| Transcontinental U.S. One Way | First | American Airlines | 51,500 |
The above is for illustrative purposes only. The actual cost in avios points are subject to change. Log into your British Airways Avios account for current redemption cost.
The World of Hyatt program offers an award chart that’s very easy on your points:
Currently, you’ll be able to stay one night at a Premium Suite in a Category 7 hotel starting at 30,000 points. Brands like the Park Hyatt, Andaz and Hyatt Residence Club are all Category 7 hotels. The number of points required are subject to change so please check redemption cost here. With 60K points, you theoretically can get up to 2 nights.
We recommend the following award itineraries from Iberia:
| Flight Details | Airline | Points/Avios |
| New York to Madrid Roundtrip | Economy | Iberia | 34,000 |
| New York to Madrid One Way | Business | Iberia | 34,000 |
| Los Angeles to Madrid Roundtrip | Economy | Iberia | 42,500 |
| Los Angeles to Madrid One Way | Business | Iberia | 42,500 |
| Miami to Casablanca One Way | Business | Royal Air Maroc | 46,000 |
The above is for illustrative purposes only. The actual cost in Avios points are subject to change. Log into your Iberia Plus account for current redemption cost.
If you got yourself a Southwest Companion Pass, you should transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest Rapid Rewards. For a single award ticket, you can redeem for about $0.015 per point. But with the Companion Pass, it’ll double the point value to $0.03 each point.
You’ll also benefit from no fees for your first two checked bags and no change or cancellation fees. There are taxes and fees for your award travel, but they’ll only cost you $5.60 per one-way flight.
Bottom Line
The best way to use your Ultimate Rewards points, with the least amount of headache, is to redeem them for travel using the Ultimate Rewards travel portal. Depending on your Ultimate Rewards card, this option will give you a point value of up to $0.015.
But if you’re looking for the most valuable option, transfer your points to a partner loyalty program. Although it’s much more complicated, you can get up to $0.03 each point this way.
READ MORE: SEE THE BEST BANK BONUSES HERE AND THE BEST INVESTING BONUSES HERE.
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