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Chase Ultimate Rewards is a terrific rewards program for redeeming high-end hotel awards and premium cabin airfare. Ultimate Rewards transfer partners are one of the best ways to redeem your points. They include 14 different hotel and airline programs, each with sweet spots for high-value redemptions and are comparably easy to obtain using Chase’s portfolio of Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards.
Collecting Ultimate Rewards also provides access to the Chase TravelSM Portal, where cardmembers can redeem points for a variety of travel, including airfare, hotels, cruises, activities, and car rentals. Each option can offer substantial value under the right circumstances, and today we’re digging into the benefits of redeeming Ultimate Rewards points for airfare through the Chase Travel Portal.
Which Credit Cards Allow You To Use the Chase Travel Portal?
Chase offers a total of six generally available rewards-earning credit cards that allow you to book travel through the Chase Travel Portal.
| Card | Point Value when Booking Travel Through Chase Travel | Points Transferrable to Travel Partners |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | 1.5¢ | Yes |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | 1.25¢ | Yes |
| Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card | 1.25¢ | Yes |
| Chase Freedom Flex℠ | 1¢ | No |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | 1¢ | No |
| Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card | 1¢ | No |
| Ink Business Cash® Credit Card | 1¢ | No |
| Ink Business Premier® Credit Card | 1¢ | No |
Each card features its own earning and redemption ratio, which can be affected by other cards you hold within the Ultimate Rewards family. For example, the Freedom Flex earns 5% on rotating bonus categories (up to $1,500 per quarter), 5% on travel purchased through Chase, 3% on dining at restaurants and drugstore purchases and 1% on other eligible purchases, and you can redeem points for cash back or at 1¢ per point via the portal. However, if you also hold a Sapphire Reserve (Rates & Fees), you can combine points between your Freedom Flex and your Sapphire Reserve account. That will let you redeem all your points at 1.5¢ each. That’s a return of 7.5% on every dollar spent on the Freedom Flex in the 5x categories!
You can redeem points earned on any of the cards above in the Chase Travel Portal. However, you’ll need to pair one of the no-annual-fee cards with one of the premium cards to redeem for a higher rate through the portal or to transfer Ultimate Rewards to travel partners.
No Blackout Dates or Searching for Award Availability
Saver-level award space is a declining resource. And except for revenue-based rewards programs like Southwest Rapid Rewards, competition for those award seats is stiff.
One of the downsides of award travel becoming so popular is more people competing for a limited (and in many programs declining) number of award seats — particularly premium cabin awards. As airlines carry more passengers and continue to be more profitable, they have less of an incentive to offer up those seats for miles — let alone at the cheapest award rates.
Airfare purchased through the Chase Travel Portal is treated like a revenue ticket. If there is a seat available with cash, you can buy it by redeeming Ultimate Rewards points through the travel portal.
If your travel dates are locked in, and there is no award availability, booking through the portal allows you to use points and book an award flight without worrying about blackout dates or the need to search for award availability.
Book Low-Cost Carriers for Cheap Travel
Transferring Ultimate Rewards points to partner airlines for premium cabin redemptions returns the best cent-per-point value for your rewards points. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for redeeming economy fares through airline transfer partners.
The Chase Travel Portal operates similarly to Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) like Priceline.com or Expedia.com. You can book flights on any airline that participates in a global distribution system like Sabre or Amadeus, and your reservation will be treated as a revenue ticket.
While low-cost carriers Southwest, Allegiant, GOL, and Norwegian won't be displayed when searching in the Chase Travel Portal, you can book them with your Ultimate Rewards by calling 866-951-6592.
Likewise, you can redeem points through the Chase Travel Portal for mistake fares, a subject tackled in detail in our Facebook community, Award Travel 101.
You Earn Frequent Flyer Miles and Elite Status Credits
When you book hotels through the Chase portal, you typically won’t receive elite status benefits, elite night credits, or points for your stay as the portal is considered a third-party booking site.
When booking airfare, however, you ARE eligible to earn miles. Your reservation is treated as a revenue booking, and you earn frequent flyer miles and elite status credits, plus you'll enjoy any benefits granted by your elite status. Just watch out for any “basic economy” fares, which come with their own set of restrictions regardless of where you book them.
Portal Redemptions Include Taxes & Fees
One of the biggest out-of-pocket expenses for award travel is typically the taxes and fees — particularly on airlines that levy carrier-imposed surcharges (often labeled fuel surcharges) like British Airways.
These fees can top $1,000 on round-trip international business-class awards, and we’ve dedicated entire posts to avoiding these additional costs. It details the best carriers, routes, and frequent flyer programs to avoid paying excessive fees.
One of the benefits of redeeming points through the Chase Travel Portal is that taxes and fees are included in the redemption, not added to the top as an additional expense. Your Ultimate Rewards points pay for the entire cost of the ticket, including taxes and fees, reducing your cash outlay.
The Chase Travel Portal Is Easy To Use
Learning the ins and outs of every transfer partner is a daunting exercise that can take years of fumbling through award charts, routing, and airline partnerships. It’s intimidating for beginners. For those with only a casual interest in award travel, that time can be better spent on more profitable activities.
In stark contrast to this, the Chase Travel Portal is ultra-beginner-friendly. The booking engine is easy to navigate and functions similar to an online travel agency. You have the option of paying with points only, a mix of cash and points, or solely using the Chase credit card attached to your account.
When To Transfer Points Rather Than Use the Portal
We love using the Chase Travel Portal to book award flights. You receive a guaranteed return on your points based on the card you hold, avoid blackout dates or a lack of award availability, and can save thousands of points booking low-cost economy airfares. But there are still plenty of situations where you’ll get a better return on your Ultimate Rewards points by transferring them to travel partners. Because Southwest has a revenue-based award program, we've written a whole article talking about the pros and cons of transferring points to Southwest vs. buying Southwest flights through the Chase travel portal.
Booking close-in (near the day of the flight) is one circumstance where transferring points can provide better value than redeeming via the portal. The cash price of tickets typically rises the closer you get to the departure date, whereas the award price in miles may not rise as much (or may stay the same).
Airlines are known to release additional saver/low-level award seats close in, increasing your chances of bagging an award ticket. That said, waiting until the last minute isn't a strategy we'd recommend unless your travel plans are very flexible.
Final Thoughts
The key takeaway is to do your homework before transferring points to frequent flyer programs. There are plenty of scenarios where redeeming your Ultimate Rewards directly through the travel portal will net you a higher value for your points than transferring them to partners. To recap:
- Redeem points from the Freedom Flex, Chase Freedom Unlimited®, Ink Cash (Rates & Fees), and Ink Unlimited (Rates & Fees) through the Chase Travel Portal for 1¢ per point if it’s the only Ultimate Rewards-earning card you hold.
- If you have the Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus® Business Credit Card (no longer open to applications), or Ink Preferred, you can redeem points for 1.25¢ per point through the portal.
- Sapphire Reserve cardholders can redeem points for 1.5¢ per point through the portal.
If you hold both a no-annual-fee card and another card from the Sapphire or Ink family of cards, you can combine all of your points to the card with the highest redemption rate, potentially getting 7.5% back on every dollar you spend (in those 5x earning categories)! Holding one of the cards with an annual fee also allows you to transfer points to airline and hotel partners for redemptions via that particular airline's or hotel program's award chart.
Don't forget: By using Ultimate Rewards for a reservation, you're still covered by the trip insurance offered on your associated credit card, even if you don't pay any cash!
If you have any questions about how to redeem your Ultimate Rewards points through the travel portal, use the comments below. We'll help you sort it out.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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