Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card Airline Partners: Who They Are and How to Book with Points

We recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card as one of the best travel credit cards for transferring points to Airlines' loyalty and frequent flyer programs. Chase has 11 airline transfer partners, including JetBlue, Southwest, United, and more.

These transfers enable you to use your points for airfare, upgrades, and other perks offered by each airline. What’s even better is that your points typically transfer at full value, plus, Chase often runs transfer promotions that give you access to even higher values.

Here is a closer look at which airlines Chase partners with for reward point transfers and how you can take advantage of this perk.

Key Takeaways

Who are the Chase Sapphire Preferred airline transfer partners?

Chase has partnerships with 11 airlines that enable customers to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to their frequent flyer programs. You can use transferred points to purchase reward flights, upgrades to first class, and other perks.

These transfer options give you a lot of value because your points are moved from Chase to each of these programs on a 1:1 ratio. That means that 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards point = 1 frequent flyer point/mile in redemption value. 

Points have to be transferred in 1,000-point increments. For example, if you had 12,000 Ultimate Rewards points, you could only transfer 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, etc., points to your United MileagePlus account. You wouldn’t be able to transfer 1,500 or 3,200 points.

Generally, your points will transfer instantly to your frequent flyer account, but in some cases, it can take up to seven business days for the transaction to be completed.

Chase recommends making sure that the name on your Ultimate Rewards program account exactly matches the name on your frequent flyer account to ensure faster transfers.

The value of booking with Chase Sapphire Preferred airline partners

Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders can use the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal to transfer their points to one of 11 airline partners to pay for tickets, upgrades, and other perks offered by frequent flyer programs.

The value you get when you transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to a partner airline varies depending on the redemption option you choose. Most partners offer a value of 1.2 to 1.6 cents per point, but if you use your points to book a premium ticket on an international flight, you may be able to get an even higher value.

Example transfer 

For example, you could transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program. Travelers have reported booking Business Class award flights on Singapore Airlines from the West Coast to Singapore for less than 100,000 KrisFlyer miles.

If you were to book a similar ticket with cash, it would cost you an average of $5,110. In this case, your points would be valued at over 5.1 cents each.

It can take some research to find the sweet spots for a transfer partner's rewards program, but the results can be well worth the time and effort. 

How to transfer your points to Chase Sapphire Preferred airline partners

Before you transfer points, find the flight you’d like to redeem your points for on the partner airline’s website. Point transfers are one-way. Once you transfer your points from Chase, you can’t move them back. So, it’s important to know how many points you’ll need and how you’ll use them before you start the transfer process.

Once you have this information, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Ultimate Rewards portal. After you log in, open the left-hand menu, and choose the “Transfer to Travel Partners” option.

2. On the next screen, select the airline program for point transfer, review the details, and click “Transfer Points” to proceed.

3. Provide the necessary information on the next screen and follow the instructions to complete the transaction, ensuring you have your frequent flyer program details.

How to book through the Ultimate Rewards portal

If you prefer the convenience of a one-stop shop, the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal makes it simple to book all kinds of travel using points. It’s a good place to start researching flight times and prices, and it’s easy to pay for your flights in the portal using Ultimate Rewards points, a credit card, or a combination of both.

With certain Chase credit cards, like the Chase Freedom Flex℠, points are only valued at one cent each. However, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you get added value. When you book through the Ultimate Rewards portal using your Sapphire Preferred card, your points will be worth $0.0125 or 1.25 cents each, which can add up to significant savings.

To book a flight through the Ultimate Rewards portal:

1.  Sign in to the Ultimate Rewards portal with your Chase account, navigate to the “Travel” option in the left-hand menu, and select “Flights” from the sub-menu.

2. Review and sort the flight options in the results based on your preferences such as airline, price, and departure times.

3. Choose your flights, verify the schedule, provide necessary details, and enter your frequent flyer number if available to earn points.

4. When you reach the payment option, you will see how many points you have and how much the cost of the flight is in terms of dollars and points. You can choose to pay with points, a credit card, or both.

lternatives to the Chase Sapphire Preferred

If you’re looking for an alternative to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, here’s how it stacks up to other popular Chase cards.

Card	Annual fee	Reward rate
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card 4.9 FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	$95	5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠; 3X points on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries; 2X points on all other travel purchases, and 1X points on all other purchases
Chase Freedom Flex℠ 4.7 FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	$0	5% cash back on rotating quarterly categories you activate (on up to $1,500 spent) and travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service); and 1% cash back on all other purchases
Chase Freedom Unlimited® 4.7 FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	$0	5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases
Chase Sapphire Reserve® 5.0 FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	$550	5X points on flights and 10X points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually; 3X points on other travel and dining & 1X points per dollar on all other purchases

Chase Ultimate Rewards FAQ

Chase Sapphire Preferred airline partners: bottom line

All-in-all, you have a lot of travel options to choose from when you use Chase Ultimate Rewards with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card. You can use your points either through Chase’s travel portal or transfer those points over to your favorite frequent flyer program to get the benefits only offered by the airline carrier.

Which is the best move? Only you can answer that question. One thing is for sure: check out all of your Chase travel partner options before committing your points to one option or another. 

Great for Flexible Travel Rewards

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

4.9

FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

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Current Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Annual Fee

$95

Rewards Rate

5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠; 3X points on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries; 2X points on all other travel purchases, and 1X points on all other purchases

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
• 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
• 25% more value when redeeming rewards for travel through Chase Travel℠
• 10% anniversary point bonus each year
• $50 annual credit on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
• Premium travel protection benefits

Drawbacks

• Has annual fee

Card Details

• Earn 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 Travel℠.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
• Member FDIC