In a Nutshell
Maximizing Chase Ultimate Rewards® points could be considered an art form. With so many cards out there eligible to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can optimize earning and redeeming on the right mix of cards to help get the best value.If you’re looking to get the most out of your credit card rewards program, Chase Ultimate Rewards® could be the perfect fit for you.
Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the most versatile credit card rewards programs out there, especially if you have the right mix of Chase credit cards. Chase Ultimate Rewards points don’t expire as long as your account is open, and you can redeem them for everything from travel to gift cards.
But before you rush off to spend your Chase Ultimate Rewards points on a Starbucks or Amazon gift card, you may want to think twice. Squeezing the most value out of your points can take a bit more planning than that, and your best option probably isn’t a gift card.
Thankfully, it can be easy to maximize Chase Ultimate Rewards points once you break the program down into distinct parts and match those parts with your goals. On that note, let’s take a look at four ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for the best value.
Boost your rewards with sign-up bonuses
One of the fastest ways to rack up Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to qualify for a sign-up bonus. In order to qualify for such a bonus, you generally need to meet a specific minimum spending requirement within a set time frame.
Sign-up bonuses seem to change almost as frequently as the weather, so do a little research to make sure you strike when the iron is hot. In some cases, you may want to wait awhile to see if the sign-up bonus goes up, though there are no guarantees.
One last thing: We don’t recommend trying to qualify for a sign-up bonus if the spending requirement doesn’t sync with your current budget. If spending, say, $5,000 on purchases in a three-month period would stretch your budget to its breaking point, hold off. The points you’ll earn likely won’t be worth the interest charges (and the headache!) associated with carrying a balance.
Understand your redemption options
When it comes to using Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you have quite a few options.
| Method of redemption |
|---|
| Travel |
| Gift cards |
| Cash back |
| Apple products |
| Amazon |
The exact number of redemption options available to you may depend on the specific cards you carry.
- Book travel such as flights, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase.
- Get cash back directly deposited into eligible U.S. Chase checking and savings accounts, or choose to redeem for statement credit.
- Shop at Amazon.com and pay with points for eligible orders when your Chase card is linked to Amazon.com.
- Redeem for gift cards from a range of popular stores and restaurants.
- Enjoy events perks like special offers on events, concessions or merchandise with Chase Select Experiences.
Your exact redemption values may vary, but keep in mind that transferring your points to an eligible partner may help you squeeze the most value out of them. For that reason, spending your points on travel tends to be the best way to maximize their worth.
Do Chase Ultimate Rewards points really never expire?
It’s true! Your Chase Ultimate Rewards points won’t expire as long as your account is open. If your account closes, you may immediately lose all of your points, which is one of the reasons we typically recommend keeping your account open.
Compare, compare, compare
Now that we’ve established that travel can offer the best way to go, you have one of two options. You can seek the absolute best value possible and plan a trip around that redemption option, or you can plan a trip first and then find the best way possible to use your points on that trip.
Redeeming points for a great value
Finding a great value can result in redeeming multiple cents per point, but it may land you on a trip to somewhere you aren’t ecstatic about visiting.
Usually, finding the best possible redemption values requires searching the transfer partner programs for redemptions that offer the highest value per point.
Redeeming points for your dream vacation
Finding a great value on the trip you already want to go on is an easier option, but it may result in redeeming at a lower value per point. Once you know where you want to go and what you want to do, break down your trip into every expense you plan to incur.
Say you want to plan a trip to Walt Disney World. You know you’d have at least the following expenses:
- Airfare
- Hotel
- Park-entry tickets
- Food
Go down the list and find out if you can redeem points for each expense. You could search for the cheapest flight option, pick the hotel you want to stay at, and try to figure out how to pay for other expenses with Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Essentially, it all comes down to using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for the highest value redemptions available to you until you run out of points.
You’ll want to compare transferring points to booking directly through the Chase Travel℠ portal too. In some cases, transferring points to a partner program may yield a better redemption value, while in other cases booking through Chase may work out better.
Comparing Chase Ultimate Rewards to other airline rewards programs
Comparing Chase Ultimate Rewards with an airline-specific rewards program is like comparing apples to oranges. True, they’re both rewards programs — but they operate in different ways.
Using Chase Ultimate Rewards points is generally easy because you have so many options, including booking travel through Chase or transferring points to a hotel or airline partner.
With airline-specific programs, you may only have one airline with which to use your rewards. For example, Southwest Rapid Rewards® allows you to transfer your points to certain hotel partners but only allows you to use points to fly Southwest.
On the other hand, United MileagePlus® allows you to earn United miles and use them on any Star Alliance™ travel partners’ flights, including United, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Air Canada, just to name a few. Just make sure to join the program of one of the member airlines and register your account number.
Sometimes the airline-specific programs will work out better if you reliably choose one group of airlines over another. But if you prefer greater flexibility, Chase Ultimate Rewards may be your best bet.
Bottom line
The Chase Ultimate Rewards program allows you to earn and redeem points in many different ways, making it easier to use your points at a decent-to-great value on a trip you actually want to take.
Just remember, credit card rewards points are there to help pay for your trip — they’re the means to an end, rather than an end in themselves. Researching the best way to redeem your rewards is important, but don’t spend more time poring over redemption values than you’ll spend actually enjoying the rewards you’ve earned!