Chase Ultimate Rewards Sweet Spots

With an extensive list of valuable transfer partners and great redemption values, Chase Ultimate Rewards is easily one of the best and most powerful awards currencies present today. So today, we’ll look at how you can get the most out of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points from Hotels to Flights. You can also check out our Complete Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards for more information on how you can earn and maximize your points.

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Chase Ultimate Rewards Sweet Spots

Best Hotel Options for Chase Ultimate Rewards

The area in which Chase truly shines over others is hotel partners. Citi has none; Amex has three (Choice Privileges, which has limited valuable uses; Hilton, which frequently sells points for much less than the value of Amex points; and Marriott, which it shares with Chase). Chase has three-partners, two of which present a number of sweet spots: Hyatt and Marriott. While Hyatt presents plenty of opportunities to get incredible value, Marriott shouldn’t be counted out as a potentially valuable partner. Chase also partners with IHG, but since you can often buy IHG points for about half a cent each, you’re probably better off buying what you need than transferring more valuable Ultimate Rewards points most of the time.

Hyatt

• • • The short story: Hyatt generally has nice hotels in most major cities and awards are very reasonable compared to the cash cost of most properties. Hyatt also has great benefits for top-tier elites. Further, Hyatt partners with Small Luxury Hotels of the World, which offers even more high-end properties that can be booked for reasonable values using points.
    • Miles required: Hyatt’s award chart ranges from 3.5K points per night (off-peak Category 1) to 45K points per night (peak Category 8). Cash & points nights require half the points and approximately half the nightly room rate. Furthermore, points can be used to book club rooms and suites — even premium suites. The ability to book standard suites and premium suites using a set number of points is unique to Hyatt and can sometimes yield tremendous value. See the full award chart here.
    • How to find awards: Search for availability at Hyatt.com by checking the box that says “Use points”.
    • How to book awards: Book standard rooms, club rooms, and suites using points online at Hyatt.com. To apply upgrade instruments earned through Milestone Rewards (suite upgrades or club access awards), you will need to call or contact the Twitter team.
    • Key warnings: One great use of Hyatt points can be to first transfer Ultimate Rewards to your Hyatt account and then transfer those Hyatt points from your Hyatt account to the account of a Hyatt Globalist so that he or she can book a Guest of Honor stay for you. Just keep in mind that although you can transfer from Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt as many times as you wish, your Hyatt account can only be involved in one Hyatt-to-Hyatt transfer (in or out) every 30 days.

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Best Domestic US flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards

While Chase partners with three US-based carriers (United, Southwest, and JetBlue), you can often get even better value for domestic flights from its foreign transfer partner programs. One reason to consider a transfer to Southwest is flexibility since you can cancel Southwest award flights for no fee.

Virgin Atlantic

• • • The short story: In some instances, Virgin Atlantic offers Delta flights for fewer miles than Delta would charge for the same itineraries.
    • Miles required: Virgin has a distance-based award chart for domestic US travel on Delta that ranges from 7,500 miles (for flights up to 500 miles in distance flown) to 27,500 miles (up to 5,000 miles flown, which would cover New York to Honolulu). Taxes & fees are just $5.60 on domestic flights. See the full award chart here.
    • How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com
    • How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com.  See: How to book Delta flights with Virgin Atlantic miles.
    • Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries.

United

• • • The short story: United offers domestic one-way awards for as few as 5K miles each way (and has had occasional flash sales dip as low as 3K miles each way) and offers expanded availability to credit card holders and elite members.
    • Miles required: From 5K miles each way plus $5.60 for the cheapest saver-level domestic economy class awards.
    • How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com
    • How to book awards: Book online at United.com
    • Key warnings: United has eliminated its award chart, so you may see many different prices for award tickets.

British Airways Avios

• • • The short story: British Airways offers a distance-based award chart that can be useful for short direct flights on American Airlines.
    • Miles required: 7.5K Avios each way plus $5.60 for economy-class segments covering up to 650 miles flown. Segments covering up to 1,151 miles flown cost 9K Avios each way or segments up to 2,000 miles flown cost 11,000 Avios each way.
    • How to find awards: Search for available space at britishairways.com.
    • How to book awards: Book online at britishaiways.com
    • Key warnings: British Airways charges for each segment separately, so multi-segment trips can get expensive quickly. Furthermore, the British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA and at other times they show no award space at all on American Airlines. You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring to British Airways Executive Club.

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Southwest

• • • The short story: Southwest points are typically only worth about 1.5c towards the cost of a flight, but award bookings are totally flexible since they can be changed or canceled with no fee up until shortly before departure.
    • Miles required: Varies by route but can be as cheap as less than 2K miles each way.
    • How to find awards: Search for available space at Southwest.com
    • How to book awards: Book online at Southwest.com
    • Key warnings: Keep in mind that if you pay for Early Bird Check-In and then later cancel or change your flight, you will lose the benefit without a refund.

Getting to Hawaii with Chase Ultimate Rewards

While saver business class awards to Hawaii can be difficult to find (and even rarer in lie-flat seats), Chase has the right transfer partners to get the best values when available. Southwest is again an honorable mention since you might value the flexibility and/or find a good deal from the West Coast. (Check out how we did it! Travel to Hawaii for free!)

Singapore KrisFlyer

• The short story: Singapore KrisFlyer partners with both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines and charges fewer miles for domestic flights to Hawaii than United or Alaska does for the same flights.
• Miles required:
  • United
    • 17.5K miles each way in economy or 34.5K in business (as compared to 22.5K / 40K through United for “saver” awards at historical rates)
  • Alaska
    • 13K or 13.5K miles each way in economy from most western states to Hawaii in economy (business/first class pricing is not competitive)
• How to find awards: Search for available space on United at at SingaporeAir.com (See: Book United flights online with Singapore miles – but note that business class prices have increased since that post was written). Search for Alaska space that is available at AA.com or BritishAirways.com and call Singapore to book it.
• How to book awards: Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer
• Key warnings: Singapore allows a maximum connection time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary and will not allow a stopover on a one-way award. Be aware that United.com will show availability for flights with longer/overnight connections that are not available with Singapore KrisFlyer miles, so be sure to double check availability at SingaporeAir.com before booking. Also note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are not instant. Transfers typically take 12-24 hours (from all major transferable currencies) and Singapore does not hold award tickets.

Virgin Atlantic

• The short story: Virgin Atlantic often offers Delta flights to Hawaii for many fewer miles than Delta would charge for the same itineraries.
• Miles required: Varies by distance. See the full award chart here. Nonstop routes from the west coast of the US should run 15K in economy or 52.5K in business.
• How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com
• How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com.
• Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries.

British Airways Avios

• The short story: British Airways offers a distance-based award chart, so flights from the West Coast of the USA on Alaska Airlines or American Airlines can be a great value with Avios.
• Miles required: 13K miles each way plus $5.60 for economy-class segments between west coast cities and Hawaii.
• How to find awards: Search for available space at britishairways.com for AA or aa.com for Alaska flights.
• How to book awards: Book American flights online at britishaiways.com or Alaska flights over the phone at 1 800 452 1201.
• Key warnings: British Airways charges for each segment separately, so multi-segment trips can get expensive quickly. Furthermore, the British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA (see: Phantom menace: an award search time suck) or not show space that should be bookable. You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring to British Airways Executive Club for American flights.

Southwest

• The short story: Southwest points are typically only worth a bit less than 1.5c towards the cost of a flight, but award bookings are totally flexible since they can be changed or canceled with no fee up until shortly before departure.
• Miles required: Varies by route but can be less than other options when cash prices are low.
• How to find awards: Search for available space at Southwest.com
• How to book awards: Book online at Southwest.com
• Key warnings: Keep in mind that if you pay for Early Bird Check In and then later cancel or change your flight, you will lose the benefit without a refund.

Getting to Europe with Chase Ultimate Rewards

Chase has Virgin for Delta and Air France which can be good for promo awards. United may also be a good choice for Star Alliance awards as noted below.

Virgin Atlantic

Often (though not always) one of the easier sweet spots to book, Virgin is a great option for nonstop Delta flights to Europe.

Potentially the cheapest deal on miles, Iberia is one you shouldn’t ignore if you can fly direct from one of their Eastern US gateways to Spain.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Aeroplan has increased award rates but also increased the size of award regions and added the ability to add a stopover on a one-way award for 5,000 miles.

Air France / KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue doesn’t have a set award chart, but their monthly Promo Rewards often make it possible to fly to Europe in business class for 45K miles or less. It can also be a great program for those traveling with children given the 25% discount on long-haul awards.

United

United doesn’t offer the most competitive mileage pricing to Europe, but they do have the most user-friendly website experience and they do not pass on fuel surcharges, which can make them an option to consider if you have a lot of United miles.

Getting to Asia with Chase Ultimate Rewards

While Virgin Atlantic stands out as the hands-down best value here, United also has a lot of partners in the region and Singapore gets a nod because of its expanded availability for KrisFlyer members.

Virgin Atlantic

Often (though not always) one of the easier sweet spots to book, Virgin is a great option for nonstop Delta flights to Europe.

Iberia

Potentially the cheapest deal on miles, Iberia is one you shouldn’t ignore if you can fly direct from one of their Eastern US gateways to Spain.

Aeroplan has increased award rates but also increased the size of award regions and added the ability to add a stopover on a one-way award for 5,000 miles.

Air France / KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue doesn’t have a set award chart, but their monthly Promo Rewards often make it possible to fly to Europe in business class for 45K miles or less. It can also be a great program for those traveling with children given the 25% discount on long-haul awards.

United

United doesn’t offer the most competitive mileage pricing to Europe, but they do have the most user-friendly website experience and they do not pass on fuel surcharges, which can make them an option to consider if you have a lot of United miles.

Getting to Caribbean / Latin America with Chase Ultimate Rewards

Similar to domestic US flights, Avios can offer good value for American Airlines flights — British Airways is better for direct flights and when you need flexibility; Iberia is better for connecting itineraries and when plans are locked in (since you can not change or cancel).

British Airways Avios

• • • The short story: British Airways offers a distance-based award chart, so flights from the southern part of the US to the Caribbean and Latin America can be a solid value.
    • Miles required: Varies based on distance. From 7.5K one-way in economy class.
    • How to find awards: Search for available space at britishairways.com for AA or aa.com for Alaska flights.
    • How to book awards: Book American flights online at britishairways.com or Alaska flights over the phone at 1 800 452 1201.
    • Key warnings: British Airways charges for each segment separately, so multi-segment trips can get expensive quickly. Furthermore, the British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA.  You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring to British Airways Executive Club for American flights.

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Southwest

• • • The short story: Southwest points are typically only worth about 1.5c towards the cost of a flight, but certain taxes aren’t charged on award tickets which can make for a redemption value as high as 1.9 cents per point to some Latin American destinations.
    • Miles required: Varies by the route.
    • How to find awards: Search for available space at Southwest.com
    • How to book awards: Book online at Southwest.com
    • Key warnings: Keep in mind that if you pay for Early Bird Check-In and then later cancel or change your flight, you will lose the benefit without a refund.

Getting to Africa with Chase Ultimate Rewards

The only real Chase Ultimate Rewards sweet spot in terms of flights from the US to Africa is United if you are able to take advantage of the Excursionist Perk (therefore picking up a free one-way within Africa). Speaking of one-ways in Africa, British Airways Avios can be useful for booking Comair to travel within southern Africa.

Air Canada Aeroplan

United

• The short story: United offers a benefit called the “Excursionist Perk”, which gives you a free one-way within a single region when your travel begins and ends in the same region.  United partners with Egypt Air, South African, and Ethiopian, as well as a number of European partners that serve Africa, which should give you ample opportunity to take advantage of the Excursionist perk.
• Miles required: 80K miles each way in business class.
• How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com
• How to book awards: Book online at United.com
• Key warnings: United has eliminated its award chart, but partner flights have thus far mostly remained at previous levels. One exception is that flights within 21 days of departure now cost 3K extra miles for a total of 83K each way in business class in this case.

 

Getting to Australia / New Zealand / Oceania with Chase Ultimate Rewards

Air Canada Aeroplan

British Airways Avios

In this case, British Airways Avios are better than Iberia or Aer Lingus Avios.

United

The keys here are lenient routing rules and more options via Star Alliance.

Virgin Atlantic for Delta

Virgin Atlantic for Air New Zealand

Finding this award space in premium cabins is roughly as likely as being struck by lighting eight times in one day. And surviving. But the price is right if you find it.

Using the Chase Travel℠​ Portal

One final way to get decent value out of Chase points is to use them to book travel through the Chase Travel portal, at least if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. That’s because the CSR offers you 1.5 cents per point when using your points to book travel. Advantages here include ease and selection (since you aren’t limited by award availability). The key disadvantage is that you won’t get beyond beyond the 1.5cpp mark, but if it saves you points and works that looks like a win.

Keep in mind though that when booking travel through the Chase Travel portal there are some potential pitfalls. When booking hotels, you won’t have access to some discount rates you may otherwise be able to utilize (like AAA rates, special member rates, etc) and you potentially miss out on shopping portal rewards. When booking flights, keep in mind that irregular operations (flight cancellations or significant delays) can be complicated since you’ll need to work through Chase to resolve issues and use future flight credits.

Bottom line

Chase Ultimate Rewards are a great currency to collect because they offer a nice range of partners and sweet spots. In my opinion, the factor that makes their value stand out is the ability to get a good return for your points whether booking flights or hotels, which gives you the opportunity to cherry-pick the best values. Again, check out our Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide for more details on earning and burning Chase Ultimate Rewards and also don’t forget to check out Point.me, a very powerful tool that helps you find the best flight awards and makes it easy for you too to search flights covered by your Chase Ultimate Rewards. For more details on Point.me, check out our guide here.

(Some of this content originally appeared on The Frequent Miler and has been posted with permission.)