Introduction to Chase Ultimate Rewards Program

UPATE: This post includes offers that are no longer available.

This is post #1 of a series regarding the Chase Ultimate Rewards program.

Related Posts:

• Introduction to Chase Ultimate Rewards Program
• Maximizing Chase Ultimate Rewards with Chase Freedom
• Maximizing your Chase Freedom, Chase Sapphire, Chase Ink Classic, and Chase Ink Cash Points
• Downgrading your Chase Ultimate Rewards Card to Avoid the Annual Fee
• Best Redemption for Chase Ultimate Reward Points – Hotel Stays
• Best Redemption for Chase Ultimate Reward Points – Air Travel
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Sapphire
• Chase Ultimate Rewards: Sapphire Preferred vs. Ink Bold
• Comparison of Four Chase Ink Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards
• Difference Between the Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus
• Top 10 Chase Ultimate Reward Questions

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is talked about quite often, but I wonder if everyone really knows what it is. Everyone knows about American Express Membership Rewards – it’s been around for awhile now. But do you fully understand Chase Ultimate Rewards? It is just recently getting the hype and in my opinion is surpassing the Amex Membership Rewards program. While American Express has been cutting the ties with many partners, Chase is on the rise and I foresee many additional partners continuing to be added. My favorite part of the Ultimate Rewards program is the flexibility it allows. You are not pigeonholed into one hotel or airline program. You can use your points to cater towards your travel needs/wants.

1. Earning and Burning

Earning – Ultimate Reward (UR) points are earned when having the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Bold Business, and Chase Ink Plus credit cards. While there are a few other cards that are part of the Ultimate Rewards program, they do not include the full benefits. Those cards will be covered in future posts in this series.

Essentially Every $1 spent = 1 UR point. You will also receive bonus points with certain purchases:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred:
  • 2x points on travel (or 5x points if booked through Ultimate Rewards)
  • 3x points on dinning, select streaming services and select online grocery purchases
• Chase Ink Bold (not available for new applicants): 
  • 5x points on business expenses (wireless communication services, cable and satellite television and radio services, office supply stores and wholesale distributors of office supplies) up to a maximum of 200,000 bonus points (which means $50,000 of spend)
  • 2x points at gas stations, hotels and motels up to a maximum of 50,000 bonus points (which again means $50,000 of spend)
• Chase Ink Plus (not available for new applicants): 
  • 5x points on business expenses (wireless communication services, cable and satellite television and radio services, office supply stores and wholesale distributors of office supplies) up to a maximum of 200,000 bonus points (which means $50,000 of spend)
  • 2x points at gas stations, hotels and motels up to a maximum of 50,000 bonus points (which again means $50,000 of spend)

Redeeming – You can redeem your UR points four different ways (with transferring to a loyalty program being the best redemption value):

• Transferring to a partner loyalty program – Points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to:
  • United
  • British Airways
  • Southwest Airlines
  • Virgin Atlantic
  • Singapore Airlines
  • Hyatt
  • InterContinental Hotels Group
  • Marriott
• Pay for travel: You can use your points to redeem free travel with Chase’s travel booking service. This allows you to pay for anything travel related (car rental, cruises, etc.). There are no black out dates and you can earn frequent flyer points as normal. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you will get a 25% bump when redeeming in this type of travel. Therefore, 1 point = 1.25 cent towards the purchase of your travel.
• Cash Back: Instead of redeeming for travel, you can use your points to receive cash back. 1 point = 1 cent cash back. Not the best redemption or recommended at all!
• Gift Cards/Entertainment: Again, not a great redemption ratio, but you can redeem your points for various gift cards or entertainment opportunities.

2. Using the Ultimate Rewards online site

Accessing your account information – Once you log onto the Ultimate Rewards site, click the “Rewards Activity” tab. This will show you all the points you have earned (from regular spend and bonuses) during the billing cycle.

Transferring points to a loyalty rewards program – Click the “Transfer Points” tab. This will bring up all the available reward programs where you can transfer your points to. They have added a few loyalty programs recently, so I am really hoping they keep up the pace and continue to add more!

Once you select your desired program, you will need to select the number of points to transfer over along with the program information. For all programs, you must transfer in increments of 1,000 points. Also, currently they will allow you to transfer your points into anyone’s account so the names do not have to match. This is a great way to top off family accounts! Also, unlike American Express Membership Rewards there are no fees to transfer your points! Points typically transfer instantly, but remember, they cannot be reversed! It is always best to put your ticket on hold first and then transfer your points – this will ensure the award ticket you are looking to redeem is available.

Using the Ultimate Reward shopping mall – Earn UR points on many online purchases! For everyone online purchase you make, first go to the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal. On the Ultimate Rewards site click the “Earn Faster” tab. This will bring every online merchant along with the number of points you will earn per dollar spent. Once you select the merchant it will bring up the typical online store you are used to – go shopping and earn points! Your purchase will be tracked via online cookies (if you are not a tech person, Google this). During many times throughout the year, the UR mall has some great bonuses for certain online merchants. Bonus points post pretty quickly.

3. Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card bonus

As mentioned above, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Bold Business, and Chase Ink Plus credit cards are directly tied to the Ultimate Rewards program. Also, none of the cards have foreign transaction fees!

If you have any questions let me know!

Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links where I get paid commission if you apply and get approved for a credit card. I will only list the best credit card offers as my goal is for you to travel for free!