Chase Ultimate Rewards Points: How to Earn Them and Use Them

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are some of the most desirable rewards in the travel community. These points can be used for a wide variety of flights, accommodations, and experiences, and Chase offers both personal credit cards and business credit cards that earn these rewards. But to get the most out of your rewards, there are some basics you need to know.

In this article, we'll share tips and strategies on how to maximize your points earnings and get the most value for your redemptions when it comes to your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

What are Chase Ultimate Rewards?

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are the flexible currency points earned by Chase's portfolio of rewards credit cards. Ultimate Rewards points can be earned through sign-up bonuses, credit card spending, and purchases made through the Chase shopping portal. Additional points can be earned when you use your credit cards for purchases that fall under a bonus category. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® earns 3X points for every dollar spent on other travel and dining.

Your Chase Ultimate Rewards points do not expire as long as your credit card is open. Unlike American Express Membership Rewards points, though, your Chase points are not automatically pooled into one bucket if you are earning them with multiple cards. However, you can easily transfer points earned from one card to another for no fees.

There are three main options for redeeming Ultimate Rewards points:

• You can book travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal
• You can transfer your rewards to Chase’s airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio
• You can redeem your points for statement credits and gift cards

What are Chase Ultimate Rewards worth?

The value of any points or miles will vary depending upon how you redeem them, and the same goes for Chase Ultimate Rewards. When redeeming for statement credits and gift cards, you'll receive one cent per point in value. But, depending upon which Ultimate Rewards credit card you have, the value of your points changes when redeeming for travel.

When you redeem your points for travel through the Chase portal:

• If you have the Chase Freedom Unlimited^®, your points are worth 1 cent each.
• If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card or the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, each point is worth 25% more at 1.25 cents each.
• If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, you’ll get even greater value because points are worth 1.5 cents each.

With the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, and Ink Business Preferred cards, you can also transfer points to a variety of hotel and airline partners. The value received depends on which partner you transfer to and how you redeem your rewards.

How to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points

There are several ways to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Applying for a new credit card, referring people, spending on the card, and online shopping. Let’s look at the details of each of these options so you know which will best fit your needs and goals.

Welcome bonuses

When you apply for a new credit card, banks often offer what’s called a “welcome bonus” or “sign-up bonus” in return for you spending a certain amount of money within a limited timeframe. These bonuses can be quite lucrative and are often the best way to get a lot of points quickly. For example, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Everyday spending

Once you have a card, you'll earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points on your purchases. Depending upon which card you have, you may earn bonus points when spending in certain categories.

For instance, the Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3X points on other travel and dining, whereas the Chase Freedom Unlimited earns 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and 3% cash back on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, earn 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, which can be converted to Chase Ultimate Rewards (more on that later).

Referring a new cardholder

Once you have a Chase card, you can also refer your friends, family, and acquaintances to Chase to earn additional Ultimate Rewards points. The number of points you can earn will vary based on the card the person signs up for, but these are free points for you. In some cases, you can earn more bonus points by referring people than by applying for the card yourself. Just be aware that Chase may send you a 1099 form for the value of the points you earn, which basically means you’ll have to pay taxes on those points.

Online shopping

Online shopping is another great way to earn additional points. You'll earn points by shopping at your favorite merchants just by clicking through the Chase shopping portal first. These points are in addition to the rewards you earn from your credit card, so you're double-dipping with these purchases.

The number of points available for you to earn varies by merchant, and sometimes there are promotional offers to further increase the number of points you can earn. This usually happens around holidays and other peak shopping periods.

Credit cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards

Here are some of the Chase credit cards we recommend for earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Some of these cards earn Ultimate Rewards and others earn you cash back. But that cash back can actually be converted to Ultimate Rewards.

Which Chase credit card should you start with?

If you're ready to get started earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points, one of the best cards we recommend is the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It's currently offering a sign-up bonus that allows you to earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That bonus alone could be worth up to $750 if you use those points to book travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal, making it one of the best travel credit cards for saving some cash.

On top of that, you'll earn 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.

Because this card earns just 1X per dollar on most purchases, a lot of people also get the Chase Freedom Unlimited. With this card, you'll earn 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and 3% cash back on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, earn 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. When pairing a Sapphire card with a Freedom card, people typically use the Sapphire Preferred to pay for travel, then the Freedom Unlimited for everything else.

The great part about this is, when you transfer your rewards from your Freedom Unlimited to your Sapphire Preferred, they become worth more. That’s because you can then use those points to book travel through the Chase portal, where all Sapphire Preferred points are worth 25% more. Plus, by putting all your points under your Sapphire Preferred, you'll also have the ability to transfer those rewards to any of Chase’s airline and hotel partners.

What can you do with Chase credit card points?

So, we’ve talked a lot about how you earn all these points — but what now? Your Chase Ultimate Rewards points come with a variety of options for redeeming them, so let’s talk through everything you can do with these valuable rewards.

Transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Chase travel partners

Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to airline and hotel partners is one of the best ways to get the maximum value from your points. Your points transfer to a great selection of hotel and airline partners on a 1:1 basis and without any fees.

Once the points are in your airline or hotel loyalty account, they combine with points and miles you've already earned with that program. Then, you can redeem all those points for flights and hotel rooms. Depending on what you book, you can get a higher value for your points than if you paid cash for the reservations. Booking premium hotels or first-class flights through Chase often provide the highest value when redeeming your points.

For example, the Park Hyatt Sydney is on many traveler's bucket list with its incredible views of the harbor and the Sydney Opera House. Rooms are usually $800 or more per night but can be booked with only 30,000 points. When I checked recently, the rooms were $845 per night. If we do the math — $845 / 30,000 = .0281 (or 2.81 cents) — I can see that I’d be getting a cash value of 2.8 cents per point if I made this reservation, which is a great deal.

Book travel through the Chase Travel℠ Portal

You can book flights, hotels, rental cars, attractions, and more through the Chase Travel℠ portal. The value of your points will depend on which card's points you're using to pay for the trip:

Let’s say I'm looking to book a flight from Nashville to Orlando. Since I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve and I plan to pool my points together in my account, then all my Ultimate Rewards points become worth 1.5 cents each. With the Chase Travel℠ portal, I could pay $154.20 or use 10,280 Ultimate Rewards points to book the flight.

Even better, when booking flights through this travel portal, you'll earn your frequent flyer miles just as if you were using cash to pay for the flight. Plus, if you don't have enough Chase Ultimate Rewards points to pay for the entire bill (or if you want to save some points), you can put the remaining balance on your credit card.

Use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash back or gift cards

Though you won’t get as much value out of them, you can also redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash back or gift cards. No matter which Chase card you have, you'll get a maximum value of one cent per point for these redemptions. Because of the low value, you are better off transferring your points to an airline or hotel or booking a reservation through the Chase travel portal.

If you do decide you want cash back or gift cards, you have multiple options. Cash back can be received in the form of a statement credit on your card or a deposit into your bank account. Or there are over 150 different gift cards to choose from, including popular retailers like Amazon, Starbucks, and Best Buy.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line on Chase Ultimate Rewards points

Now you can see why Chase Ultimate Rewards points are so popular. You can easily earn points through signing up for credit cards, referring friends, credit card spending, and online shopping. Points can then be transferred to airline and hotel partners to book trips or redeemed in the Chase Travel℠ portal to book flights, hotels, rental cars, activities, and more.

The flexibility and power of these points are very appealing. And when you have multiple Chase Ultimate Rewards points credit cards, you can capitalize on your spending to earn more than one point per dollar on every purchase.

Remember that Chase has the unofficial “5/24 Rule,” though. So if you want to get your own Chase Ultimate Rewards points credit card, make sure to apply for these credit cards first so you won't get declined.